Grass does poorly under gum trees, so get rid of the grass in the immediate vicinity of the trees and turn it into a garden with lots of mulch to keep the weeds down. There seems to be quite a slope between the kerbside and the front lawn, so think about whether you want a retaining wall (you will need it if you have mulch), and whether you want a walkway directly to the front door, or whether you are happy to keep accessing the front door from the driveway. I always think a walkway to the front door from the kerb looks nice, but this is your place, not mine ! If you decide on a retaining wall, what should it be made of - think about your capabilities and the style of your house - a relaxed / coastal style place might be better with treated pine logs; a more formal place will be better suited to e.g. sandstone-type blocks / bricks . Look through Houzz photos for ideas. Bear in mind what your budget is. Do you want to keep the garden at the front of the house, or will you dig up the concrete and turn it into lawn / garden ? If you want a walkway, will it be paved / gravel / concrete / something else! How will you keep the mulch from the path - and will you have steps, if so, out of what? Will you be doing the work yourself, or will you be looking at getting in some help? Plants for the garden/s - I'm with jmm1837, pig face is great in coastal areas, and is very colourful and hardy, and spreads nicely, and can cope with sloping ground. Banksias are tough, with great seed pods. Westringia is great, but can take over the garden unless you keep it trimmed. I also agree with Sally, take a walk around the neighbourhood and see what does well in north-facing gardens, and talk to your local nursery people about your needs. Above all, have fun ! Experiment with the plants, and if something doesn't work, try something else!

Hi, I would recommend something like Grisilinia ardmore (NZ Native) along the wall which will create a really nice lush back drop for your new garden. I would then step down to plants such as Lomandra Titan or Tanika for that middle layer and then finally down to a ground cover which will help surpress the weeds and add another layer. The other thing to consider is typically lemons like a high amount of fertiliser which most other plants won't tolerate so bare that in mind with any chosen variety. Finally I would recommend removing the weed mat, although from a maintenance point in can be great, from a horticultural perspective it starves the soil and creates a real imbalance for moisture. Once its removed, I would also cultivate in some compost which will help the plants thrive. Once this is successfully planted re mulch with bark or another mulch. The established the plants will naturally suppress any weeds so its a little bit of short term pain for long term gain, your new plants will thank you for it. Thanks, Will

Your site is far too exposed for Maples. They are small trees that really need to be buffered from winds and too much sun by other plantings. They also need the soil constantly moist which will be nearly impossible on that slope. You really don't want to grow magnolias anywhere near the footings of a house. Have you seen how large a tree they are? Since you are in a temperate zone and like autumn foliage I can recommend a gingko tree. It will be right sized for your yard and give you that similar lighter than air look and autumn colour as maples but it's more hardy. Another option are silver birches. I would hedge the boundary for privacy and also to cut down winds to your garden which will dry out the grass and scorch it. With that slope you are going to need more rocks I think to prevent your topsoil from washing away in the first rain. It's really no use of us to provide you a list of random plants. What you need to do is put together a series of photo's of gardens you like the look of, then find plants to match that style. If you don't plan gardens then you end up with the ubiquitous suburban patch of grass and odd bushes look instead of a lovely garden.

Now, frangipanis are very slow growing, but you can plant large branches from older trees and give them a head start. I have a few that I planted like that. my friend had an old tree and gave me 2 branches as long as I could fit in the boot. you let them dry and heal over and then plant them and they grow fine. I also rescued a few smaller pieces when I saw a guy cutting one down, and I found another big branch ripped of a tree at the park and brought it home. They're a few over 2m high already and none more than a year old. As big as possible works. I also have a rather large brugmansia (angel's trumpet) which is 3m tall now after a year. It has 3 straight branches that spread straight up and a canopy of spreading leaves and it produces year round blooms of dangling trumpet flowers. it starts white and darkens to peach, but varieties range from white to orange and hot pink. it has a nice night scent and attracts lots of butterflies. It's quite showy and tropical and its not strictly a tree but does the job for me to create a pretty canopy