It's the view of the ugly fence and the neighbour's house that bothers me the most. Potential buyers are put off by unpleasant views and I would definitely paint it a dark green or grey then plant some screening trees all the way along it- tall, narrow & evergreen pencil pines. The creeper on the fence/trellis isn't doing enough imo. As for the vegie patch, dig in some mushroom compost, make a couple of tee pees for some climbing beans or cherry tomatoes in each bed, plant lots of salad varieties and herbs around the edges, mulch well..hey presto in a few weeks. We all need a little visual inspiration sometimes.

Analysis first, then plan, as Tookoo recommends. Use native plants, as neotoma recommends. Get specific plant recommendations locally, as Terri & sgelade recommend. Here is my two cents worth, for the shortterm. a. Remove and stockpile the lawn edging and most of the mulch back against the fences. b. Take a can of spray paint, or a bundle of surveyor's flag, and mark the largest circular or curved form that will fit within the fenced areas, no matter where the trees stand (inside or outside of the line) to form the temporary edge of your lawn area. See if the entire family agrees on the alignment or just do what looks best to you as the Senior Gardener. c. Add the wood edging to the new edge, or, it will look a lot better if the edge is not visible, using a steel edge whose top edge is down just above the grass roots and no longer visible, and not an impediment to the lawn mower. (when you form the plant beds, you will dig down a couple inches at the edge, where it meets the steel, and then slope the bed up from there, and the mulch will be contained at the level of the lawn, beyond) My recommendation, after you call in your landscape advisor, is to fill the beds totally with ground cover, beneath the shrubs, so no mulch will be seen after the two years of plant growth, using only a finer textured mulch which will become part of the soil bed. (Maybe the bark mulch will smell good in your new fire pit, along with the wood edging.) d. Plant the entire area with grass seed or sod and enjoy the beauty. The curved edge will make the space appear and feel larger and will decrease the maintenance of the smaller bed areas. On the subject of tree placement: analyse first, then plan. Look at all the views beyond your fenceline from all windows of the house, the living/ dining areas, all the bedrooms, to enhance the good views and to block the big, the bad, and the ugly. The large trees on your list will block views from the upper windows, The small horizontally branched trees will be a piece of sculpture in your downstairs view throughout the year, while their flowering and fragrance yet another reason to be alive. For instance, if you have an attractive small tree that has attractive flowers and foliage, PLUS has attractive bark color and has a sculptural quality in the off-season, you won't have to visit the museum quite as often, with a sculpture garden right out your window.

@jazz jazz , Hi , first off from my point of view , I understand you about huntsmen , 46 yo male here and I'm poop scared of them !!! , my mate on the other hand will pick them up and relocate them to tree :) . I understand what you say too about the tram part that your house part is priority first. I was just curious to maybe finding out if you eventually planned to "show" the tram off , either family or friends might be interested in information about the tram that you can talk about , that was my main reason sort of for posting. Any information about it I can gladly pass on. Now about the Real Estate person saying 94 or 96 , if that meant the number then I could narrow it down. Number 294 is in South Aust. still in operative condition where as number 296 was sold off even before I was born so if anything remains of it in any shape I'd be surprised. Above the saloon door in top photo on the top arched frame , hard to see , and I don't know how to pin point it , is black numbering , if your saloon door area is intact , you will locate the car number there. On the front of the apron the number may be located too but your one has been painted on already and one can hardly expect another to scratch off a bit of paint to reveal a silly number :). As I do with everyone I more than respect privacy , but one other way I could possibly check on a number would be the property locale , generalised area as such like Ballarat or Bendigo , don 't like asking that though. I take it that it's in Vic , maybe country vic , if East I have a pic of number 260 at Noojee that was set up with a house in such manner. Other than that my mate likes beer and his ears pricked up when I read your post out to him. Good luck with it all , Green and Cream Color scheme if going for a historic look or Chocolate and Cream as those were the 2 Color schemes W class trams have had. Old Chap.

I agree with asquithoatley. If you want to keep the central lawn then the concrete around the sides is the obvious area to address. Along the house the path accesses the clothesline and the sitting area. Along the metal fence it seems to do very little except obstruct the potential for a lusher more private more inviting space. Towards the view I feel like I would do something to cover that balustrade because at the moment it seems to provide a good view of a rooftop, but perhaps that's just the photo.