Hi, new here, have recently bought a house & am in the beginning stages of doing up the front & back yards, plan is to plant Australian native plants only as I am based in country Sth Aust & 1. our Summers are pretty extreme & 2. I'm obsessed with Aussie natives.
Both front & back yards are dirt, was all just over grown lawn, weeds, got a local earth mover to come in & clean it up, 8 truck loads were taken away, also roughly levelled out both areas.
Idea is to have a garden bed running along the front & side fence line, using Callistemon 'Little John' as a hedge, also Myoporum Parvifolium as a ground cover, planting a variety of Grevillea, Banksia amongst inside the beds.
Front fence shown in the photo (I hope this works) will be taken down & replaced with either a wrought iron fence or timber slat fence.
Area that isn't used as garden will be topped with ether crusher dust or gravel.
Questions, as the yard is 100% dirt, amongst the garden bed should I add compost amongst it & mix in with the dirt, turning it over, or should I leave as is seeing our natives naturally grow in these conditions, what can I use as a mulch, which slow release fert would you recommend, obviously low in phosphorus.
Garden bed will either be a Husdon block garden bed, or a low cement border bed.
Any tips, help, feedback would be greatly appreciated, thank you.