You must be in a tropical zone - I see palm trees .What zone are you in ? How long do you plan to live in this house and are you married to the grass ? How long and wide is the garden ? Can you make a shot from the fence toward the house ( house in center ) ?

Thanks Orangecamera. It's still a work in progress and mud everywhere Sorry we did look at having the steps' off set' but it didn't seem to go with only three steps and a small area. And about the zen well the cats are doing that for us much to our disappointment (it's still like a litter box to them). We went to the garden supply place still not knowing what kind of stones we were getting. We stood in front of all the bins (there where many). We even looked at mixing some. The grey stones had a bin more the size we wanted but we ended up getting the golden fleck. It was a little smaller, which was a shame, the bigger ones were so mixed in their grading it looked too messy. So this is what we finished up with. It was seagardens that got me thinking away from grey and nwduck mentioning the drainage. So this has really helped. Also everyone seem to think the wooden steps needed to go a lot lower. Next it's figuring out where the large river stones should go

We have very similar narrow side gardens. Judging from your picture, I'm guessing that you get more sun on the left. So, close to the door you could have pots of varying sizes and similar colour with dark leaf cannas and contrasting agaves potted, which won't overtake your garden because of the pot restriction. On the shade side, I'd plant ferns at intervals with clivia inbetween. You could also put up some chicken wire on the fence and train jasmine. On the sunny side, cordyline show-off, vireya rhodos, hibiscus (beautiful varieties) and bromeliads for groundcover. Good luck and have fun.

I am having my house painted at the moment. My chosen weatherboard colour was Dulux Mt Aspiring (with Okarito windows and Castlecliff door/accents). When the painters started on the weatherboards I thought the Mt Aspiring was too white - so asked them to change to Double Mt Aspiring. I am now regretting that decision somewhat. They have now painted all four sides and the colour is perfect on 2 sides. The problem is the front looks a lot darker as is is just about always shaded from the tree lined street. My question is - would it be feasible to have just the front repainted in the single mix and leave the other 3 sides as they are? Is this a done thing or not advisable? Appreciate any thoughts.