For plants - you could have some beautiful Japanese Maples, Herbs and Vegetables, Exotic Palms, some complimentary Hedging, Fruit Trees, Exotic Bamboo, Roses, Ornamental Trees or even Bay Trees! Or possibly awnings, garden furniture, water features and heaters for some quality outdoor living :)

Hi Carolina thanks so much for taking the time to advise. I like the look of the water running down the hill but wonder if that might work better in a different setting. The side sections of the rockery are very close to the main living room patio. i really like the idea of the water running down from the top but I wonder it might be too much of a tight squeeze for the pond part as the lawn is very narrow above it and to the retaining wall, such a skinny strip to play with. It is so frustrating! Or did you mean putting the pond part on the bottom section? Sorry! I suppose this is another option but nowhere near as attractive as your suggestions but if the pond isn't an option on the middle section, what do you think about something like this wall hung in centre of bottom wall?

Lots of tutorials on how to build a pool/pond on youtube. Probably better than a long list of instructions. Keep in mind though that earth doubles in volume when dug up so 8x2x0.4 will give you about 12 cubic meters that will need to be disposed of.

Hi there, What is the globe feature in the middle? Is it a statuary or a fire bowl of some sorts? If it is a fire bowl, I would probably increase the paved circle area around it to be able to place some seating. If it is statuary, I would work on a nice planting scheme to go around the circled paving area. Planting around it would accentuate the circle shape (which seems to be a theme in the garden as you seem to have a circular lawn as well) as you would then have a kind of a circular border around it, which can be seen from a distance (due to the height of the plants). If you need any further help, I offer a range of online garden design services from sketches and planting plans only to garden plans with 3D visuals. I would be glad to help! Good luck with your project! Deborah The Rooted Concept Garden Designs