Hi Bbnjl, First of all congrats on your new home! Hope you are finding time to enjoy it. I feel your pain on working full time as well and trying to keep up with a house and yard but it can be very rewarding. I will start by saying that I am not a grass expert, but here are some things that I would suggest. Can you provide some more information on your outdoor spaces in terms of the approximate size and shape of the space and how much light they receive (which way do they face, i.e north, south east west)? WIth this type of information the really great folks on this site will be better able to help you. I don't think you should have to start entirely over. In my experience anytime you put down grass seed understanding how much sun your lawn will get is important in the seed selection process. I'm assuming that you took this into consideration. You also need to prepare the soil correctly and once you've put down the seed you need to put a thin layer of topsoil or straw in in order to protect the seed from the birds and provide warmth for it to germinate. You're correct that you need to provide appropriate water, but you also need to be careful not to overwater as that can cause issues as well. I am going to post your question to the lawn care forum to see if we can get some more experienced people to help you on your lawn. I would not give up on planting small, easy to care for bushes, trees and perennials that will give you character and color throughout the seasons without requiring a lot of maintenance. Plants have a tough time outside in pots in the winter and its challenging to find space to overwinter potted plants inside, particularly in the NYC area where space and appropriate light can be very limited. Also, just keeping up with watering the pots (they need water more frequently that plants in the ground) can be more time consuming than you expect. For your aloe question, I would suggest that you post that on the house plants forum for help with that.

I think it's kind of rude to comment just to tell me what I did wrong by asking for help (with plenty of detail) and using pictures that were readily available to me. If you are giving advice, which is what I asked for, these pictures are good enough. It doesn't matter on what site, on what forum- there is always one person who just HAS to pipe up to be unhelpful and critique your request instead of answering your questions. I was asking for advice on my own fledgeling plan- not asking for free design from someone. Next time if you don't have anything helpful to say, and if you can't give your thoughts nicely, just don't say anything. I'm sure it's satisfying to try to discourage new gardeners by giving your two cents about their photos, their ideas, and whatever else without giving your opinions on the questions actually posed. Going on the attack like that with the third degree, "You indicate you are new at creating a landscape, and frustrated by attempting the process of planning it. Then you go on to say how you intend to resolve it. Do you care if those ideas are good? Or you just want help in how to implement them? You might consider advice on what you ought to do instead of what you want to do." I'm not a child and am fully capable of planning and doing it on my own, thank you, I'm just here to see if a KIND person might give a few suggestions or point out something they've seen that looked nice on a similar house. Also, there is nothing wrong with being honest about what's in the cards for you (budget, time, and overall investment wise) than just wasting everyone's time. I didn't want a thread with 20 responses about how I need to limb up, thin, or remove trees in my yard. I want a thread about how to plant a line of perennials in front of my house that will look nice together. I think in my essay of a post I made that fairly clear.

If an island does not allow a direct walk line to the parts of the work triangle, it becomes a barrier island that requires a person to constantly walk around it when cooking and cleaning up...means many more steps. if you draw a to-scale diagram of your kitchen with dimensions, windows doorways and supply a rough sketch of the rooms, closets, hallways around the kitchen, people can give you specific layout ideas here if you ask for it. There are many talented people here who almost always improve on already designed plans. Maybe asking for help here is the place to start before you go to a designer. People will explain why things are better a certain way and you can see the possibilities that many “eyes” provide.

Check the soil - if its too wet - then i repot right away. sometimes they can get a bit soggy during shipping. If they are not overly wet - then i let them sit for 3-5 days in a protected spot. Usually - they are fine and then I repot the next weekend that i have a chance. those extra days also give me a chance to make sure none of them start to show signs of shipping shock or wilt. Most times the root balls are nice and strong and they are just fine. sometimes if the plant is a slow rooter, the root ball might be a bit smaller or less thick - those i might just leave in their shipping pot for a bit to help cut down on overwatering.