hi bigreader,

thanks for the response, the landscaping side is the next area to move into. The retaining wall along the driveway we were thinking of putting in pear trees such as the below

the garden bed is 1.1m wide, so quite narrow. I am concerned though that the pear trees may over time have a bare narrow trunk and all the foilage at the top. We are intending to build a front wall across the boundary and make a front yard backyard. The tree cover in the retaining wall will provide the eastern boundary to blocking street views, hence skinny trunks will not work.

Hi Alison, thanks for the reply. Soil, I wasn't sure, its the gutless Perth soil so was maybe thinking of keeping the existing sand but adding this

http://www.sandremedy.com.au/

and mixing it in.

As for the roots, when you see the first images, you can see there is a wall and paving bricks, so below about 500 high, the roots could spread laterally. There is no concrete bottom or limiting hardscape straight down. Do pear trees go that low and then spread out? Do i then not have root congestion issues if there is no hardscape bottom to my garden bed? Do you think the image i found of pears in the narrow limestone garden bed above is too narrow?

Would the leave less section of the trunk be no more than what i see in one of your projects being http://www.houzz.com.au/projects/850238/nicks-garden-warrnambool ? also is that black basalt rocks you put down the side?

thankyou

Hi Alison I note your points re natives. with narrow garden beds, if I plant a tree either native or like the pear, which says its say 1.5m wide by 3M tall, will a garden bed thats only 600mm wide or 1M wide, naturally constrain the tree width wise?

Hi Andrew

At Bodo, our motto for exterior colour schemes is Keep It Simple! with a maximum of 3 colours, including your roof, windows etc.

If you break this rule, the colour scheme becomes complicated and fussy, and may make your house appear smaller, as introducing differing colour in differing sections, confuses the eye line.

Dont make the same mistake, by making "for now"decisions. Think of the future :)

We recommend keeping everything in Colorbond Bushland. We have attached an example of how this could look below.

1. Rendered Rear Retainers

2. Existing front retainers

3. Fencing (existing)

4. Full House repaint (this is where the future comes in!)

This scheme will work beautifully with your white aluminium joinery, and feel seamless. It will be ok with your classic cream patio and roof.

This colour scheme wont be one bit boring! just stylish and classic. Not to mention an increased sale ability of your home.

Then you can bring in some timberwork, pots in a colour that you love, outdoor furniture etc or maybe even a wall garden on the rear fence line.

If you really want to take the guesswork out of which colours to use right throughout your home, inside and out - jump on and have a look at the concept that Bodo recommends for you: You can purchase and instantly download a full shopping list of paint, materials and products to bring your look together!

http://bodoboards.com.au/collections/paint-concept/products/australian-bush-paint-concept

Good luck!