Your screen was the instant solution to that area, in my mind, I realize you want different ideas, but keeping it consistent will make sense of the front screen and create a contemporary character. I would suggest adding a black shade cloth stapled to the back of he slatted screen to help conceal some of these services though, and perhaps a low line charcoal planter with an espaliered tree, perhaps a miniature lemon or lime, or a hedge of rosemary-I noticed it's next to your BBQ, so you could do this screen with a modification, that is larger battens on the front say every 450 up the front, top fixing a 150mm wide shelf. Cut out some holes for those small galvanized buckets, tiny ones in places like kmart or bunnings and plant out a wall of herbs. This will screen your water tank beautifully.

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Hi Gioenne. Not really. We purchased "advanced" Lilly Pillies for along the back of the fence. They're about the same height as the fence (1.8m). We've also been keeping the interior blinds partially lowered / closed. At the moment, we don't have any outdoor furniture so privacy while relaxing or entertaining outside hasn't been a big problem. Once we have purchased some outdoor furniture we'll re-evaluate the situation depending upon how much the Lilly Pillies have grown. With all of the other "new home" expenses, we'll probably just entertain in full view of our neighbours!

I share your exasperation! We have a large garden with clay soil at our place in sydney and limited budget to redo the whole thing! With 2 kids and work it's hard to keep the backyard looking good. I've found that lilli Pillis worked a treat for screening and grew quickly ie within 2 years were at fence height ( 50cm when planted ) though it looks like you have some hedges growing that may be these already? There are more tree like versions of lilli pillis eg waterhousia floribunda see picture - it's grown over 2 meters in 1.5 years now almost 4m tall and starting to throw shade. We lost a heap of shade when our large Blum gum was removed due to safety reasons. Another option might be a baby citro gum tree? For general landscaping I also love purple fountain grass another plant that really thrives in our climate. Gets to about 1.6m tall and looks very pretty when there is a breeze and they are nice and soft for kids. Agapanthus are another plant we cat seem to kill, and they flower all spring and summer. I often take a look and see what the council plants in the area, usually gives me an idea of what is likely to grow and not require excessive maintenance. There is a fair bit of trial and error some things that look great just can't cope with my low/zero maintenance strategy I now order plants from a wholesale nursery as retail prices can be a budget killer. Also IKEA have good freestanding umbrellas, works well and was cost effective, casts a large amount of shade and can be moved around the garden if needed. The lawn is a bit of maintenance but speaking from experience if you don't have to water it then mowing is probably easier than garden beds, I haven't yet found a way to really stop weeds, so that might be a consideration. Hope the tips are helpful.