Hi, Barbara! Hello, my friends in the Houzz! I got caught in the whirlwind of construction works and a wedding and family homecoming that went with it! Now, I am happy to be back supervising the works. I made additions to the house, mainly at the back, making outdoor living and relaxation as a feature with the grill and outdoor seating and mobile Kitchen all added around the small bath area. Security here in this country is a big consideration, which leaves me with not much choice but to build high and strong fences and gates. My challenge is how to allow for a view of those cornfields and meadows just behind the house, providing a natural awesome backdrop to the 450sqm small property. It may not disappoint you too much to know that I went for the cut stone cladding for the four tall gate posts in front, a copy from the cladding on the posts of the front veranda, only, they are 2.2meters high. There will be two wide gates that will allow entry and exit of suv's on a half roundabout. The whole stretch of the front fence and gates shall be 2.2m vertical iron rods all lined up in a picket. This should allow the least obstructed view of the property from the narrow road. I shall send you more photos of our finished product :). In the meantime, this is how I have fared... Blessings to you, all!!

I think a formal garden like in that beverly hills house would look really great with what you have planned. Its a big grand old house so it really suits to go quite grand in the style. i think the pencil pines in that picture would be a good addition to your front garden, The long lines really suit the height of the house. Some height in the garden is really what's lacking in your garden, also consider long tall flowers like lillies, agapanthus, hippeastrums or alliums. A few pants that echo the line and height of the columns would look great.

Definitely agree with Amber Tiles above. Natural stone will require continuous sealing over their lifetime but it is an easy process and well worth it. The efflorescence are unfortunately unavoidable if the salt is in your paver/concrete. Get on to the sealer straight away and it actually prevents it from coming out all over the place. Are you concreting in the pavers? There is different trains of thought on efflorescence. You can wait for it to come out or you can seal it straight up. If you wait you will have to acid wash them down and let them dry prior to sealing. You may end up doing this anyway. Efflorescence take elbow grease to get off. 1 part hydrochloric acid to 10 parts water usually, with a scrubbing brush. As it's acid make sure you follow the instructions to clean stone down. I had to increase the acid proportion 1/5 to get the efflorescence off. *** It can etch the paver so trial it first. If you have a heated gurney wash it down using that. Tip: get the acid off straight away and dont do it in full sun. The acid if left to dry can stain your limestone a rust colour. Do a meter at a time. Use a good penetrating sealer and make sure you keep the name for future sake. Depending on the look you like get the appropriate sealer ie natural, wet look etc. Again, trial it first to see if its what you like. As for fence, monument is an awesome colour. Will bring the look of space in. Will be a big job. Are you doing this? Monument is a Colorbond colour. Nearly all brands of paint do it but each brand has a slightly different pigment base. If you do go this way, see if you can find out what brand your builders used and use the appropriate outdoor wood fence monument paint so the base pigment is the same. I hope this helped. Anneke

Do a horizontal wider board slat fence. You could still do it in Monument. The fine vertical batons look great but will date very quickly I suspect.