Flufftop, there have been many good suggestions in this discussion. You already have two 'WOW' factors in your front yard...your lovely cottage and the tree. Whatever you do needs to link these two with the remainder of the garden and that's not an easy thing to do when you have a variety of ideas coming at you from all directions. Walk around your neighbourhood, go to Diggers for inspiration but also go to your local nursery and ask if they have a garden advisory service. Another option is to find a local garden designer (www.aildm.com.au) and have them visit your garden. They have the knowledge to tie all your ideas and thoughts together. They will suggest ways to incorporate all, or some, of your wishes into a unified design which can be implemented immediately or over a period of time to suit your budget. It will cost you a fee for an hour or two ,or more if you get a plan drawn up, but will save you money and disappointment because you'll be eliminating guess work and mistakes. Best wishes Arthur

Start with ripping out the clothes line and side path, then have another look. Maybe sell the shed, or bury it in passionfruit, or diplodenia, or solea. Maybe even excavate the lawn, and think about a sunken garden with winding paths, where you may step down into your little piece of magic. Everything depends what you want (exclusively native [low maintenance], all exotics, or a judicious mix?), and where you are climate-wise - so best to get advice from local nurseries, especially if you feel like planting natives. Sketch out rough designs that take into account functional aspects as well as aesthetics...perhaps seek inspiration from garden magazines or online pics, perhaps purchase a couple of native/exotic plant compendiums and pore over them. A well-planned garden can be a joy eternal so don't hold back at this stage. Once your basic structure is sketched out and planted up, the rest is relatively inexpensive and gradual. My rule of thumb is to eliminate whatever you can first (and be ruthless), and then look at the space again and again. Then work to your simple design in stages, beginning with advanced trees and layout of paths and larger shrubs (e.g., westringias are beautiful and very hardy natives). Start with the sun-loving specimens first, then use them as canopy for planting the rest. You've got a good start with your 'borrowed vista' of trees and shrubbery in the corner along the north side, and you have room for an advanced specimen feature tree - perhaps your only big buck investment - in the centre or towards the opposite corner (perhaps a magnolia or a crabapple, or whatever is your favourite). Then you could pop a bench under it for pina coladas and other slack pursuits. Space and available sun also suggest possibilities for a shade garden - or dappled sections, especially in a shady corner. You might install a pergola extending from the side wall to soften the bare brick; or you could plant a hedge of sun-loving 'prostanthera ovalifolia' or a tea tree variety down the side of the house instead of a path (do you really need it? why not a winding path through the centre of your garden to your door!). You have sunshine that roses love, so maybe some fragrant old roses, or one or two David Austins, could be beautiful against a sunny wall, or beside the steps. I'd go for little paved pathways and circular beds, lushly planted with native shrubs and ground covers that tolerate both sun and semi-shade. Natives from the local region are usually always a success and grow quickly. Kangaroo paws love sun, and make a fabulously dramatic addition to a sunny garden if clumped. Other native grasses can also be used as features to add design and formality, yet still retain a kind of 'wild' look, requiring trimming every couple of years for luxuriant growth. I seriously would hesitate to repeat the lawn, they are high maintenance and for what? Reduce lawn to a small section if you wish/need to retain it. There are native grasses that can be mowed (less frequently than exotics, such as microlaena stipoides), which would create a softer look if you felt like placing a little formal lawn somewhere, once all your designing and planting is done. In any event, from a basic design, you can fill it all in in stages, as inspiration strikes. Mass planting to a formal design (say clumps of lomandra, or fast-growing shrubs in key positions, or lots of native violets for ground cover (hederacea; there are two types, which will take off and propagate themselves in the warm weather) will save lots of indecision about what to plant; heavily mulch empty zones until you decide on what to plant, or pot things up for planting later; you can always dig up ground covers, move shrubs and replant later (after replacing lost nutrients to the soil!). Best of luck and may the joys of gardening be with you!

Looking at adding something like this onto of the wall. Perhaps increasing the balustrades and incorporating the timber or aluminium slats with a new electric gate. So still has some level of privacy with some plants on the footpath side. Plants an hedges inside the property hopefully to reach the height of the fence in time.

Hi Our concrete pavers were poured two days ago and have not been sealed yet. I am concerned that if they are sealed as they are it will give the inconsistent colour (aka oil spill effect). This is by my front door - so no pressure. If so, is there anything I can do to remediate this? In addition there are lots of small cracks. Is all of this normal and it will all look good in the end?