The period and style of your home suggests gravel as the medium of use. Grey, not blue and fine. Some products have clay 'fines' amongst the small gravel that enables the product to compact really well when laid properly. You can push prams etc over it without a problem. Paving and concrete cause drainage problems with runoff warranting drainage to accommodate excessive run off. Gravel and aggregates absorb the water. The cost is much cheaper but also looks totally better. The sustainable alternative is always about thinking differently.

I would contact the builder and explain that although it was agreed on, you now look at it and realise it wasn’t right for your house. Ask if you can pay him to fix it, and how much a quote would be. You might find he offers you a cheaper price. When you have an exact figure, your hubby may agree. I would fix it ‘right’ now. As if you spend dollars with a ‘near enough is good enough’ solution, your hubby is even more likely not to spend that money to get it fixed.

Hi, I think if you widen the paths using large pavers and gravel and mass plant with lots of lush greenery it could look great, if you use same path and gravel around letter box it could look terrific and be very cost effective, you could use the black plastic edging( comes on a roll) from Bunnings to edge garden beds, grey pavers with grey stones would compliment your black fence beautifully.

Wow amazing advice - thank you!! We are in the mid-hinterland on the Gold Coast. :) Since posting we have planted out the back strip with a mix of Vibernum, Chinese dwarf bamboo, elephant ears, Xanadu and ornamental grass. We still have both sides to do yet and it feels like it will never end! Unfortunately our garden beds were edged with pavers at build stage and we aren't equipped to rip them out to widen the garden beds now. but I am considering culling the mulch in some areas on the sides and putting in feature sections with Riverstones. I love the idea of using water feature/bowl and will try to incorporate one. We went and bought 9 golden cane palms which we haven't yet planted due to some posts online about the root systems and them being problematic, we are thinking about maybe putting them along the retaining wall, any ideas how to manage the root growth? We thought about keeping them in larger pots and planting around the pots, has anyone seen this executed well? Updated pic attached. You can see a bush fire that went across the hinterland yesterday, bit close for comfort! Also the palms we are thinking about in bags against the wall. PS - Whoever would have thought that turf is so hard to keep lush! OMG thats a whole other post! hahaha