Yes please, we have a retaining wall dilemma & have bought 2 round tanks but yours are ace! I saw you website a while back & put it in the too hard basket case, lol! Message on my profile works fine thanks David, cheers LouieT

Hi all, Sorry for the slow replies and thanks for the input so far. From what I've read online a re-inforced besser block wall should be about $600 p/sqm including footings in Sydney (Hornsby shire council area). Given the wall is 1m x 10m it should be let's say $7k including design and DA or am I way off? I'd also need to dispose of the current wall + footings but I could probably give the blocks away. The paved area is about 40sqm. Would it be safe to assume $200 p/sqm for concrete base, paver supply (travertine) and install (coping and surrounds)? So the wall and and paving would cost let's say $16k + fencing + cladding. This isn't too bad considering how much better it would look and the value it would add to the house. I like the flexibility the besser would give - render, cladding etc are all options. I'm not sure how bad it is structurally it just has a couple of spots where I can see the blocks have pulled apart over time. Below are some pictures of the bad spots. Also looking at the Amber website it says the maximum courses is maximum non reinforced wall height of 972mm (6 courses). It looks like my wall is actually 7 courses un-reinforced. The wall and pool was built back in 2003. I definitely think planting in front of the wall would help, as would removing the lights but I'm in two minds about whether to bite the bullet and do it properly or just hide it.

Thanks for the photos, they help clarify your situation. A few points. The front wall, going by the brickwork, is approx. 700mm high. You could get this down to 600mm by sloping the lawn or garden slightly. Doing this should be fine and then you can pass the construction off as complying and replacement of existing wall. I'd assume the garden in front is part of the council nature strip in which case you can't move forward. I can't see neighbouring front fencelines so it's not obvious. Often there is up to 600mm between the boundary and the footpath but not always. I think there would be too much gabion. Contact a landscaper for a comparative price with sandstone. Obviously it's cheaper if you were intending to build the gabion yourself. The driveway is quite narrow. Widen it towards the lawn, not the boundary. You need to leave that narrow garden for softening of the fence in particular. A picket fence along the front should look fine in white, if that colour appears on your house but the paling fence should not be white. If you are doing a major reno of the house then the landscape items would be best left until the major work is complete. Then you can consider the landscaping in relation to the new look of the house.

Thanks for including orientation. Climate is useful to know too. Dichondra 'Silver Falls' and prostrate rosemary are good suggestions. One that I thought of is convolvulus. I've had more luck with it in shadier situations but I've seen it in full sun. Maybe it's to do with the soil, my shady garden has improved soil and my sunny one does not? It's a nice looking wall so I guess you'd want something wispy to enhance it rather than something dense to disguise it? Bamboo would look good, but make sure it's the clumping type not the running type, and put a root barrier down anyway. There are various thin versions of plants available nowadays, for example Callistemon 'Slim' and Adenanthos 'Silver Streak'. Another idea is to espalier something along the fence, for example star jasmine, unless you don't like the fragrance, some people love it ansd some people hate it. Of course something like that, more formal and structured, would require more maintenance.