A particular favourite of mine is drift wood and pebbles from the beach, I often arrange them as table decorations and the pebbles make great paper weights! As we are now in the winter season I like to bring in holly and mistletoe, dried branches as well. A lot of which I find on walks or from local suppliers, I love making table decorations and wreaths for Christmas.

Morning Jacky, I am a keen gardener with an RHS course behind me and I was taught that looking for trees with 3 seasons of interest for a garden is always a good idea ie blossom in spring, pretty foliage in summer and autumn fruit. Something like Amelanchier lamarckii which gets to 10m high and 12m wide has pretty dainty blossom in spring delicate bronze foliage in summer and red orange leaves in autumn. The birds also love the purple black fruits which follow. Or a Malus 'John Downie' or Malus Floribunda both vigorous crab apple trees with a long season of interest. I would probably not go for the Tuscan pillar conifers because they will act as pointers drawing your eye to the houses you are trying to screen. Birch (Betula Utilis var Jacquemontii are beautiful however they will reach 15m or possibly consider weeping birch Betula Pendula "Youngii' which makes a dome shape and gets to 8m high and 10m wide. Perhaps have a look at the RHS website which is very helpful.

Great news. I am sure you won't regret it. I agree holly is rather prickly and the dropped leaves take ages to rot away with the spikes going last. There are some varieties that have virtually no spikes - Ilex aquifolium J C Van Tol is one, and it is self fertile and you can by it bare root/root ball in November (cheap). Cotoneaster franchetii is a good choice, and is semi-evergreen so may give some winter green too. Why not have it and Amelanchier? Other good natives that have flowers and berries (but are not evergreen) are Blackthorn, Hawthorne and Dog roses. All do have throns, but these are on the stems not the leaves, so less likely to cause problems - just a thought.

Having given it far too much thought, what I reckon you want is small trees with open canopies that don't shade the office too much. Birches would be fine, except that they grow too quickly. I started thinking of perhaps Prunus 'Amanogawa' (or Malus 'Van Eseltine') in the centre, with ten-year-old Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana' whose vivid green and shell-like swirls would make a superb contrast with the vertical, orangey wall - but you'd have to wait for them to make the impact. My best suggestion, though, is Acer griseum in the centre, whose peeling bark colours would blend perfectly with the wood walls but also soften them - its vivid autumn colours would give great anticipation through the summer. On the outsides, I'd have Eucalyptus niphophila, which also has striking bark, and its evergreen, sickle-shaped blue leaves would really complement and soften the office wall, and break up the strong edge all year round. You could plant under all three trees as neither species casts a heavy shade. Or, if you want to create a rhythm, stick with three 'Snow Gums'; but I quite like the idea of the 'Paperbark Maple' softening the centre of the double doors and bridging that big hole in the vertical planking. If you do this, please post a photo in ten years' time !