Perhaps check with your local council to see if they have a plant list. Many councils here in NSW do this to assist homeowners with choosing native Australian plants and some introduced plants that grow well and are in keeping with the area. Of course it depends on the look of your house and whether your landscaping plan will compliment that, or whether you want a manicured look, or a natural look, cottage garden look (e.g flowers and hedges) or a beachy look (e.g. if you have a pool) and so on. Fruit trees sometimes need a different aspect to other trees, so separating food trees from general foliage is something to consider. Oleanders are off the list in many parts of NSW too. We recently put a fence in similar to yours but it has been painted black as our house is modern. We've been advised on lomandra, banksia and grevilias and lili pillys for a native garden as we already have lemon scented gums and ironbarks on the property. If you consider the building style of your home, and the trees common to the area you're in, sometimes that can give some inspiration

Go to Gardening with Angus. Choose a small bushy green scrub. You'll be able to check if it suits your sun aspect and it will tell you what soil it needs. Most plants will look better with an annual haircut. My choice for you would be a correa.

It's tiny so lends itself to containment and simplicity. I'd shift your mango tree to be a few feet to the front right so it could shade you and hide the view of the boxes. They grow pretty big don't they? The Perth Bricklaying's idea of brick planter boxes is good and I'd surround the sides and front with them. You could have a lower growing hedge all round. Hopefully your neighbour would like a little backdrop to their bit instead of the slabs. By shading from the front you will create less sun and heat for anything growing inside the wall, like the groundcover, and some flowers in pots in the outer corners perhaps. which would be nice to look out on, and obviously watering is the key to their survival. :)

hi Katie, my experience with my plant-beds next to the pool, (at back of pool=1 metre deep x 3 metres long) & along side of pool =50cm deep * 15m long) - .. initially I planted Palms - removed them after 15 years.. .. I re-planted the 'back-bed' with 'Birds of Paradise, large' - I removed them last year, after 10 years, bcoz they grow very big and spread in all directions & broke-up the garden-wall. Over the past few months, I have been replanting all of my garden , still in-progress- . in the beds near the pool, I have planted - ...…. Tiger Grass bcoz it is not as vigorous as Bamboo, doesn't grow as tall and is in small clumps ….. interspersed with some 'ball-shape plants'.. (for example,EUPHORBIA Ascot Rainbow, RUBY Leaf Alternanthera Dentata Compact) and some silvers - check your local nursery for small tidy, compact shrubs....or, small grasses for a different shape Make sure that whatever you plant does not have any noxious sap etc.. .. https://www.childrens.health.qld.gov.au/poisonous-plant-philodendron/ whatever you plant, there will be some drops into the pool - just make sure you turn on your vaccuum at least once a week...