Your aspect and site preparation plus soil quality will have a big bearing on your garden success along with good planning & advice from garden experts. There are quite a few stories on subtropical gardens & this one is about [Balinese style gardens[(https://www.houzz.com.au/magazine/so-your-garden-style-is-balinese-stsetivw-vs~28063813). If you read it there will be links to other similar stories that you can save and find the right plants and a design to suit your space. If you stagger the deck or paved surface the space has more interest and pockets to plant feature/colourful plants. Agree with Sian about finding the water feature first to start with & maybe a watering system to keep it all lush. Do you have any mature neighbouring gardens to borrow backdrop, shade and height for your space? Plan it out first and Good Luck!

Alex, your courtyard area is probably too tight to achieve what you want plus a workable grass area, which will be a hassle to maintain for a small benefit. The first step would be to consult an arbourist about the health condition, longevity and potential to trim any branches below 2m of the existing two trees. No point in landscaping around two old trees if they are in poor health. At the same time confirm with your arbourist how close to your tree trunks that you can pave. In keeping with the period of the home I would probably use second hand bricks from the same period of the home, laid on a sand base to pave most of the area to provide good access between the entry gate and front door, as well as the dining and BBQ area. Don't pave near your tree trunks or under low hanging branches that will be kept. Keep a planting bed at least 600mm wide adjacent to the boundary fence and between the brick paving and house to soften the look. Select plants for your planting beds based on needs, probably low level shrubs between the house and paving, and vertical growing evergreens along the boundary fencing where you may need privacy. Shade loving ground cover under your trees, and mulch everything. Keep it understated and simple, and make the retained tree(s) and your house the feature with garden lighting. In a courtyard this size you don't need to introduce a feature. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls

How's it going ? U in yet? You loving the country life? Great flower stalls on that road, or use to be! $2 bunches.. Can you look at my 'tiny house' the size of your powder room..lol https://www.houzz.com.au/discussions/6042198/those-with-an-eye-for-colour If you have any other ideas. I got some good ones already. But throw any more around that you think might work.

Bear in mind that lawn needs to be mowed. How practical will that be in that tiny courtyard? If you want to remove the tiles I would be inclined to put gravel and stepping stones down with a walkable creeper in patches. There's a good amount of sun there so you should be okay with many choices. Choose a variety that works well in part-sun with a nice fine leaf. Thyme is actually a fantastic ground cover that smells great when you walk on it, tiny leaved, loves to be in dry places and is covered in masses of either white or purple flowers at the end of summer. At the moment your plantings are a bit more spanish than french, which is fine you could take inspiration from Riveria places like Nice. To go a bit more french I would swap out the succulents for either lavenders or roses or both! Both will work beautifully with the geraniums and olive tree. I purchased a beautiful lavender this year called Forte from Bunnings. It's a spanish styled lavender with the big petals on the flower head and is the most vivid shade of violet imaginable. Very fast growing in 6 weeks mine have doubled in size. Nice low mounding variety that will look good in pots. Floribunda roses are ideal for courtyards and small spaces as the bush only reaches around 80cm high and sends our bunches of roses on the bush. Floribunda means abundant flowers. I would avoid hybrid tea's as they are a large bush with loads of thorns. Or a climber would be good there too. My personal favourite is Lady of Shallot. But I also have one called Hot Cocoa which is very special and a floribunda. Roses love courtyards especially near a brick wall that radiates heat onto the bush. It keeps blackspot away because water never accumulates on the actual bush due to the heat. We associate roses with England but actually they come from the middle east and are a hot and dry country plant.