Looking at your photos, it's obvious those walls aren't 6 to 8 feet tall, but more likely about 4 to 5 feet maximum. Take a measurement, but lifting materials over a 4 foot height wall will be easier than tracking through the house. It does sound like you and your wife aren't gardeners nor have much interest or knowledge of gardening; as such h, I wouldn't recommend going to the effort of creating raised beds for veggies if you won't be inclined to take care of them. As you hate maintenance and don't have outside easy access, I'd get rid of maintenance -intensive plants such as the roses, and keep the Birds of Paradise, but learn how to thin them out occasionally to restrict their width and keep them from looking so stubby the way they have been pruned to date. I'd also suggest you'd be better off getting a good local landscape designer to consult/draw up a plan that reflects your concerns and budget, and save no.eyes by doing the easiest parts of the demolition and new installation yourself. A simple wall fountain with selective new plantings that won't outgrow their spots in combination with either decorative rock or bark mulch, a new pathway system and some easy to care for larger sized pots would easily fit within a $2000 landscape materials budget if you do the majority of work yourself. Small scale gardens such as yours can be very attractive, functional and enjoyable if the design is well thought out. Access is possible over the exterior perimeter wall avoiding going through the house. Hiring help with the design would definitely be worthwhile to get the best results, IMHO.

Look up how they build their mixes for Square Foot Gardening, I haven't tried it myself, but the logic seems sound. In general they use vermiculite/perlite, peat moss, and multiple (five or so) different "brands" of storebought compost. The multiple types of compost is to cover the likelihood that a given bag of compost is only made from a limited number of ingredients. Since compost is only as good as its ingredients, better to have large sample size to cover the bases.

Thanks everyone, I got the Santas and tree at Big Lots some years ago. They only carried them one year. I think many of their items are closeouts. I'm always happy when I can find something different there. Jane, It wasn't me who showed a picture. I saw pictures of framed Santas in magazines. They were quite pricey and not as large as mine. I got the idea when I saw the red Santa on a bag while shopping one day. I got the frame at a second hand store and hung him in the TV room. When I saw the other one I decided to frame it for the living room.it cost around $10 for both. NanaKaren

<Maybe the thing that's more annoying than February and March are the people who don't live in that climate and don't even know what you mean> Must be talking about me. I love February and March - my birthday is in February, and my only complaint is if it rains. I very often forget what month it is. My complaint about March is that we are going to Cabo next week for my brother's birthday, and the water will be too cold to go snorkeling without a wetsuit, and mine doesn't fit anymore.