Wanda, thank you! That was my first thought because of the australian tree fern. Seems the two facing the fern are slowly not doing well, and the other two opposing the fern are doing fine. Just thought I'd take it to some non-newbie gardeners first! I will get out there today and look for the rotting. Though, he's never mentioned seeing anything. YEY on the dog thing. I was hoping that the flax would be alright. Wanted shrubs over there initially, but can't seem to find one that is safe enough for dogs. Too risky to animal and plant for me. Thanks again, Terra

What Ian said... Despite rumours otherwise, NZ is quite dry in summer- my folks live on the West Coast of the South Island (no fancy-shmancy names for us..) and ran out of water this summer. We've seen some pretty severe droughts in the last few years. Historically the West sides of the islands have been significantly wetter, capturing rain and leaving the East dry, but since we seem to be getting 'hundred year' droughts and floods every couple of years. Damn Climate Change. Anyway, despite our small landmass, NZ's soo long and thin it goes from sub-tropical up North, with some (NZ style) desert in the middle to sub-antarctic down South. A lot of natives succumb to phytopthera if too wet, even the tree ferns and other 'tropical' looking plants. Like Ian, i highly recommend hebes- they are TOUGH- I don't know what your access to NZ plants is like, but if they have the 'wiri' cultivars, they are really stunning. Astelia is one of my favourites. Very hardy, dramatic pale green and silver spear-shaped leaves. Astelia fragrans...need i say more? How about the Caprosma and muehlenbeckia families. Maybe a bit of an aquired taste; divarcating, very 'architectural'. I love em! I think heat and dry would't be a problem. Months of freezing...not so sure. Of course alpine plants would cope, as it's blimmin boiling up those mountains in summer!

But just in case, what would happen if it turns out it's not? Based on the description I think you're ok. Annual ryegrass is just that, annual, which means it would die off after 1 season. It also doesn't look that great, it's mostly used as temporary ground cover. Was my de-thatching & airating a waste of time & money given the amount of soil & seed laid down? Probably. Typically what you would do is kill the existing grass with glyphosate, run a dethatcher to rake up the dead grass after a couple of weeks, then seed. A light covering with compost or peat moss will help keep the seed moist. Will the buried fescue be a problem for the lawn? I don't think so. Worst that can happen is some of it pokes back through, but it was struggling as it was, I doubt it will successfully outcompete the ryegrass. Do you think I've put down the right Rye grass? I think you did, based on the product description. Lastly, i'm concerned that my soil is uneven. I was going to hire a roller but i googled advice & found everything was saying not to. Besides I didn't have time with all the last minute camp prep. Now that I'm back it's been around 10 days since seeding & there's heaps of new shoots everywhere. What can i do? Is it too late to address? I'm glad to hear the grass is germinating well. When it reaches 3 inches, cut it down to 2 inches. Keep it at 2" for another 30 days after the first mow. Mow often. When the grass is about 45 days old you can start experimenting with higher or lower heights of cut to find the one you prefer. Ryegrass can take cutting heights of under 1". Once it's safe to walk on, fertilize weekly for the first 8 weeks using a quarter of the monthly bag rate. So if the fertilizer bag says 2 lbs/month, fertilize weekly with 0.5 lbs. Regarding the leveling, it's too late now. Let the grass establish, and once it's got good roots you can cut it real short and do some leveling with sand. You don't want to completely bury the grass, so it may take multiple rounds a few months apart to get it to level. Here's a great video on leveling.

What is on the upper level? Is that space included in the 800 s.f. ? Make any desirable changes before moving in. Consider an architect.