Front fence proportions ... what do you think?

So the front yard landscaping and fence plan is not yet finished, but with your help I am getting there :)
Thank you lovely people for all your help to date.
What pillar height should we go for? I've drawn them as 1.6m high. What do you think? Make them smaller?

Also, what do you think of the wall height? I've drawn the hedges behind the fence and along the front path as 1m tall, and the wall in the first drawing is 300mm and in the second 600mm high, what do you think? Which do you prefer, if any?

1.6m pillars, 1m hedge and 300mm wall

1.6m pillars, 1m hedge and 600mm wall

Do you think the brick fence in a matching brick as our house would look too matchy? Should we instead get it rendered? Or something else perhaps?

Also, our fence footings are only 300mm wide, do you think 300x300 posts look .... too skinny? What can we do to improve the appearance?

Do you think the two posts so close to each other in between the front path and the driveway looks odd?

PS. You will notice that I removed the hedges along the fence on both sides. I am worried that our 400mm garden bed in between the driveway and fence is way too narrow for a hedge and that it would be too high maintenance and/or scratch our cars :( - I will leave this for a separate post I think. Ugggh. So many things to consider, so many decisions to be made...

PS. don't forget to enter my giveaway for your chance to win one of three organic lip balms.

B

Shrubs, perennial or ground cover plants under the hedge?

What type of plant would you recommend for under the hedges on the side of the front path? I would prefer something very low maintenance and drought tolerant, and that is compatible with the Murraya hedge since they will be living so close to each other...

By low maintenance, I mean something that doesn't need regular cutting, trimming etc... if there is such a plant *shy*

We plan to keep the hedge at either 600mm or 1m high.

Also, although I would prefer a green and possibly white garden I am open to suggestions as to which colour perennials would work well with our red brick facade.

Choisya ternata

White evergreen azalea

White rhaphiolepis

Gardenia Augusta Florida

English lavender

PS. don't forget to enter my giveaway for your chance to win one of three organic lip balms.

B

Landscape plan progress. What do you think?

Thank you all for your suggestions in my previous posts. I've drawn up some of them and look forward to hearing your feedback.

There are just two different plants and the tree. The hedge all around including the fence are all 600mm high. And then some smaller shrub/plants on the inside of the hedge and outside in front of the fence. Would love to hear your thoughts.

I worry that it might look too busy... What do you think? Should we add more layers? Plants in front of the window on the left perhaps? Plants around the tree as well?

The colorbond fence is brand new, so I am not sure how Mr Thisisme is going to feel about a hedge all along. Is there a way of trimming a hedge without scratching/damaging the fence? Or should we go with stroppy plants or shrubs that don't require trimming along the fence?

Terrible tree, I know *shy*

Thanks to Heidi's suggestions of matching the height of the outside hedges to that of the fence, and increasing the hedge gap to 1.2m I've modified the plan. What do you think?

Is the hedge gap below too big for the length of the hedge, or is it perfectly fine?

B

Garden structure ...

Because of the irrigation plan, I would like the architectural elements in our front yard design to last a very long time, even if the planting scheme changes further down the track. So am happy to leave the selection of individual plants until the garden structure is laid out. We haven't really got much room in the front yard (approx 5.8m x 9m).

What I would like is a simple, formal garden with evergreen plants and shrubs.

I originally wanted just the lawn and then doing the rest later on, but with the irrigation having to be planned out according to plants/species, this can't work...

"Strong architectural lines, including a dominant axis and maybe several secondary axes, balanced with the softness of mass planting." - What exactly is the definiton of mass planting though? How do we achieve it in such a small space? Should we replicate the shrubs on the inside of the hedge for the garden bed in between the driveway and the fence? Should we also have a garden bed on the opposite side, near the fence?

"If trees and hedges form the structure of the garden, then shrubs are the filling required to make it all look like a garden. Shrubs provide substance and are often used as a backdrop to smaller feature plants. Without shrubs the garden looks incomplete - they are a vital layer needed to construct a good garden. For this reason they are nearly always evergreen."

"Keep in mind that shrubs tend to look good when used en masse, because their form on their own is not very striking. The general rule is the smaller the shrub the more you need to group together to form a mass."

Quotes are from Paul Bangay's Guide to Plants 2011.

B