Juliann, I'll post a site from the UK that has pictures of various types of gardens. This link goes to their Cottage Garden which they say is "contrived to look uncontrived". There are many other types of gardens there that might provide inspiration. Which plants you choose depends on which climate zone you are in. I'm in zone 3 so am somewhat limited in what I can grow. I'll post a pic of what I call my wild bird garden. It's an area in my large garden that has the birdfeeder and birdbath. I allow the flowers to go to seed for the birds so they self-seed. This area has changed over many years altho I initially seeded shasta daisies (the butterflies love them) and yarrow and planted a few established perennials. The yarrow seeds I planted were a mix of red, pink, and white, but the white resembles the wild yarrow we have so we pull it out and it's mostly now only tones of pinks and red. There are also Lamb's Ears because they seed all over my garden but I leave them in this wild area (the bees love them). There are a few other plants, a pink mallow that's 'weedy' but it fills the space and is quite pretty and we also have several lilacs here. Near that area there is also a drift of common old irises which we've allowed to spread. They are in the lower part of the rockery and I will eventually weed some of them out as the bloom time is not very long. If I were deliberately planting a wildflower garden I would not buy a wildflower mix as there could be invasive plants in it. I planted a mix about 14 years ago and still have Dame Hesperis (Dame's Rocket) altho pull out many every year and try to dead-head them ASAP before they seed. It's quite a weed in warmer climates. I would choose seeds of plants I like that are hardy but not invasive and mix them together. Another option is to plant in swaths with various plants and grasses hardy to your area. Keep in mind the moisture requirements of the plants as you decide. The area where I have shastas, mallow, and yarrow needs little watering and only a spring weeding so is easy care. Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden House

I definitely agree with billbennett. I have Carlisle Tru Power tires (almost identical to super lug but with more ribs) on my tractor. I went a step further and filled them with 12 gallons of windshield washer fluid. The tires cost about $200 (for big 23" tires) with shipping on eBay. The mower has absolutely no problem climbing up out of the drainage ditch in my front yard, which is deep enough for my 4-year-old to disappear from view when he walks in it. I'd bet my open-differential filled-ag-tire tractor has superior traction to a locking-differential turf-tire tractor. So long story short, you won't find a locking-diff tractor in the sub-$2k range, but you will find a good $1400 Craftsman that will suit your needs just find, and for another $150 (they get a lot cheaper as you go smaller), you can add ag tires, fill them with fluid, and end up with better traction and a lower center of gravity. See the "traction" thread for pics.

I live adjacent to our local private golf course. Yes, I have golfers in my yard all the time, but not as bad as some of my neighbors down the fairway. How close are you to the teebox? About 150 yards down-fairway from the teebox is a really bad place to be. Especially with a strong wind and/or someone with a wicked slice or hook shot. You really need to find out exactly what your rights are as far as planting on that slope. Some people along our course built TALL fences. We didn't - we want to see down the course. So pretty. And we don't have to mow it. We just resigned ourselves to having golfers in our yard, looking for balls. (At least they get off their carts.) We are golfers, too, and we understand it. Plus, we never have to buy golf balls! The worst experience was when I was sitting quietly in our screened porch, semi-hidden from view from the course, which is probably 35 feet away. A gentleman who had apparently over-endulged in liquid refreshment felt the need to relieve himself behind a tree along the border between me and the course. Unfortunately, he chose MY YARD SIDE on which to do his deed.

Somebody with a big enough lawn could easily pay $200 per month during the mowing season just to have that kept mowed and edged, with blowing of associated debris off of adjacent paved surfaces afterward and subsequent hauling and disposal of clippings off site. For instance when I was paying a lawn service to do this on my previous 0.6 acre property that was somewhat less than about half lawn at that point the charge per visit got up to $65 before I went back to mowing it myself several years ago. The mowing service provider was on site maybe as much as 15 minutes each time. With of course disposal of my share of the accumulated load adding a little more time off site. Otherwise a couple longtime friends providing expert gardening (in the one case) and landscape (in the second) services primarily to the Seattle area market I think are currently figuring their time charges at about $45 per hour. The first party does not even drive, typically shows up on a bicycle and does maintenance gardening with hand tools (except when a project really does require a truck, in which case a second party is brought in to help with the work). Their continually growing roster of repeat customers keeps them very busy during the spring in particular.