Hmmm, OK. I understand your points Laag. I'll go into this a little further then. We, as a family, spend most of our time either in the sun room at the rear of the house or on the wooden deck that is just off the sun room. Indicated on the plan by a rectangle with diagonal lines on it. That is the 'HUB' of the garden for us. The deck gets sun from 10am to about 4pm through the day. North of the deck between the cherry blossom and swing set, gets full sun all day long. To the North of the deck in the area of the cherry blossom is our family lawn area. We play there, enjoy the sun there (when it does peek out throught the clouds) and generally congregate there. So really from the north side of the house up to the north fence (including the kids play area) is where we spend most of our time when we are outside. The Swing set is clearly visible from the house and our kids spend a lot of time in there. When we have friends over, of course all the kids flock to the play house. Grown ups always nearby on the deck. So with that respects, the location for the playhouse was chosen in a prominent area, not hidden as you interpreted. The original plan for the house was that we would park the cars to the rear of the house, in front of the car garage on the gravel area, but it was not ergonomic and simply didn't work out. That area in front of the garage doors is always kept clear, almost as an open courtyard. Yes, the easy up paddle pool is always put up there, as is the kids blow-up bouncy castle/slide when the weather is fine. The 3ft wide concrete pavement that surrounds the house was on the insistence of my wife. Kids needing a cycle path to round the house. Note - the driveway into the property and at the back 'courtyard' area, is 3/4inch pea gravel. Great for drainage, crap for cycling on. Before I built the retaining wall and gravel area, the whole lot was simply a lawn. here are some old photo's... My wife and I hated it that way. It felt like we were living in the middle of a soccer pitch. Of course, for practical reasons we had to put a hard surface around to the garage doors which was part of the original design plan anyway. The retaining wall was an idea that we both liked having seen it while on vacation, so that had to be incorporated. And we wanted the closed in 'courtyard' feeling from tall trees with a passageway to the upper lawn almost as a passage to a "secret garden", drawing you from the deck, across the yard and in through the entrance, through the "small forest" and up to the..... And this is where the story ends so far... The tall birch trees are history, I'll change them for 10-15ft variety with lots of shrubs. That should give visual interest and varied structure to the border. BUT my concept works. I had a bbq a couple of weeks ago and just about everyone admired the entrance to the upper lawn and equally everyone suggested I needed more than just a lawn up there to REWARD whoever follows the path. EXACTLY what I wanted to hear!! So the story will continue, I just need some help. Quote - "These people either have a very different set of functions or are extremely incapable of designing. I have no idea which." You could be right Laag. Maybe I am incapable of designing.... i wouldnt be here looking for advice if I was able to whip up the right design off the bat!

Thanks everyone for the kind comments, it's been a while since I looked at this thread!! serenity, I understand totally what you mean about crumbling tufa, I chalked it up to good cement gone bad, but that's a whole 'nother thread. As for the recipe, well, it was a very long time ago that I made the 'lighted' mushrooms, and I think it was probably just a basic tufa mix of 2:1:1 - peat, sand & portland (don't quote me on that!). The other (smaller looking) mushrooms had more peat, 3 parts I think. They are considerably more spotty looking. I was concerned they weren't going to harden but finally did, it just took longer than usual. As for the carving, I have a really old wood rasp that I use for most of my carving (it's probably some valuable antique that would bring hundreds on e-bay, lol) and an old butter knife. Nothing too fancy or radical! I love the carving part, very satisfying for me. Hope that helps! ~GC

dzejna, you might also like umbrella grass, it is tropical looking and is just like the Mexican petunia. You will never get rid of it. I really like the looks of it. I think it is beautiful, I like to show children how it roots, in water upside down. Neat! This would be another good choice for this flowerbed, except after a few years, it would break thru the brick, when it gets rootbound. It needs room to spread, like bamboo. Another choice for invasive plants would be the king of invasive plants, the purple passion vine. Even Roselee took one home, when I was pulling it up, to throw away. She said one mans junk is another mans treasure. She never mentioned it again. Barbra

Try this one for the odds and ends: Preserving: End of the Garden Sweet Pickle Mix This recipe is from "Joy of Cooking Canning and Preserving." 4 medium ears of corn 1 pound young zucchini or cucumbers 8 ounces snap beans 8 ounces carrots 8 ounces cauliflower 8 ounces green and red bell peppers -- mixed 8 ounces pearl onions 8 cups water 1/2 cup canning and pickling salt 3 cups cider vinegar 3 cups white vinegar 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice 2 cups sugar 2 tablespoons celery seeds 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes 1/4 cup chopped basil Boil corn 5 minutes and cut from the cob. Wash, trim ends of zucchini or cucumber and cut into 1/4" slices. Wash, trim ends of beans and cut into 2-inch pieces. Wash, peel and cut carrots into 1/4" slices. Wash and cut cauliflower into 1-inch florets. Wash, core, and seed bell peppers. Cut into 2 x 1/2" strips. Wash and peel the pearl onions. Combine water and salt. Pour over all the vegetables. Submerge with a plate and place covered bowl in refrigerator for 12 to 18 hours. Drain vegetables. Do not rinse. Combine vinegars and spices in a large, deep skillet and boil gently for three minutes. Add vegetables and basil. Bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring often, until the largest, thickest pieces are thoroughly hot. Use a slotted spoon to pack the vegetables into hot pint jars. Add the hot vinegar solution, stirring to mix the seeds and chopped herbs. Leave 1/2" headspace and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Yield: 6 pints. There are also a number of options at the link. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Vegetable Pickle Recipes