I am so glad I found this website - some great advice here. We recently bought a house in Perth, WA, which came complete with a very mixed up, large, uncared for garden - a gorgeous 4m x 4m frangipani in the front, bird of paradise out of control underneath it, huge umbrella trees (not sure of their technical name), bottle brushes, hibiscus, kentia palm, coco palm (that's gotta go, it will hit the powerline soon), burn tree (not sure of their real name either but they're funky looking), lavenders, roses, prickles, weeds etc.

We want to create a more unified look and need advice on whether to go with natives or tropical or can we mix it up successfully?

PALMS - KEEP OR NOT?
Also we just bought 8 golden canes, 4 Alexander and 4 Bangalow palms but am now wondering if these are going to be a problem with what I have read on these forums about root problems. Should we get rid of these and get something else?

STYLE
I really like lush gardens where the kids can play hide and seek amongst the foliage and where you can have the occasional "treat" throughout the year in the form of something pretty blooming (just discovered clivias which are very pretty). I also like plants like agaves, flaxes, cordylines so I don't know if you can mix the two together successfully.

NURSERIES
Also any tips on good, reasonably priced nurseries to buy plants in Perth?

SOME MORE QUESTIONS
1. How fast do Rhoeos grow in bright sunlight?
2. If I prune my really woody hibiscus down by half, will it recover? Its currently in flower so when should I do it?
3. How deep is the root in general of a mature Bird of Paradise? We need to move it and divide it as it is cracking the concrete on the driveway.
4. How easy is it to move 2m high Cabbage Trees (cordyline australis I think)?

Thanks in advance for any tips (from a very keen but novice gardener)

I have answered your Hibiscus question on another thread
Yes you can move the Bird of Paradise if you can as it probably weights a ton .
You may need a back end hoe or similar, I dont know how deep the roots grow
But my neighbours growing in a pot near the fence is about 2 mts into one of my garden beds.
I have Natives, tropicals, cottage, and exotic plants all growing on my 3/4 block .
Mine is not a formal garden everything is mixed, to each his own, do what you like.
And if you are not happy with it, put the plant somewhere else I do it all the time.
And dont forget the Bougainvillea's Cheers..MM.

Grass- One of the modern buffalo grasses, plametto is probably best.

Bottletree should do ok, but Brachychriton populensis would be the best bet. Faster growing.

Good info here, but watch out for weedy spp.
http://www.watercorporation.com.au/w/waterwise_plants_perth.cfm

Adam