GOOD professional advice is worth every cent of what you pay. If it was my property, I would ignore the upper retaining wall and plant at the bottom, selecting a plant that will screen from the bottom to above the height of the fence. Its also much cheaper this way. There are numerous lily pillies available that you could consider. I would choose something like Syzygium 'Pinnacle' because of its eventual height, its adaptability to different soils and sites, and because it is relatively narrow. Its also fast growing. It is a conical grower. Plant them 1.75 metres apart or thereabouts, working the spacing depending on the length overall and then just nurture them. If you retain the the conical shape, then you wont need to hedge them - just leave free standing or trim the width a bit. Then bring in some taller trees that will grow higher or at least as tall as the Pinnacle - I would use deciduous to allow winter sunlight in and have large garden beds under the trees linking the whole area together with lawn or lily-dale toppings or similar. Lawn would be better for the children, but will need irrigation [in summer only if necessary]. And if growing lawn under trees, you need to be selective with the lawn type considering shade, tree roots etc. I know that people mock the use of lily pillies, but these are people who don't know what they are talking about. The knockers have grown lily pillies that are inappropriate to the position and because of their stuff-up, the whole range of wonderful plants gets canned. The right plant to the site is called sustainability. Councils/government are opening up a lot of areas that were once considered wet-land. So a lot of these new subdivisions do have drainage problems, and buildings with their footings increase the movement of water, increasing the drainage issues. Small gums, like the Eucalyptus leucoxylon ssp megalocarpa is a wonderful tree for soaking up excessive moisture. This is also worth adding to the tree mix, especially to shade western windows. Good luck with your project.

I agree with everyone here. Unfortunately, most people don't consider their home's orientation & the sun's path when they build. This appears to be the case for your neighbours. If you do you should have a home that is much more comfortable than the neighbours. Being orientated 45° off true north does make things tougher, as you now have two western aspects to worry about, NW & SW, NW being the worst. But at least you you have a 20m frontage, this wide block gives you some options with things like courtyards, so that rooms facing NW may instead have SW or NE windows. A wide block may also give you the option of planting a decent sized tree or two on the west, to screen hot afternoon sun. If you're having a garage, the NW corner is likely to be the best place for it, to take the brunt of that western sun. I'd possible, put the services (laundry & bathrooms) on the west too. Best of luck.

"Macyjean, if you were to decide, where would you rather have your bedrooms? would you flip this plan?" People's priorities are different so it's difficult for me to put myself in the mindset of that type of block in the first place and what I might do with it won't necessarily help you. I think everyone has given you some useful things to think about and then you need to decide which of them are relevant and important to you. "Do you think the afternoon sun will still come through the master’s Sliding door? I was thinking the alfresco roof would be able to block the sun. But I may be wrong." The sun won'r reach the window as early in the afternoon. We have a similar west facing window and we thought the wide roof over it would solve the problem there but it still gets late afternoon sun, which is lovely in winter but horrible in summer. We do not have a neighbouring house close to it though so it might depend on how close your neighbouring house is. It might be that there is not very much time between when the sun comes in under your roof and when it goes behind the neighbouring house. It also depends on what you plan to do with the garden. Deciduous trees in front of west facing windows can provide winter light and summer shade. But if you don't like raking autumn leaves or you want a lawn then that solution won't suit you. Something else to think about is what is on the other side of the fence. You might not want your bedrooms right next to where neighbours have their outdoor entertaining area. This is a really useful government website for making your home environmentally sustainable. https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design This page explains how orientation works and some of the things you can do on various sides. https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation "shutters/blockers" What sort do you mean? Beware of anything that goes on the inside of the window and claims to block heat. Obviously some materials and styles work better than others, but the most effective way to stop heat inside the window is to stop the sun reaching the window.

Opt 1 but you will more screen to retain water. Add a pivot door