HAVE: Five healthy new blue agave pups that range in size from 2" to 8" in height and just removed from a 4-foot agave in my front yard. Wish to trade for other cactus varieties.

I wonder if it's normal that one will change their focus, many times, in the life time. For me, I began when I was 13 with Cactus then Fern-African Violet-Epicia-Begonia-Bromeliad- when I was 20 I imported Tillandsia-Bromeliad again, especially Crytanthus that I order 40 varieties from Southern Exprosure and some from Pine Apple Place. It was around ten years ago, Mr Ted Green, a Hoya specialist, of Green Plant Reserch from Hawaii visited my house. I had ordered from him and Michael Miyashiro a hundred of Hoya to Thailand (Most of them you can find in our market today) In reverse, I also introduced many new species to the trade in USA, such as Hoya curtisii, H. mitrata, H. lobbii, H. 'Wee' bella, etc. via Mrs Christine M Burton of Hoya Society International (The Hoyan). Due to my job, a nature history publication, I had to be in a jungle, months a year, then I change my interest to study our native Orchid species, especially Bulbophyllum. From my expeditions in Thailand's tropical rainforests, I had discovered 3 new species of edemic orchid and many new records for our country. One of them I and Prof. Gunnar Seidenfaden named it, Bulbophyllum smitinadii, for dedicating our botanist. I had many times visited interesting places, Madagascar, Borneo, Tibet, India, South Africa etc. I've seen many native floras that ispirate my interest again. One day, I found that all the neglect things in my house should be restored. Then I started to collect some more succulents, especially caudiciform that I imported from EXOTICA in Germany. In the mean time, one of my good friend who always visit USA, he brought me some Dyckia and xeric brom from his friends in CA and FL : Dutch Vandervort, Bill Baker and Denis of Tropiflora...so this is my story. Some of my succulents & caudiciforms collection today. Me & Pachypodium gacilius in its habitat, Isalo National Park, S Madagascar, 2004.

I am unclear as to your question. Are you looking for general ways to turn it into garden space? Is water an issue? This is an entryway designed by Michele Derviss, a San Francisco area designer. The house is just visible in the upper right side of the photo, and the main entry is the middle of the left side opposite the stairs. If water is an issue, you could make the path that parallels the front of the house permeable with a drain under it that diverts water away from the front of the house by channeling it over toward the side. Here are couple of other ones from the same designer: Notice on this next one the center drain in the patio and how the patio slopes toward the drain:

Do consider that you are going to be waiting a long time for a 6' tree planted even as close as the center of one of your lawns to provide any significant amount of screening or shading of the house. But which particular window are you thinking about? A tree lined up just right with one of them and planted close enough could provide an adequate level of screening pretty quickly - maybe even immediately if of the right size and shape. With it also casting a moving shadow over part of the house some day. Otherwise you could block the street with solid fencing and/or hedging/screening plantings consisting of or including dense shrubby kinds. Usually river birch is not affected by bronze birch borer, with up here anyway it being the European, Himalayan and paper birches that are being hit now that the pest has come this far west. For instance the next door neighbors to a friend that lived near Seattle had two cut leaf weeping European birches and one river birch in their back yard. When the borer came to their neighborhood the European birches were being drilling out and dropping branches on his side of the fence in no time. Luckily the neighbors were quick to have these cut down. Providing in addition a much better view of the river birch, which as of the last time I was on the friend's property was still standing there looking intact.