tannietara- Any stone (bluestone slate), travertine, brick, or concrete will get hot in the sun because of the thermal mass capacity of these dense materials. If you do use these them, you should consider lighter colors as they will reflect more of the solar radiation striking them, rather than absorbing it as will darker colors. Travertine may have the edge here, and by its nature is less dense than bluestone slate. You might also consider separating bluestone pavers with intermediate grids of turf (best), pea gravel, or decomposed granite which will break up the mass of the stone and help allow the stone pavers to cool. Always wanted to see Perth! -Greg

I don't think that it is so much the wall that is the problem but the plants hanging over the wall. They are leaning on the wall and look as though they may be destabilising the whole wall to the point that it may fall over. If you removed all of the top heavy plants on the inside and then had a simple hedge that is a bit higher than the wall itself so that you get a solid green above the wall, then this green would break up the monotony of the wall. Keeping the weeds away from the base of the wall would also help, tho this is not too bad. You could paint the lattice but once you do this you have ongoing maintenance. You could paint it a bright, bold marine blue or yellow based red/orange, but as stated, the maintenance is then ongoing. I would look at the structure of the wall to ensure that it is stable before doing anything. Alison

It is all relative to the entire property, the house and the yard. Is this a part of the pedestrian circulation or a seating area? Are there utilities adjacent, is it in the front yard and viewed by neighbors, or part of your private space. Is it viewed from the dining/living rooms or just from the bedrooms. Will it be used by tricycles or just feet (no golf shoes please). In my experience, (don't you hate it when someone starts off a sentence in which he offers advice with that phrase), the mondo grass is too large for any pedestrian pavement. There are a large variety of more prostrate plants you can walk on at your garden center, I expect. Some can be walked on daily, and others less often. Some are evergreen, some have attractive flowers, some are into more gray or smoky colors than just green. You can mix them up, just as you do with groundcovers in your plant beds. Enjoy!

Hi Aletla, If your apartment is part of a strata make sure that you get their permission before painting anything (best ask then fall foul of them as many courtyards are deemed as common property for exclusive use meaning that the Strata has the last word). If you get permission, I'd be tempted to lean towards a mid gray the same colour as the exterior building so that you're able to blur the lines between vertical and horizontal areas and make the area look bigger. You could think about putting in modular decking that will change the look of your courtyard that can be pulled up and that can be stained to any colour you pick. You would have to ask your strata but if you let them know it's modular and can be pulled up when you leave they should be OK with that as long as it cant be seen easily from outside the property boundaries. Regarding putting up shade - strata will not have any problem if you invest in a large outdoor umbrella as long as you make sure that it doesn't become a hazard during high winds/storms - you wont have to ask them. You can put up outdoor awnings but you'll need to get permission, supply all the engineering specs and your Strata may have restrictions regarding colour and style and may require you to: provide a structural engineers report on the impact, indemnify the building and put the awning on your insurance (a lot of work) and if necessary pay for a change of by-law. If you decide that you cant/don't want to change the colour of your outdoor flooring and as beige and grays are really popular, you could always tie the two together more with outdoor cushions for your seating that feature both of the colours. If you can get a high pressure hose and remove dirt and flaking paint to see exactly what the condition of the tiles are, you could ask your strata to pay for their reconditioning (if you offer to paint them and give them the colour and say you're happy to pay for that then they'll probably say "OK" to avoid costs to the strata as they're responsible for the external parts of your building - remember you only own the airspace of your apartment).