It doesn't even smell good back there, does it. After removing the eyecatching mulch, what you need is a bed full of evergreen groundcovers and bulbs. When the groundcover plants have covered the ground, in a couple years, add perennial herbs and other fragrant plants, Keeping the annuals in containers, where they will not disurb the complete cover of the bed. Then add the bench with colorful cushions beside them. And turn on some tunes. Enjoy.

Hi Chris Good plan revision there may be a couple of things that may help 1. You need 3Ds to make a decision on the front, its not to difficult to do if your Building Designer has the appropriate software, in all my design I give my clients 3Ds because it is difficult to understand spatial concepts from 2D's drawings - even fro people that do it every day. 2. Internal views are often more important than external - you spend more time inside the house than outside., your neighbours my spend more time outside looking at the house. 3. Upstairs I really like the master bedroom, but one of the robe has a window in it this would mean that the clothes would become decoloured. I would remove the window. 4. Also I would remove the window next to the TV in the recreation room - TV's will increase in size and the window might not add to better viewing. In my opinion the recreation area forces people to go around the sofa - children wont they will walk over them - more fun. I think the Tv should be on the Bathroom wall and the room squared of and the real furniture put in to scale - might help a bit with the final decision, some 3D's would help. 5. There seem to be no window in bedroom 4. 6. The downstairs works well, just that the kitchen bench still has a sink in it - not very practical, and a bit old fashioned because it really does not work - tend to spill between sink - stove and fridge - wet floors are not very helpful in work areas like kitchens. Hope this is of some help Regards Michael

Jennifer, would you be able to sketch the floor plan of house you want to incorporate into an outdoor design? Please include placement and size of windows and doors that access or have view to outdoors. Also, please include the shape and dimensions of your outdoor area, any fences or permanent structures, as well as orientation. This will help people express ideas for you to consider. Cheers!

Your garden has great bones with the existing plantings, it just lacks accent interest to take it from nice to wow. NZ Rock Lily (Arthropodium) would look great in the part where grass won't grow. It likes shade and the dry once established. Will look good with lily pilly's or is that photinia? Not a common nursery plant but you can get them shipped from Australian Plants Online for a reasonable price. While passionfruit is a fast grower it's not the best choice as a canopy vine as it tends to die back and need pruning periodically. Try a pandorea instead. They are natives that are very easy going. Full sun to part shade with many beautiful flower variations. If you are going for the rock lily then pandorea snow bells will work beautifully with it. It's lightly fragrant and very heavy on the flowers during spring and summer. It's a wonderful native alternative to wisteria. This vine is also fast growing so it can fill that space beautifully. It's a cracker of a plant and Bunnings have them in their Upstarts range for $3.50 per vine. Don't worry about the small size they double their size practically every week. I think what you also need there is some colour. And I've got just the plant for you, Coral Bells (Heuchera) is a temperate plant that loves shade and comes in many different colours. My personal favourites are the corals. These are lovely mounding ground covers that you can plant as specimen items to add interest to the garden. They are often added to Japanese gardens for their colour. I would tuck 2 or 3 of these bright babies around the rock lilies and then place large bush rock in strategic locations to create a bit more of a landscape feel to the area.