I thoroughly dislike eucalyptus globulus (blue gum) and acacia mearnsii (black wattle), but that's because they were invasive where I grew up and the pollen from the black wattles was horrible. I've seen people try to grow eucalyptus in Raleigh and it's a dismal sight. Even I feel it borders on abusive to take a tree that should be evergreen and magestically tall and have this poor, half dead, stumpy thing dripping bark in your garden. I'm not crazy about the native pines in the southeast US, because they all have prickly pine cones. I can't walk in my back garden in bare feet because of all the cones from the loblollies and long leafs (long leaves? LOL).

Aaah, the eternal question : where can I get a plant that will screen out the neighbours / view / clothesline in 12 months or so ? As steveqld has already pointed out, this very much depends on where you are, what soil you have to work with and sheer luck. Experienced gardeners will probably raise an eyebrow at the last 'factor' but this is how I see it: 1. Position is everything. Each plant needs a certain amount of sunlight + moisture + soil nutrients - the right plant in the wrong spot is useless. 2. There is no substitute for good soil. If you dont have it, invest the time in building up what you do have. Yes, some natives do thrive in poor soil, but Acacias, Grevilleas and Banksias all present their own set of challenges - do your homework. 3. Some plants thrive on neglect (once established). The canoncial example is the Bougainvillea - I hacked mine back to a stump, had the tree loppers cover it in two feet of woodchip and it burst forth at the first hint of Spring looking more vibrant than anything in the garden. Realy hate that plant ... OK, specifics. In my last garden, I planted lillypillies *everywhere*, just about every commercially-available cultivar you can name (including exotic varieties such as Syz Jambolana) - about 65 all up. They ranged in size from tubestock to 10" pots, and the majority were planted over a 6 month period from the day I moved in. I left after 18 months, and regularly stick my head over the fence to see how they are getting on with the new house as a 'rental'. To date, I havent seen a single dead plant, but that could change if we dont get some rain soon. - attrition : the Rocky sun tore into the majority of the smaller-leaved varieties, particularly the small ones. Very few of the tubestock survived, as they didnt have enough foliage to protect the plant. - relocation : I was able to relocate several of the smaller plants without issue, but I did lose one of the larger Acmenas ($30 = ouch !) after an abortive attempt to relocate it - growth rate : whilst they all put on wonderful new growth after rain, the most spectacular growers were the Aussie Southerns. When an advanced (10") plant exceeds a 100% increase in size in the first 12 months, I'm very happy indeed. They are easily the bushiest and glossiest of the lillipillies I planted, and their light green new growth contrasts nicely with the claret shades of other varieties. The lillipillies werent the fastest growing in the garden, but they gave me the best frame of reference as a single genus. I'm not proud of the fact that I perserved with a pepper tree (Schinus isnt seen as a weed in Rocky, to my knowledge), but it blew everything else away - 6" pot to 3 metres (x 4 metres wide) in under 18 months. Among the plants that I treasured, the standout was my Golden Penda - 6" pot to over 2 metres in 14 months, and bushy to boot. What made these plants (the Aussie Southerns, Penda and Pepper Tree) outgrow everything around...

When you say " 3D landscapes", do you mean pictures, or do you want to work with real plants?: I am assuming you mean pictures, and here is my list: (I am most familiar with eastern Australian plants.) 1. Eucalyptus, Angophora and Corymbia. ("Gumtrees") These are all very similar plants. There are more than 700 species of them in Australia, and almost every Australian landscape has several species,(and Australians love them) so they are essential for your picture. You should use at least one smooth-barked species such as E. camaldulensis (River Redgum). There are many of these growing in Italy, but see some paintings by Hans Heyson for a more typical Australian shape. They grow by rivers on open plains, and are AustraliaÂs commonest Eucalypt. E. maculata( also called Corymbia) (Spotted Gum) is very well-known, and has a tall spotted trunk. E.grandis (Flooded Gum) has a very big, tall straight creamy-white trunk. It typically grows in wet forests and needs a strong green background of rainforest foliage to look authentic. E.saligna has a typical bluegum trunk and is a big tree of the same habitat. E.papuana (ghost gum) is a well-known gumtree of the desert. See some paintings by Albert Namatjira for the setting. Of the rough-barked Eucalypts, the best known are ironbarks such as E.crebra or the blue--leafed E.melanophloia. They have black trunks with deeply furrowed bark, and would be very suitable for your picture. For flowers, the Angophoras and Corymbias are better than Eucalypts, as the flowers are held on the outside of the canopy. A.leiocarpa (Rusty applegum) is very well-known and popular. It grows in many environments including rocks where its roots make good pictures. Western Australian Corymbias are small trees with the showiest flowers. E.ficifolia is very popular and well-known. In Australia gumtree leaves typically show insect damage, and this is considered to be part of their beauty (see paintings by May Gibbs) so you should include insect damage if you are showing close pictures of the leaves. 2. Acacia (Wattles). There are more than 800 species in Australia. Typical Australian landscapes would have up to six species. The species with showy flowers are usually small. A.podalyrifolia is well-known and has blue-green leaves and grown in many environments. (A typical Australian landscape should feature plants with blue-green or silvery-leaves) A.harpohpylla (Brigalow) is a silver-leafed tree of the plains. For a typical landscape you might like to choose one wattle with phyllodes and one with leaves. 3. Grevillea. I would choose G.robusta (silky oak) which is a tree of rainforest margins, very well-known. There are more than 300 grevilleas in Australia and most are from heath environments. 4. Brachychiton acerifolius. This is a popular garden plant which drops its leaves in spring, and becomes covered with red flowers at the same time as the silky oaks are flowering. They look very picturesque together. This is a...

Hello Silent C ......................................................................................................................................................................................... You are right to be concerned about erosion given the slope is 35 degrees. .......................................................................................................................................................................................... How much catchment area do you have leading to the slope (What is the area of land from which water will flow onto the slope?) ................................................................................................................................................................................. ........ This will determune how deep stormwater flows over the slope. The deeper the flow, the more erosion you will get. If it is only a few millimetres, you have nothing to worry about. Once it gets to a few centimetres, you will start having problems. If it is deeper than that, you can expect that the clay you dig up will start to be washed away along with any mulch. ................................................................................................................................................................................. .......... If you have a lot of water wanting to flow down the slope, and your plants are not giving you complete coverage, your best bet would be to have a table drain along the top of the slope to divert it away - prevent much from flowing down the slope. The log you envisage having there could help with that. It would be good if you could capture at least some of that water in a dam or tank or on-site detention storage that you could use to trickle feed water over the slope later to irrigate your plants. ................................................................................................................................................................................. ........... Otherwise maybe you could try groundcover plants such as Lomandra. I actually think if you are going to tamper with the surface, add topsoil etc., a hardy grass that can give complete coverage would be the best for preventing erosion in your situation (if you can find one). ................................................................................................................................................................................. ............. Best of luck, Frank.