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Where is north in this photo? It looks to me as though the area in question is fairly shaded so a lot of the above options wont work if the area is on the southern side of the home, especially because of the winter shade. The space gets afternoon sun - in summer or winter? There are shadows from trees - are these deciduous or evergreen? Clay can vary enormously from being plasticine like to clay with rocks or stones in it. This will have an enormous bearing on the plants that you can use, precluding plants like westringias that require very good drainage. A plant that is as tough as old boots that will grow in both sun and shade [with some sunlight during the day] is Buxus microphylla var japonica varieties, while Aucuba japonica [Gold dust plant] or even some of the native lomandra grasses would work well. The first two can be grown as a hedge with the latter choosing a variety that you like [ there are so many], but have the plants all the same - don't mix them up. These will all grow in some shade, will grow in clay as well if it isn't too poorly drained. It does appear as though the area is sloping ever so slightly away from the house which is good. But I would steer clear of paving - unless its needed for access etc, it will look patchy and pointless - use plants instead to make your picture - its far more sustainable. Alison

Do you have a budget in mind? preparation is the key to success, I would consider maintenance how much time do you have to spend on the garden, hedgers are great but to look great require a fair amount of consistant care. Firstly I would do a ph test on the soil, that will determine what you will be able to grow easily, you then need to consider light, how much sunlight does the area get, it looks to be quite compact being a driveway, drainage is another issue as from the picture it looks the have quite a slope to the area, the laws of gravity will have an effect on water infiltration, so plants at the highest point will have less water and the plants at the bottom will be subject to being water logged. I would be mindful of plants with thorns being such a small area and getting in and out of your car scratches are inevitable and dangerous for little kiddies eyes etc. Australian natives are great but most wont tolerate water logging and most prefer alkaline soils and wont do well in heavy shade. My choice would be to find a climber to suit the area there are many to choose from I love Hardenbergia Happy wanderer, Jasmine, honeysuckle and stephanotis just to name a few. Camelias are also something to consider but again all comes down to your soil ph.

Hi Roger, With the pleached trees, I think your underplanting amps up the tropical look especially if you go with a magnolia that have the dark green upper leave and the bronze underside. You could just go for banana or palms - personally I think you might be right about the clumping bamboo becoming a bit dense. Regarding your 400mm retaining wall - citrus are shallow rooted and tend to have a root system that goes out to their drip line. Maybe if you put it in a corner you can use the corner to espalier it in conjunction with staking it to get upper stablility but I'm not sure how it'd go with the roots - but give it a go at $30-50 depending upon size it's not an huge amount if it doesn't do well - just dig it up (just watch the thorns) and give it to a friend - check out Daileys for varieties and maybe get in touch and see what they think, they might do them on a dwarf root stock - I've found them to be helpful in the past. i'd be reluctant to underplant any kind of citrus though - as they are shallow feeders.