I took some pictures and uploaded them to Photobucket. I will also upload a sketch with what is currently in our yard and some ideas we have for possible changes. I have a sketch with exact measurements and locations of trees, etc., but it's too big to scan in so I'll have to do a basic sketch on some smaller paper as soon as I get a chance. The dimensions of the backyard are almost exactly 80' wide by 80' deep. It appears to be deeper than it is wide, but maybe that's because the veggie garden (which is 15' wide by 47' deep) takes up a good chunk of the east side of the yard. I really like the idea of going to some favorite nurseries and collecting business cards from designers. I was trying Google searches and met with one company whose work looked nice, but it turns out that they don't do design work without being locked into a contract with them to do the bulk of the landscaping work. We'd have to sign a contract (telling them our budget range) and they would draw up plans within that range and do most of the work, subbing out stuff they don't do themselves, with the design being part of the package deal. I think I'd rather work with someone who has more flexibility in allowing us to do parts of the work ourselves without being penalized for it. lazygardens and butterflygardening: Thanks for the helpful links- I am reading through them! alygal- We love the idea of raising chickens (or ducks!), but unfortunately our city doesn't allow them in residential areas. Some of the towns around us havejust recently started allowing them, so maybe it will be a possibility in the future! Here are some of our current ideas for making our yard more attractive and usable in the ways we'd like to use it. - Possibly ditch the sandbox, although I am torn because the kids do use it when it's nice outside. The problem is that it's so close to the house that they always come in still covered with sand, AND it's location really limits the width of the planting bed around the breakfast nook. If we keep the sandbox, I think I'd at least make the flagstone path along it more narrow to allow for a slightly wider bed there. - Widen pretty much all of the beds to allow more layered planting (to increase attractiveness and privacy in the yard). I would also like to have a nice bed along the patio and around where the sandbox is, so basically be left with an area of the grass in the middle of the yard. - Possibly add a slight berm along the garden fence and plant a variety of shrubs and small trees to make the garden less prominent since it's not much too look at most of the year. - Make the patio more usable by extending it a little deeper (it's now 20' wide by 10' deep). - Add something to get more shade on the patio. It gets shade starting in the mid-afternoon and through the evening from our neighbors house to the west, so I don't really want to add a hard cover (my husband's idea) because I think it would detract from the look of the house. I am thinking a well placed tree would eventually have the right effect (and I'm content to use a patio umbrella as needed until then). - Add a screened in gazebo (about 12' x 12') south of the patio area toward the south side of the yard for dinners and entertaining. My husband is a mosquito magnet so he really wants this for enjoying the yard in the evenings. - Add a structure toward the southeast corner of the yard (about 8' x 10') to be used as a playhouse/garden retreat. I picture it looking like a little cottage style potting shed more than a mini playhouse, so that even after the kids outgrow it, I can still enjoy it as a garden retreat. - Revise current pathways through the yard and add pathways as needed to new structures, to the veggie garden/shed, etc. Would like to maybe use some reddish flagstone in addition to the buff ones we currently have and mix them up a bit as the buff looks so bland to me against our house. - Possibly cover the patio with flagstone to make it more attractive and more cohesive with pathways. Thanks for any advice or suggestions you may have. Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard Pictures

I don't want to use St. Augustine anymore because all it does is die every time there is a drought and I am tired of putting down sod. St Augustine is a hassle because you have to water it every week in the summer. Bermuda is a hassle because you have to mow it every week and twice a week when it is growing fast (most of the spring and summer). Bermuda is also a hassle because it will jump over, under, and through barriers to invade the rest of the garden. Also bermuda will not survive where there is much shade. See the spots where you still have St Aug...those spots will never have bermuda because it is too shady. I don't have a sprinkler system so I move sprinklers and soakers around which is a hassle. Get rid of those wacky little yellow sprinklers and the twirly thing. Since the 1960s I've used every sprinkler there is, twice, and finally came back to the oscillator. It puts out an even pattern of water at a slow rate. This is the oscillator I like now (THIS ONE). It waters the entire lawn at one time. The new turbo design seems to water much more evenly and even lasts longer than the mechanical linkage types (the cheap ones). The oscillator takes hours and hours to water but we only get to water once a week anyway. I set it up with THIS TIMER to water during the San Antonio restriction hours. It's about half the cost from last year (grrr). I love it. I've used several others and they all have issues. This one just works. It's no hassle to follow the SA watering guidelines any more. If you ever need to get a new hose, get one of the Craftsman hoses at Sears. They have a lifetime guarantee. I have not paid for a new hose since the 1980s. No questions asked and no receipt needed either. Try that with a Gilmour hose at Home Depot. How can I remove the dead St. Augustine thatch and what are some alternatives that will survive harsh south Texas droughts? The best way to remove the dead St Aug is with a vertical mower, power rake, slit seeder, or any other tool with vertical cutters. You'll find them at rental centers - not Home Depot. Those tools will slice through everything and into the soil per your adjustment. I would set it to just barely touch the soil. Run it all directions and blow the chaff into a pile to compost. What's a good way to keep Bermuda from growing in the beds? Kill all the bermuda. That's the only way unless you want to be out there every week keeping it out. If you poured a solid concrete barrier six inches deep and six inches wide, you would still have to use the string trimmer every week to keep the bermuda from crawling over the top. Some of your weeds did not die because their leaves are hydrophobic - they shed water. PULL THOSE NOW! In particular there is a weed with very sticky leaves growing up your fence behind the purple heart plants. Find all instances of that thing and get it out. It pulls out very easily but it also spreads f-a-s-t and v-e-r-y easily. Get it all, NOW. The rest of your weeds might not have died because they are not even healthy enough to take up the Round up. Try fertilizing now and then spraying again in 2 weeks. I did not see any bamboo but it is easy to control. The giant rhizomes growing underground have roots coming off of them. Cut through those roots and the plant dies. You don't have to remove the rhizomes, but you do have to dig around to find the roots. You got lucky with your red-tip photinia. We got the yellow tip photinia. They looked awful all year long, so we pulled them out. Apparently San Antonio soil is not conducive to the red tip feature. Both your purple sage and the photinia will enlarge themselves with proper watering until you can no longer get to the crepe myrtle in the corner. You might want to rethink that whole corner. Your mountain laurel in the other corner likes very full sun. If that fence to to the south and the taller bush is to the east, it is not getting enough sun. It will grow but the trunks will not be strong enough to stand upright. Keep the lower leaves trimmed off below the fence so the sun hits all the leaves above the fence. That will help it become more upright and strengthen the trunks. Having said all that, I would go back to St Augustine and learn how to care for it. If you don't want to do much, you can let it grow without mowing it. I'm doing that right now with a house 100 miles south of you in George West. It is an experiment to see how long the tall grass can go without mowing. My only concern about it is snakes but you would not have to worry about that in SA...at least in theory. Your green belt might concern you on that aspect. I have not watered it since October (according to my water company who called last week to see if I was on vacation). The grass looks great and did even before we got the rain. If you go back to St Aug, only mow it at the mower's highest setting. Tall St Aug will withstand the drought much better than scalped St Aug. Or let it grow. I know for a fact that very tall St Aug will really withstand the drought for a good long time without water.

Here are the photos to help - more can be provided. Lawn Overview 1 - Looking South, dead area at back left, domed area middle right (where greenest) Lawn Overview 2 - Looking Southwest - dead area straight ahead, highest portion is middle right, overall slope away from picture, somewhat right to left. Grass Closeup - I think Bermuda, but no idea what type Dead Area - back left area, overrun with clover weeds Dead Area Closeup - Looking down on dead area Weed 1 - not sure what? Weed 1 Closeup Weed 2 - not sure? Weed 2 Closeup Weed 3 Mushrooms - just sprouted, are they a problem? This post was edited by rsmoore27 on Sun, May 26, 13 at 16:05

Clay swells when wet and shrinks when dry, explaining the cracks. Your clay is lacking in vegetative matter which would change your soils structure and provide the spaces required for oxygen and water. It will take a year or two but you can make your soil into good garden soil. Don't try and amend the hole for the plant you want to plant at the moment. Bite the bullet and buy truck loads of municipal waste compost. It is the cheapest and you are better off with lots of the cheap stuff than a meager amount of bagged high priced compost. Do your whole yard at once. You should only work your soil when the moisture content is right. This means watering a couple of days in advance of digging. This year you should get enough compost to cover your whole yard to at least 6 inches, and with the soil moisture ready rototill it in. From now on every year you will only need to apply about 3 inches as a mulch to the top of the soil and the soil life will work it into the soil. Soon you will be bragging about how good your soil is and how easy it is to work. Al