Hi mike, We have the perfect solution for you! Designer Plants is a supplier of Artificial Vertical gardens. Our vertical garden panels look amazing, are easy to install, and they require no maintenance. Please see our website, www.designerplants.com.au - have a look at the many styles of garden panels we have available, If you see one you're interested in please take advantage of our free samples. Feel free to get in touch should you have an inquiry. Good luck with your project. :)

For what it's worth we have a cottage with one hundred years old timber floors – mainly not tongue and groove just beautiful boards that we pulled up, re-trimmed and relaid. The boards are just beautiful – and they are probably mainly spotted gum as we live amongst them and when the cottage was built they would have used the timber from the local mill. We chose a satin finish for them and they just glow – everyone who walks in exclaims about how lovely they are. When we built a modern extension a couple of years ago we were lucky enough to find some more old (maybe 60-70 years) floor boards that came out of an old shed that was being demolished – they looked beyond retrieval but they were lovely big, heavy boards so they had plenty of meat on them so once they had been re-trimmed and thicknessed they have been finished with the same satin finish and also look amazing. I love that they look like timber (once part of a tree, a living, growing, imperfect but wonderful organism) rather than looking timber-like.

Stunning! Keeping the original cottage is so respectful of the history, and bringing it into the future so thoughtfully is genius. A gracious old lady dons a beautiful new coat.

Kristen, your plan looks good to me. The stepping stones along the long fence are a great feature. The palm in that photo, is it on your side of fence or your neighbour's? Ruth & bigreader have good suggestions re using more of a hedging plant. Both would be striking and afford you some privacy in time. Just check that your soil will agree with whatever you select. I love birds of paradise, but will the giants be enough to give privacy? I like them in small groups best rather than in a line. It's going to be a splendid back garden when you are finished.