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“By investing in a

beautifully

landscaped garden,

you are increasing

the value of your

property…”

For all enquiries:

Ph: 1300 885 162

Tom Munro on 0412 707 787

Nick Florio on 0414 783 218

countryexpresshomes.com.au

DRY RIVERBEDS

WHY CHOOSE US?

Country Express Homes add beauty and value to your

home whilst building on your investment.

With over 25 years’ experience in the industry we have

grown to understand that every property is a unique

project. We believe in maximizing the potential of your

home by developing a custom design.

We pride ourselves on being able to identify all the

positives of your property and capitalizing on them.

We’re committed to eliminating the weaknesses by

turning them into strengths.

COUNTRY

EXPRESS

HOMES

Landscaping & Driveway Designs

ROCKERIES

RETAINING WALLS

LANDSCAPING

DRIVEWAYS

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COUNTRY EXPRESS HOMES

We’re a locally owned and operated business that specialise in the creation of

unique landscaping designs that provide a beautiful and practical outdoor space for

your property that increases value.

Our signature feature is our Dry Riverbeds, which are both beautiful and

practical in creating solutions for wet areas around your property.

We use only natural materials and predominantly Australian native plants and

we also offer services in Rockeries & Retaining Walls, Driveways, General Landscaping

and House Relocation.

We’re located in Healesville in the heart of the Yarra Valley and provide services

to properties located in Healesville, Yarra Valley, Dandenong Ranges and the Eastern

suburbs of Melbourne.

By landscaping you are investing in your property. Find out how we can

increase the value of your property, call us today!

WHO ARE WE?

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“Solve your wet

area problems in

the garden…”

Dry riverbeds are a beautiful and

practical solution to a wet area in

the garden. Make a positive feature

out of your negative space.

DRY RIVERBEDS

Dry riverbeds are a big advantage for your

property for two major reasons; One) It takes care

of wet areas, draining water underground, and,

Two) The pebbles make a garden come to life

when combined with the correct planting and

rockery. A dry riverbed looks much more appealing

than the standard boring bark and shrubs. When

the pebbles are wet, they come to life displaying

hidden colours and when the riverbed is dry it still

looks fantastic. The concept for featuring dry

riverbeds in our designs came about while

camping one day in a hot area in a dry riverbed.

It was much cooler in the riverbed and after three

days it grew on me by how beautiful it looked

compared to the barren landscape outside the

river. Growing up near the Emerald Lake in

Victoria where there are many creeks and rivers,

dry riverbeds now form a major part of our

landscaping. Most importantly, dry riverbeds are

practical in solving the problems of wet areas and

they add life by creating a standout feature to the

area. Better still every dry riverbed is a unique

garden feature that will last the test of time.

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“Increase

your property

value…”

By investing in the landscaping of

your garden you will substantially

increase the overall value of your

property as well as improving the

enjoyment of living in your home.

LANDSCAPING

Landscaping your property and creating

stunning features to be viewed when

arriving or overlooking the garden is a

must. One of the key principles of our

landscaping designs is to create space,

by not blocking the view and drawing

the eye deep into the property to absorb

all the beauty and scenery. A

definite landscaping mistake is to have

small blocks of garden beds everywhere

as it makes the space too busy.

The goal of our landscaping is creating

depth as you can see from our gallery.

The value that landscaping adds to any

property is immense. Almost always the

money you invest in your garden will

equal double the value added to your

home.

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ROCKERIES & RETAINER WALLS

Rockeries and retaining walls are a favourite landscaping feature of ours and our clients alike. To create structured banks in your garden you have two choices: you can retain the soil and use boring sleepers or brick walls without adding any aesthetic value or you can combine some rocks, native shrubs, some colour, and some sleepers and create an incredibly appealing and very inviting space which adds heaps of value to an area that may have been very bland.

“Improve the structure and appeal of your garden…” “In my travelling through the bush and mountain areas I was fascinated by how these massive rocks would stay on the mountain sides and not move. When I found out why it made sense, three quarters of the rock must be buried and each rock locks the other one in position right down to the bottom. Complimented by plants of all sorts, rockeries encourage the native fauna while the plants cradle the rocks, making them look like they have always been a natural feature of the garden. This is a very highly skilled way of doing things and the great Ellis Stone mastered this skill many years ago. The natural beauty of a rockery adds incredible value to a property before you even enter the home. We have had many clients become friends through the love of these features. The combination of rockeries and retaining walls can be used to complement a house or driveway as well.“

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First impressions count. Your

driveway is the first impression of

your home so why use the unnatural

look of concrete and asphalt when

the natural materials of Tuscany

Toppings, Lilydale Toppings, and

alike add more depth and natural

appeal to your garden and driveway?

While at times we may add cement

to the natural products to give it extra

strength, you can’t tell that it has

been added as it does not detract

from the natural look. When

designing our driveways, we always

add plenty of curves to break up the

starkness of straight lines, as your

house has enough straight lines as it

is. We compliment the edges of the

driveways with rocks, sleepers, logs

and Jarra edgings to soften the look

and add life to your driveway and the

overall presentation of your house.

“Enhance the entrance to your home…”

Driveways are the entrance to

your home, they can be

beautiful as well as practical,

increasing the overall appeal

and adding value to your

property.

DRIVEWAYS

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Nick Florio is the Owner and Landscaper at

Country Express Homes.

Nick has over 25 years in the industry and

is very passionate about landscaping. His

creative vision and landscaping skills are

second to none. All work he undertakes is

done with professionalism and attention to

detail. He takes an average garden and

turns it into a masterpiece.

With Nick’s extensive experience comes

extensive knowledge. Here’s what he’d like

to share…

“The space between the

notes makes the

music”,

“Here is a little formula that we have: 1 rock in a garden is lonely, 2 rocks may

have a fight, a 3rd rock will keep the peace but 7 rocks – they have a party! In

other words, nature is unpredictable and it’s beautiful. If you’re placing rocks,

they should be at a good size. Rocks should be one third buries to create the

sense of being there for a long time and this adds to their stability. With shrubs

and trees, start off with a high tree and work your way down until you get right

down to the lowest plants such as creepers (which create its own family

environment). Garden beds should have definite curves and a create softness

about them around the house. Driveways should be done naturally with

compacted rock and curved edges bringing your garden to your driveway (there

is many varieties of rock to choose from). Steps can be a very prominent feature

in your garden if you combine them with natural sleepers or rocks and plants. Try

not to have them running straight. Also, breakup the angles where possible and

make them part of your garden.”

- Nick Florio

A FEW WISE WORDS…