We are moving to a new house where the yard is not even graded, and would like some suggestions about the garden plan, or even where to start, it's a bit overwhelming! We want to make a plan that we can work on and add to.

Our wish list includes:

-minimal grass

-bird/butterfly friendly

-veggie garden (aprox 10ft by 4ft)

-alpine garden -I currently have a tufa garden that apparently I can't move with us :-( but would like to build another - crevice garden or berm (current garden is boulders)

-natural look (i.e. flagstone patio vs. interlocking brick)

I have attached a link to a poor photo - it didn't occur to me to get a photo of just the backyard when we were allowed in the house last week (we don't take possession for a few weeks)

The yard is south east facing, actually ESE, and from what I can tell will get a lot of sun in the summer, obviously mostly in the morning. We are in zone 3 so we are also looking for some ideas to keep winter interest. The yard is rectangular with a cement drainage corridor running along the back fence (about 1.5ft wide- I don't know how else to describe it)

Currently there is a deck about 14ft by 9ft off the dining room area (to the right of the fireplace)

My original ideas included

-raised deck or flagstone patio at the bottom of the steps of the deck that is built on the back of the house

-tufa alpine garden in front of/around the patio/deck

-veggie garden in the far right corner (NE if you are looking from the house) with the composter, then a bed curving from this towards the middle of the garden, to shield the veggie garden and composter from the main focal point.

We would like to put some trees along the back fenceline for a bit of privacy, and were thinking along the lines of crabapples or cherry trees and/or mountain ash (for wildlife factor)

If anyone can offer any suggestions including

-design

-referral to reasonably priced landscape designers in calgary (if allowed by forum)

-recommendations on landscape design software and if it is necessary.

At the moment we are mainly looking for suggestions on hardscaping and general layout, and figure we could work on specific plants later, but perhaps this is not the way we should be approaching it?

Thanks in advance. Hope the link works...

Caroline

http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sharradog/detail?.dir=/e8ccscd&.dnm=577dscd.jpg&.src=ph

Here is a link that might be useful: photo from inside of house of backyard