As for the native garden, well I'm very happy with that. The grasses have really taken hold, and I'm kicking myself for planting so many different types. My personal favourite are the red tussock and the rainbow tussocks. Pictured here is a bunch of tussocks I can't even remember the name of. I've been pulling clumps and transplanting to other areas in the native beds, and I'm looking forward to a dense cover of these grasses everywhere!
The south side is doing very well with hebes, three and five fingers, ferns, manukas and kanukas, and a range of grasses. But the battle is keeping the 
weeds back given the steep ground makes mulching difficult. The trees have started over the fence line, and we even have a bit of an understory happening. I reckon it will look well established in about another 2 years.
The front is looking good, but still very young. Its another steep section so mulching was difficult. We layed boxing board over the lawn that was there, and covered it with woodchip. The woodchip has bonded well, covering the steep ground and generally holding 
on top of the cardboard nicely. We are putting medium to large trees in this part for privacy, and as they aren't expected to grow much higher than 3 - 6 metres, they won't shadow the house, thanks to the steepness and distance from the house.
