Garden plants/ ideas suggestions

Hi, have never been interested in garden. Got the lawns mowed and everything else fell into place. The property looked tidy enough on the outside from the road to friends, family and neighbours.
I have been living in a property for four years now and the big section has been left overgrown for at least 20 years. The property owner is not based in NZ and does not want to spend a cent on the property. I have been doing what I can to first clear the weeds and then plant something that I can maintain. i have a limited budget to spend on the garden. I'm stuck on a particular section. Unfortunately, I'm not savvy enough to know how to post a photo. Any suggestions appreciated.
I have an area at the front of property with the letterbox that is 4mters long, 2mters wide that gets water logged as the whole street drains onto this area thru a retaining wall. I'm in a layby type set up. The area is staggered in 3 parts by rocks. Along the four meters are three big tall trees. I don't mind the trees and clipped them back as best as I can reach. I have cleared the remaining area as best I can. There is so many agapanthus plant bulbs that I have cut right back for now. Too tough to immediately remove. So I have left them until I decide what to do.
The past owner has some wire mesh over the area? Maybe to stop the erosion, as I clean the area up, I find more and more rocks? Like fill maybe? How can I fill this area with plants I can maintain? I was thinking of a short shrub like plant that would fill the whole area in time, and I can trim it to knee height. Thought of aloes or succulent cauliflower type plants so they spread and fill the area so no weeds gets thru. Unsure about the water in winter though? Or just bark the whole thing? Thanks in advance. 👍

Agapantus is a noxious weed in Auckland. It will spread and spread. posion it now. Cut it first and spray with Weed Weapon.

The best weed suppressing plants are herbs, like marjoram and thyme.
It won't eliminate them 100% but a good 99%.

Weed mat and bark are useless, I can tell you that from experience, having removed weed infested quantities of it from places I have bought.

And it just makes it hard to weed when it fails, and makes the soil under sour and hard to dig.

Why not turn it into a native garden, they like wet, ferns, shrubs, hebe etc.

For the wet area plant carex secta. They grow to a 1 metre high tussock look nice in the wind and love wet areas and having their roots in water. Also you can buy them quite cheap if you get them from a nursery like the Native Plant Nursery. There are other types of carex too that can handle water too which are smaller. No trimming required. Just buy a cheap sprayer and spray around them carefully until you don't need to.

Agapanthus are good for holding banks together. think carefully before removing. Also think carefully before spending too much money on the property. The owner could sell anytime.

Why not advertise in Freecycle in your area in the Wanted section. Most gardeners are happy to share free plants with people like yourself. Also, if there is a flea market near you their plants are normally super cheap. Good luck.

way to go

If the agapanthus are planted on the mesh/rocks at the front and all the water drains through there then Id just let sleeping dogs lie and leave well alone.