given that the wood is right there, I would certainly consider hugelkultur, which would solve a lot of problems right off the bat. For poison ivy, you have to do two things: 1) cut all fruiting vines to stop reproduction and 2) use Round Up. I notice that with mature vines, mature trees, and shrubs, the usual trick of laying down cardboard to prevent roots from sending up new growth will not work. I was contemplating a large pile of scrap plywood at work today, if it was me I would make deep beds (2 cinder block high, first cinderblock half buried), line them with plywood (you may find it free on craigslist) at the bottom, after having cut everything flush to the ground, fill them with wood logs and wood chips (hugelkultur), top up with good soil which will have to be brought in (you may get manure, and speed up things). Treat the paths with Round Up if necessary (it is always much better to apply RU undiluted with a brush, than to spray. specially in the presence of vegetables). This would avoid any excavation and keep nutrients and organic matter there, which is efficient. In the future, you would have to add only nitrogen. And high beds are good for your aging back. Digging up stumps in clay is a lot more difficult and expensive than you may imagine, and amending clay by tilling nearly impossible with all the roots in the ground. Note that I prefer organic methods whenever possible, but I know you have to violate principles occasionally. Poison ivy and avoiding pulling stumps by using plywood (not to mention that brambles are incredibly difficult to kill by covering) are two such cases. The plywood will eventually disappear. I would have good clearance between the garden and surviving trees, at least 20 ft, 30 preferrable, and have a trench of loose soil in between eventually, so you can cut wandering roots with ease. My former garden was 20 ft from trees, I did it and it worked, every 2 years or so I would have to cut again.

Drainage is a tricky thing, especially when the backyard is draining towards your house. You'll want to be very careful that you don't do something which in 'wet' years will cause problems for your foundation. You say the right side is all concrete? But in your "from the bedroom" photo it looks as if theres grass and dirt past those iris leaves. IÂll assume if that is concrete, thereÂs only a thin covering of dirt and grass, so you could build a basic raised bed for planting. This will even things out, and allow some height so you can have a much prettier view outside your bedroom window, with complete privacy as new plants grow in. Using the link below to a collage I made, what would you think about looking out at this instead? Think moderate height, interesting foliage, partial shade shrubs. This doesnÂt look like a large area, which helps keeps costs down. Your costs would be mulch, some pressure-treated lumber, soil, and 3 to 6 shrubs from container, depending on the size of the bed. I donÂt know if youÂre East Cst zone 9 or West Cst zone 9. IÂm the latter, so what I used (all evergreen, BTW) was: Top left: Pink cestrum. This grows very fast, vase-shaped at maturity, flowers almost continuously, hummers love it. About 6-8 H at maturity, 4 across but takes pruning very well. Right side: Tibouchina heteromalla. This can be a tricky plant to find and grow, but once correctly sited itÂs stunning and grows fast. ItÂs a tropical understory plant, so canÂt take too much sun but is somewhat frost-tender. 5 T and at least 6 across at maturity. The leaves are an amazing fuzzy, silvery gray-green that stops people in their tracks. I have had more people ask me what this shrub is, than any other I have. Once a year it puts up tall spikes of brilliant purple flowers, simply gorgeous. Do not get T. urvilleana, which is more common but a much more scraggly, leggy shrub. (If this wouldnÂt work in your zone, something like a variegated rhododendron, or even an Aucuba japonica 'Mr. Goldstrike' or ÂGold Dust would add year-long interest and foliage contrast.) I added a couple of ferns just to fill in the space. But IÂd prefer to add something more interesting, such as Abutilon ÂSavitzi or even ÂThompsonii if thereÂs room. A dwarf camellia would work, but they grow very slowly. The jade plant thatÂs there seems to be leaning into the walkway. You might want to move it  they can get quite large across at maturity so they may outgrow that space theyÂre in. Fill in with smaller plants that youÂll see when youÂre outside  dwarf hydrangeas, fuchsias, liriope, or even shade annuals from a six-pak. The brunnera ÂJack Frost has been a great performer in my shady bed, and the baby-blue flower spikes are charming. The seating area with the fountain as shown, is just leveled with mulch as a temporary measure until you work out your fencing and terracing solutions. Anyway, HTH spur some ideas for you! Good luck, itÂs always very exciting to consider possibilities for new landscaping.

I kept small ponds in San Jose CA like people are talking about. 30 gal, 6' x 3', 10-12" deep: 3" deep, 10" in center, 100 gal: Worked great. Kept Mosquitofish in both no problem. 10 years ago I moved to Phoenix. Had to throw out my Sunset Western Garden book and forget everything I'd learned about gardening. I can't even watch gardening shows any more because the info just doesn't apply at all. Had to start over. Pond keeping did stay the same for the most part but small ponds are not possible. I tried one which was pretty deep (18") and shaded and only put in Mosquitofish. They died in short order. It's just too hot here. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it would take some thinking and experimenting. Larger ponds do work about the same. However "ponds" without fish do work very well. I had these in San Jose and loved them there too. You can buy "foam planters" which often don't have any drain hole which is perfect. You can use Great Stuff (red can not blue) to fill holes if needed. Fill it with regular soil from the yard and plant marginal type plants. Initially water until there is standing water. After that only water when the top starts to dry out a bit. Most marginals do not do as well in standing water, "wet feet" at most. Or you can dig a regular type pond and add a liner and do the same...fill with soil, marginals and water but no standing water. Sun location is key. Pots can't have sun on them. The soil gets so hot it's actually too hot to touch like when I'm dividing plants. In the winter it's OK to move them into the sun. In ground can be in the sun, but just morning sun is way better. Different plants handle the sun differently. Once a year divide the plants and if possible fill the pot/bed with new soil. Salt builds up in the soil and can become an issue. If you rotate the soil it gives the soil a chance for the salt to wash out. These do reduce water use compared to regular in ground planting. Reduced weeds too since the ground next to the pot/bed remains bone dry. Plants selection...When I first moved to Phoenix I walked neighborhoods to see what kinds of plants were used here and how well they did. I was very surprised to see many pond plants (marginals) used here as regular landscape plants. One of the worst turf weeds here is brown nut sedge, a pond plant. The deal is that many "pond plants" are really more of a vernal pool type plant meaning they can live in water but also can live for a longer period after the water dries up by storing water in tuber type structures. Pretty much all these plants are considered very invasive, but no problem in pots/lined beds. No standing water so no algae or mosquito problems. These beds are pretty easy. Plants I've tried so far... Canna. My fav. I have several pond beds and pots with Canna in different sun exposures. Full sun is pretty hard on them, but part sun is great. Bloom all year including thru the winter. Just need frost protection for those few weeks in the winter. Have to be divided every year and fertilized. I have one bed that is watered only from my washing machine and they grow great. Most retail Canna have a virus (at least last time I checked) so I only get Canna locally off Craig's List or friends.neighbors. These are likely to have been isolated and virus free. I plant them separately at from my other Canna for a few years before I feel they're virus free. Umbrella papyrus work very well even in full sun. Not sure exactly what kind I'm using since I dug it up out of a neighbor's yard. I see different kinds in yards so I think any kind will work. Brown nut sedge..the weed. I plant these in a bed by themselves. It creates a very green dense bed that most people think is grass. Takes full sun. Should you not want to water it for awhile it will go brown and easy to pull off the dead tops. When you decide to add water again it comes right back. Great for spots of green in small pots around the landscape. Cat's claw vine, Macfadyena unguis-cati is thee go to vine here in Phoenix and it will grow in these no drain pots/beds. These can get 50' high and dense so they have to be controlled. Mexican petunia, or Purple Showers, Ruellia brittoniana works very well even in sun. There are lots of other kinds of Ruellia to try. Tomato plants do very well but in summer fruit production stops and the plants have a harder time. Growing tomatoes here is not as easy as people say. It's a relative thing that I run into a lot. When people say tomatoes grow well here we're talking about a plant that people in the rest of the world would consider very poor. People here will also say things like "that plant will grow all year" and when I ask "even in summer?" they look at me like I'm from Mars and say "of course not". Summer here is like winter in other places plant wise...few things growth, many go dormant. Elephant's Food, Portulacaria afra does great in shade, I haven't tried full sun yet. This is more of water once a week rather than keeping the soil fully wet all the time. I haven't actually had a problem with rot for too much water yet, so not sure. But it does seem to grow better when the soil isn't always fully soaked. That's true for all marginals I've ever used. Mesquite trees grow great in these which was kind of surprising. I grow them from seed and have had them for more than 5 years in these pot/beds. Again, not fully soaked 24/7 is best. When I've pulled them out of pots their roots where down at the bottom of the pot in standing water so they can take this and do well. Horsetail reed, Equisetum hyemale works great. Even cactus. Yup, The trick here when to water. Depends on the type, some can take wet soil most like to dry out. For a long time I was under watering and some were dying. Then I ran into a nurseryman who watered his potted cactus everyday. Cactus in the wild have very large root systems and don't always live. In our landscape they need water to grow well. So they're like vernal pool plants, can take water when available and store water for dry periods. There isn't a plant I wouldn't try. Just vary the amount of water and sun to find the sweet spot.

You can use google to find what plants are good companion plants to repel pests for each of the items you want to plant. You will have both herbs and flowers to choose from. Also, Mother Earth News had an article this month about using flowers to achieve an organic, pest-free garden. You can access that article on their website. Tomatoes like to be planted deep. If you are starting your own from seedlings, try to repot them as many times as you can. Each time you repot them, plant them deeper into the soil. Those little hairs on the stem will turn into roots. If you are planting plants from the store directly into your growing pot, plant them as deep as you can into the pot, leaving the top few stems poking out the top. You can find more information on encouraging your tomato to be strong by googling for how to pinch off the suckers, and possibly by pinching off the first few set of flowers to encourage your plant to become large and healthy before it tries to set fruits. Corn likes to be planted with lots of friends, for pollination. Because you usually need a lot of plants for them to pollinate well, I'm trying out the square foot method this year. Otherwise, you'll need rows of at least four plants deep. Your peas and your morning glories will need a trellis to grow on. Google and the search function on this website have been the most valuable tools for me to find the information I need. Most of the things you want to know will be out there, and if you happen on an idea that no one else has written about, try it out and let us know how it goes!!! Oh, and take lots of pictures. It is so much fun to see how the garden progresses over time.