Planting trees enjoying a garden in the future
Hi all, would greatly appreciate some assistance in long term planning for a backyard. We've bough a house in the inner west in Sydney but won't be able to move in for a while (daycare is impossible to organise). It has a great leafy backyard with a massive fig tree that provides great shade - obviously don't want to do anything to jeopardise that.
The rest of the garden are lilly pillies of some sort which I'm indifferent about. I'd prefer to put in more flowing plants to attract birds and insects, or ideally a mango or avocado tree but i've read that they won't necessarily grow that well without full sun and they won't get that due to the fig. Any recommendations for plants that might work in this space? Only constraint is the sewer line is about 2m down on the left side of the fence.
The retaining wall behind the BBQ also has a garden bed so could use recommendations for a hedging plant that would stop kiddos running or jumping off the edge but not have roots that would force the wall apart
Posted Dec 9, 2025, 9:03 AM UTC