Whatever you do never plant a gum! They have no place in suburban areas! The sooner the council realises that these trees kill people the better! We have had two gum trees fall on the back of our house now, one in 2012 and one in 2014. We are so lucky that myself, my husband, three children, three dogs, five Guinea pigs, two parrots and one bearded dragon were not injured. It's just a miracle not once but twice! I still don't know how we escaped unharmed. The gums do not have a stable root system and they grow very shallow, they get to the point where they just fall over. And the scary thing is they fall silently. They are not called 'Widow Makers' in the bush for no reason. I like the Tuckeroo tree, not sure of scientific name. They grow with a straight trunk and keep their foliage in a straight and symmetrical line along the bottom and grow hiding their branches. Essentially they look like a large mushroom. They are green all year too. I think they get to about 6 metre or ten if they have to reach for the sun.

I always understood decorations should come down on Epiphany (6 Jan). I still have a couple of things to put away today. I love the decorations and the decorating but also really like that clean tidy feeling in January when you pack it all away. We took our LED icicle lights camping (we have a battery pack thing) when our teenage twin girls wanted a camping birthday sleep over with their friends, made for a very pretty birthday camp site and did not attract insects which was a definite bonus

Luke, don't mess around with gum trees. As beautiful as they are, they are prone to falling suddenly and unexpectedly and that is one huge tree that could take out a couple of homes in the process. I've also found that if part of a tree dies, it can affect the balance of the rest of the tree so it becomes unstable even though it may look healthy. If an arborist says it needs to come down then I wouldn't waste time, you could void your insurance by not heeding advice. Do you need Council approval? Sometimes that can take a while to get.

I would not be inclined to plant a Murraya for your hedge. I have a Murraya hedge and am forever clipping it. The branches also become a bit thick to trim. The Indian Hawthorne pictured is in my opinion a more suitable plant. It flowers most of the year and is easy to keep in shape or can be left to grow naturally. It comes in whit or different shades of pink. The pink variety is a slower grower therefore less clipping. Go and have a look at the nursery to see if you like the foliage and flowers. I agree with the comment, not to try to keep the pines which somebody else has planted. This is your home now and you have the opportunity to design the garden. Good luck with your new garden. Jan