I would paint the wall too! Nice ad bright!!

Congrats on choosing blocks for your garden bed. If you're looking for trees, I suggest considering a maple tree. They grow nicely over time, providing shade and privacy. I recently moved to a new house myself, and I'm also exploring plant options. Back in my hometown, we had a reliable tree service that helped us with planting and maintenance. Maybe you can find something similar in your area. I came across this website, https://www.deepdale-trees.co.uk , which might be helpful for you. They offer a variety of trees and services.

Hi Brett, this is an image from Outdoor Establishments in Sydney, one of their Mosman projects. Maybe you can ask them? I'm tipping Dianella or possibly Liriope. Leaf blade is too wide to be one of the more likely Lomandra's.

I love ficus hillii, if you have tried twice then there must be a problem in that particular spot, you could add a feature, a screen, a water wall, it doesn’t matter if it’s off centre, it will create more interest in that area, with your pleached ficus have you considered letting them grow together to form a pleached hedge instead of clipping them individually, it looks fabulous along a fence line.