What I have tried to do with my garden is use predominantly local native species so it is very much in harmony with the environment. We live in a very marginal windy coastal area so it means my garden grows too
I work on the principle of having a low maintenance garden that is functional so I have definite garden areas which are all local natives & definite vege/fruit areas which are permaculture so are not necessarily very neat & tidy! What I have found is I have a plan of what I want to plant. I get some plants. As I go along ideas & plant combinations show up more. I go to the local botanical gardens & see what is growing in there in their native plant section. I also get lots of books out of the library & look at them for ideas.
I've tried to grow quite a few of the more endangered rare local species. I've got a small lawn area with a deosil spiral of pavers which has a small divaricating shrub at the centre which I am going to topiary as it grows. I've got a tussock bank that moves beautifully in the wind. I've got shells around the garden for the kids to play with & listen to the sea in. I've got a bank of local plants you can weave with - pikao & flaxes - so the kids can make things when they get bigger. The flaxes will also serve as a wind block for my vege garden when they get bigger.
We don't have wild flower meadows as the country would be covered in bush if we didn't have ppl here. But a wild flower meadow would be awesome for the kids to play in. Would attract lots of butterflies - which we don't really have here either. But I do remember clouds of butterflies on some of the wildflower meadows from when I was very young & lived in England. You could do an orchard in the wild flower meadow so it is functional as well as pretty.
I've got some nice smelling native aniseed & tarata in easy reach that the kids pick leaves off & smell. I've also tried to plant a variety of trees so I always have some flowers in the garden. All my trees & plants are still small coz I only started the garden just after xmas but they will grow up & have hidey holes & spaces. I've integrated some veges beds for me & the kids at the bottom of the tussock bank where they grow veges they like such as carrots. I got some purple carrot seed for next year so dd is very excited. Their sand pit is by the vege garden area so they can play while I do the garden.
In front of the house, where it is sheltered, I am going to do sort of a japanese garden with native plants. I really like the dry gardens which they do & the patterns they rake in them. They tend to have standing rocks in the dry gardens, so I am considering doing a stone circle if I have enuf room, but you could always put a goddess statue in there instead.
I would like a small waterfall-type thing for the kids to play with which is also a part of japanese gardens. I am very into them at the moment as it is winter here so I am in my planning phase for next season.
I've got an area set aside which dh has strewn with pine logs right now for my vege garden next year. I got a very good book on permaculture out of the library & that talks about using mandala shaped beds. You then surround them with a mixture of herbs & useful flowers to keep the grass at bay. I'm also putting berries & fruit bushes around mine so the kids have something to munch on.
Out the back, we've got 3 acres of bush. We had the wilding pines growing in it logged but are having issues with getting the fallen logs removed so I am unable to do much to probably 2 acres of it other than clamber over the logs & weed the noxious weeds. We're building the kids a playhouse out there somewhere. I was thinking of doing it like a japanese teagarden. dd is very into having her rooibos & contemplating nature.
The other thing I want to do is plant a sacred tree circle. I still need to find a spot & decide on what exactly will be appropriate sacred trees for our area. I do have a native tree that I personally hold to be sacred but it doesn't grow this far south naturally & my only one I planted it struggling a bit. I'm going to try an experimental one in a more sheltered area & see how it goes.
