STOP! You are flinging money, plants and pavers at a problem before you know what the problem is. And you can't move plants like you do furniture - every time you dig them up and move them, you set back their growth a few years. Before you do anything else, draw up a plan of the back yard, to scale and with measurements. See the link below for detailed how-to. On one copy of it, put is what is already there. On a second copy, draw up your final plan. Where do you live (city/state)? All zone 7s are not created equal when it comes to rainfall and summer temps. The brickwork is GREAT! Don't mess with it unless you absolutely have to. 1 - The fastest way to make the parking lot vanish is with a trellis or two and some vines, or some bamboo in raised bed or beds ... a privacy screen. 2 - Learn to plant trees ... a 3 1/2 foot deep hole in clay soil, filled with the best planting mix in the world, is just a big flower pot. It won't drain and the tree's roots will not leave the hole. Recommended practice is to dig a hole as deep as the tree's existing root ball and several times wider than the root ball. Do not amend the soil, just put the tree in and backfill, then mulch. 3 - Instead of a magpie collection of plants, repeat plant material ... several repetitions of the bamboo along the fence can block undesireable sights and please the eye. Part of a landscape plan is to identify the needed plants by what the landscape NEEDS in that area: think function first, not "ooooh look at the purty tree". If you want all-year blocking of that parking lot, a deciduous tree won't do it as well as something evergreen 4 - Don't use sod in a tiny back yard. It's almost as much work to care for a tiny patch as a whole lawn, and it chops up the area visually, making it smaller. I'd treat the area like a Manhattan roof garden or a Mexican or New Orleans interior garden, with pavement, raised beds with seating around the edges, using the plants as accessories and problem solvers. treat it like an outdoor great room and entertainment area: cooking and eating zone, lounging and talking zone. Here is a link that might be useful: DIY Landscape design

It's not a graft, I damaged it when it was young . . . . . I won't say how. That Table Mountain Pine near Blacksburg is spectacular, I wish I had it growing on my property. There is a very old Virginia Pine growing in Cherokee County, Georgia, north of Atlanta, that has been named "Ancient Wonder". I can't find a picture of it on the internet but there is one in the book "Landscaping with Conifers and Ginkgo for the Southeast". It is a beautiful tree estimated to be around 150 years old, you can read more about it at the link below. Thanks for uploading those pictures. Jim Here is a link that might be useful: Saving a Rare Tree

I have some of the Crockett Victory Gardening books and still love the month by month format of things to do. In the preface, the 75x75 foot square of "sodded ground" was like concrete for Jim's camera test. They discovered the proposed garden plot " had been a flood plain for the Charles River, the town dump, the site where the contractor who built the WGBH studios had chosen to bury the construction rubble, and, most recently, the parking area for the station's trucks." While Jim Crockett was away, 4 months before the show began, top soil was trucked in and 6 bales of peat moss added. 15 days before the first show, Jim returned from his trip and said they still needed to remove rocks and add another 20 bales of peat moss which was tilled in. So, yes it was a tough start but they added top soil and a lot of peat moss, tilling everything in. I previously posted that one of the NH extension master gardeners built lasagna beds on top of her driveway. I build my lasagna beds on top of old lawn that is very thick with grass and weed roots. I would prefer not to till that mess up because the weeds that spread by runner roots just get a huge head start when all those roots are cut up. For one flower bed I had the sod dug out and removed.

I just made a pea gravel patio using StandardPark gravel grids. They are actually designed for your purpose for use under boats, cars, RVs etc. The company was very nice, grids were delivered quickly and it was super quick to put together. You could forgo the gravel and asphalt if you fill with topsoil and seed or just use the gravel. I am not sure what your drainage is like so maybe gravel would be better. They can be installed right over the turf from what I remember and filled with gravel but would look better if you removed the grass first.