The cane furniture will really look nice in your verandah. As for plants, jump online and browse for some hardy plants on the Aussie websites. They are a wealth of information and if you do have a large planter box or pot make sure you put it on wheels. That way you can take your plants in and out of the house. Also put a base under the pot/planter so it catches the water and does not ruin your nice floor. You can pick these from a garden store in your area. Good luck! :) btw hope you don't mind me your spelling error "taught" should be "taut", I really hope folks correct my spelling too! cheers.

Looks very nice!

I totally agree with Fusion LD. There are so many opportunities with your great blank space, however you need to consider what you want to achieve from the garden. It looks quite detached from the house, so how do you draw people (you and your family, friends, etc) out into the garden? Will this space be your main outdoor entertaining / dining area? Do you have children or pets and need a more open activity area or can it be divided up into smaller spaces? It looks like it has really good northerly aspect, so do you want a vegetable garden / herb planters / fruit trees? If the second photo is the view from the main access to the garden, then that gives you a starting point for attracting people into the garden. A glimpse of a feature tree or ornament from this point could be all it takes to create that invitation. Use planting and the shape of a path to hide enough of the garden to create a sense of discovery. So many opportunities here for you! PS. I would move the hose to somewhere less conspicuous!

Thanks, Paul. Totally hear what you're saying. We feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. Consulting a designer would have been our first port of call. But we're cautious for very good reason. We did what we thought was the sensible thing and consulted a 'designer' for our internal renovations. We got burned big time. We're fearful the same thing could happen again, when the wrong landscape designer spots the garden illiterate coming too. We simply can't afford to make that mistake again, but understand the consequences of not consulting a designer. Consulting the trades direct does arm us with more knowledge (so we can spot the con artist a little sooner), but we don't want to be time wasting tyre kickers either. We've had some great word of mouth referrals with other trades. But due to lack of exposure or bad experiences, absolutely no-one can recommend a designer or landscaper. That in itself makes us a bit nervy.