To me the plants look as though they may be a mixture of New Zealand flax and native Dianellas. They do look ratty. The garden bed, especially at the lower end is too narrow - this is one reason you are having trouble with it. It is hard to get water to stay there - it will probably all run off. What about a hedge coming down the line of the bed? Many hedges don't need to be regularly clipped, especially many of the conical shaped lily pillies. But the bottom area isn't wide enough for these so you would need to use a different plant in the lower section. Like a Japanese Box for instance which would need clipping. They are both green and tough. There are instances where there are hedges used of different heights, and this could be one of those instances. Your last picture shows a garden that is well cared for and looks good. I have day lilies in my garden that I regard as weeds - I cant get rid of them they are so tenacious. I wouldn't recommend planting them. Whatever you choose, you need to integrate this choice with the style that you have in your bottom photo, so that there is continuity. Then it will come together. All the best Alison

I have just cleared out an area under the house - a small room at the back of the garage that connects to the laundry/come storage room on the other side - a bit hard to explain the layout, but it works perfectly now as a second office/study area that I am using to gather and sort literature for further study. It has a large filing cabinet, desk, sorting table and lots of shelving for pre-sorting piles of literature which I have accumulated so effortlessly over the years! It comes with window views out to the garden and lovely water glimpses (if I open the garage door) and is lovely and cool in summer. While it is well organised and tidy, I have deliberately left it fairly rustic (read 'man cave' like) as I don't want to feel like I need to be 'cleaning and tidying' while I am there. I have a stack of classical and choral music that I play while down there ... in between listening to the cricket in summer, of course! Some great names in here re what to call it .... perhaps my 'She Nook' or 'the Reading Room'

My other bush of Rhodys, taken today, I'm on top of the steps, it's about 6 ft. I've cut them back each year, they were huge when I moved in. Not good to have huge bushes near the house if there's a bushfire. The first bush has finished flowering. It's a hotter pink.

The voice of the girl belongs to the wonderful Margaret Ulrich. The girl in the video clip was a model who lip synced the works. Love this song