Most people who start landscaping a garden with a mini excavator go through the same scene: the soil is neatly levelled, ready for sowing the lawn, then someone realises the irrigation line was forgotten and the finished surface is dug up again. The machine is fast, but fast work done in the wrong order is work done twice.
This volume offers a work plan for landscaping a garden from scratch with a mini excavator. From the survey to the level plan, and from protecting the topsoil to fine grading, we show in which order and with which attachment each step should be done. The plan applies both to homeowners landscaping their own garden and to landscapers who do this work as a service.
The backbone of the plan rests on a single principle: underground first, then the surface. If you keep this principle in mind, the order of the steps falls into place by itself.
Survey: before bringing the machine
A good garden job starts an hour or two before the machine arrives. Walk around the garden with a tape measure, a notebook and your phone camera and record the following:
- Access width: The clear width of the gate or side passage the machine will pass through. The R10’s 930 mm width lets it through most garden gates, but don’t assume without measuring.
- Underground lines: Find out the routes of electricity, gas, water, sewer and telecom lines from the relevant authorities; also mark existing garden lighting and old irrigation pipes.
- Features to protect: Trees that will stay, fences, wall bases, kerbs and the boundary with neighbours.
- How water behaves: Watch where water collects after rain and which way it flows; if you know of any damp spots around the building, note them.
- Ground: Dig a trial hole one spade deep at a few points with a shovel; see how thick the topsoil is and how much stone and rubble there is.
- Neighbours and shared areas: If the machine will pass through a shared area of the estate or a neighbour’s land, get permission in advance; also discuss working hours and issues such as dust and noise from the outset.
This walk determines both which machine and attachments will be needed and the realistic duration of the job. The photos are also a valuable record for remembering where the lines run after the job is finished.
Plan on paper: zones, levels and slope
Draw the garden as a simple sketch and divide it into zones: lawn, paths, seating area, groups of trees and shrubs, vegetable garden, storage corner. Then set the final level of each zone, that is, the height of the finished surface.
The most important rule in the level plan is that surface water flows away from the building. If the garden slopes towards the building, either the direction must be changed by grading or a drainage line must be planned. Mark the slope on site with stakes and a taut string; a simple spirit level placed on the string shows differences you can’t see by eye.
Example: If you decide to give a fall of 1 cm per metre on a lawn that starts at the building and extends 12 metres, the far end of the area must be 12 cm lower than the building side. You can transfer this difference to the site by driving a stake every 3 metres and marking the stake tops with string and a level. Which slope is suitable depends on the surface type and the ground; the figures are an example, so use the values in your landscape design if you have one.
Also draw the underground lines on the sketch: the main irrigation line, drainage pipe and garden lighting cable. For every line that will pass under the paths, provide a sleeve pipe. Even if you don’t use it today, it saves you from breaking up a finished path when you want to add a cable or pipe later.
Mini excavator and attachment plan for the garden
The machine people look for on site as a “garden landscaping digger” is usually a compact mini excavator like the R10; but in garden work the attachments do more of the work than the machine. Deciding in advance which tool you will use at which step prevents unnecessary changes and idle waiting on site:
| Step | Recommended attachment | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Clearance, old concrete and stone | Hydraulic breaker, thumb | Bring the breaker only if needed |
| Stripping topsoil, rough digging | 40 cm bucket | 60 cm digging bucket in hard ground |
| Irrigation and drainage trenches | 20 or 30 cm bucket | A narrow bucket avoids digging unnecessary soil |
| Tree and sapling holes | Auger | Holes come out neat and the same size |
| Cleaning stony soil on site | 60 cm screening bucket | Recovers the soil by screening it without hauling |
| Rough and fine grading | 100 cm grading bucket, 60 cm rake | Rake for the final surface |
You can see all the attachments on the mini excavator attachments page. We also explain the technique for the rake and grading bucket in the land levelling volume.
Will you operate the machine yourself, or hire a service with an operator? For a one-off garden landscaping job, hiring a service or renting is usually enough. If you have more than one garden or vineyard, or regular landscaping work, buying also comes into the calculation; at EKSFORK the R10 starts from 299.000 ₺ (excluding VAT). To decide based on your annual days of use, you can use the calculation in the rent or buy volume.
Step-by-step order of work
- Protection: Lay thick plywood or ground protection panels over the lawn and paving the machine will cross. Wrap the trunks of trees that will stay with boards or old tyres.
- Clearance: Remove old concrete, kerbs, stone and unwanted plant roots. Collect rubble and soil in separate piles.
- Stripping topsoil: Move the valuable topsoil to a separate pile; we explain why in the next section.
- Rough grading: Form the slopes in the level plan with the subsoil. Compact filled areas layer by layer.
- Underground lines: Dig the drainage, main irrigation line and cable channels; lay the pipes and backfill after checking them. Always leave the electrical connections to a licensed electrician.
- Path and seating area beds: Dig the beds to the depth the paving material requires; place the sleeve pipes at this stage.
- Planting holes: Dig the tree and sapling holes with the auger; leave the bottom of the hole loose.
- Spreading topsoil: Spread the topsoil you set aside back over the sowing and planting areas; if it is stony, screen it as you spread.
- Fine grading and clean-up: Give the final surface with the rake, lift the protection panels and smooth out the machine’s tracks by hand.
For details of the drainage and pipe-laying stage see the drainage and pipe-laying volume, and for the dimensions of planting holes the auger hole-digging volume.
Topsoil: the garden’s most valuable material
The most common and most expensive mistake in garden landscaping is mixing topsoil with subsoil. Topsoil is the living layer that feeds the plants; the clay or rubble that comes out of the subsoil is infertile for lawns and flowers. Once they are mixed, you have to make up the difference later by bringing in soil from outside.
- Put topsoil and subsoil in separate piles and mark the piles.
- Don’t drive the machine over the piles; compacted soil loses its air and structure.
- Cover piles that will stand for a long time against rain and wind.
- Instead of discarding stony topsoil, screen it on site with a stone-screening bucket; you save on both haulage and the cost of new soil.
Sloping gardens and terracing
In a sloping garden the work plan gets one step longer, because the soil must not only be levelled but also held in place. Dividing the slope into a few flat terraces both gains usable space and reduces rainwater washing the soil away.
- Work from the top down. Start with the top terrace; if you start from the bottom, soil sliding down from above will land on your finished work.
- Position the machine in line with the slope. Don’t dig while tilted sideways across the slope, keep the bucket close to the ground when moving, and lower the dozer blade to the ground while digging.
- Plan the water’s path for each terrace. If you don’t give the terrace surface a slight fall and a drainage line at its foot, water will collect behind the terrace wall.
- Mind the wall height. Low garden walls can be built on a simple foundation; taller retaining walls need calculation according to the ground and the load. Consult a civil engineer for walls of this kind.
If the slope is very steep or the ground is slippery and loose, consider doing the job by reaching from the upper or lower flat area instead of taking the machine onto that section. If you can’t find a safe working area, it may be better to do that part by hand.
Example work schedule
The schedule below is an example prepared for a medium-sized garden with little clearance. The number of days varies with the size of the garden, the ground and the weather; rearrange it with your own jobs.
| Day | Job | Attachments |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Protection, clearance, stripping topsoil | 40 cm bucket, thumb |
| Day 2 | Rough grading, drainage and irrigation trenches | Grading bucket, 20–30 cm bucket |
| Day 3 | Checking and backfilling the lines, path beds | 40 cm bucket |
| Day 4 | Planting holes, spreading and screening topsoil | Auger, stone-screening bucket |
| Day 5 | Fine grading, clean-up, final check | Rake |
When drawing up the schedule, also put material deliveries in the calendar: the pipes must be on site before day two, and the paving material before the path beds are finished. Every hour the machine waits for material is a direct cost when renting. Add at least one spare day to the schedule; rain, an unexpected layer of rubble or an old pipeline not shown on the plan can easily push the schedule back a day.
Common mistakes in the garden
- Working in wet soil: In clay gardens especially, wet soil compacts like dough under the machine and turns rock-hard when it dries. Wait for the soil to dry out a little after rain.
- Trampling planting areas: Driving the machine back and forth over areas where trees and flowers will be planted compacts the soil. Plan the machine’s route outside these areas.
- Tearing roots: Don’t dig deep in the root zone of trees that will stay; if you come across thick roots, cut them cleanly rather than tearing them.
- People and animals in the garden: In a home garden, children and pets are curious about the machine. Tape off the work area and work only when there is no one in the machine’s swing area.
- Setting levels by eye: A surface that looks flat to the eye can pond in the rain. Check with string and a level before the final grading.
If you are a landscaping company that does this work regularly for customers, we cover which machines give the best results together in the machine fleet for landscaping companies volume.
Quick checklist
- The access width has been measured and the machine chosen accordingly
- The routes of underground lines have been obtained from the relevant authorities and marked on site
- The sketch, zones and final levels are ready; the slope runs away from the building
- Sleeve pipes have been planned for lines passing under paths
- The attachment list and the order of use have been set
- Separate pile areas have been set aside for topsoil and subsoil
- Material deliveries have been entered in the work schedule
- The work area has been closed off to children and animals
If you are looking for a light, economical machine that fits through narrow garden gates, take a look at the R10 mini excavator; send us your garden’s measurements and job list on WhatsApp to get a machine and attachment recommendation.
