Hiya, for a no fuss cover my suggestions are: Ivy - would cover the wall completely and also climb the fence. It's super easy to keep neat by using an electric hedge trimmer. Bamboo - get a species that is clumping - not spreading. Species that have black stems against the green leaves would look very striking. Most grow quite tall though and require full sun so you'd need to take this into account. Lilly Pilly's, Murraya's, Photinia's are hardy and great for tall hedges. Certain species grow quite quickly. Want to get some use out of your plants? Consider passionfruit vine. Great fruit, but the wine will lose its leaves in winter. Same with wisteria, ornamental grape, etc. Enjoy, and hope this helps. Cheers, Debs

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.

I am sorry you feel anything said to you was "rude". I am sorry I couldn't find a way a way to explain how serious the matter is in a way that you like. This conversation was for your benefit, to help you and your neighbour avoid bigger problems later. Please try to understand that. So you say you are in Canberra? Canberra has heavy clay soil. Your structural engineer friend cannot say the wall is good without talking about the drainage. Drainage is an important part of the structure. Correct drainage is even more important where there is heavy clay soil. Canberra does not have 'council approvals'. So I am not sure what it is you think you have when you said it is "council approved". Please respect that I am saying this because it is important. I am not trying to be negative and rude. It is important for you and for your neighbour that the wall is built correctly. The pictures look wrong. That is why people talked about it, instead of simply answering your question about how to make it "not look ugly". No proper drainage is visible behind the wall as shown in the diagrams provided in a previous reply. The idea of drilling drainage holes afterwards is wrong as explained in a previous reply. No-one is trying to be negative and rude. Everyone is trying to help you complete your build safely and correctly so that you and your neighbour do not have bigger problems later. I hope it works out alright for you and for your neighbour.

Referring to your orientation description of the block, and the photo posted, it doesn't make sense. "The land has west front and the retaining wall is on west. The land is having slop downwards to east and south. The retaining wall is at east side as well as north. In attached pic you can see the retaining wall of east side." Is the back of your block (the side with the 2-3m drop) at the west. Or is the back of your block at the east. If you have a park at the rear of the block, and the fencing you can see through, then ideally all your entertaining/lving areas would be good to have them enjoying that view. But, if this is facing west, then you will be competing with the hot summer sun in the afternoons. So you need to look at how you would protect the west side of the home in summer. Also Hammond Park is not that far from the ocean, so you would want doors or windows that open up to the west, so the afternoon sea breeze can get through the home and cool it down in summer, without having to use your air-conditioning.