I'm sorry to disagree with you but you are a great landscaper. You have a great eye which many landscapers lack. You laid the brick pavers in an interesting pattern...most people don't. And you added a curve which takes more effort but your eye told it was worth it and it was nicely done. Your front with the palm, where you want a rock garden but didn't have enough rocks...that's just plain brilliant. If you still want a rock garden that's fine, but what you did shows you have an understanding of design. There are hundreds of books written just on the subject of rock placement and that bed could be used as an example in any of those books. The first gardening book ever written was mainly about rock placement. It may sound silly to many people but it's a fundamental concept in good landscape design.

My only suggestion is to go further, keep pushing. Have an idea that sounds dumb...try it. You have no reason to think you're not the best landscaper in 5 counties. Every creative thing ever done started out as dumb, wrong, etc.. You have what it takes. If you push hard enough yeah, not everything is going to be great. Big deal, pull it out and try again. You'll learn more from failures than successes. That you didn't have enough rocks to make a rock garden forced you to be creative. Look for those opportunities. Even push yourself into those corners. That's where innovation lives.

One thing I do is look at material, like the bricks you got, and imagine how they could be used. Forget how they're suppose to be used, but just how they could be used. Like for example maybe you want a waterfall for your pond...made of bricks? That's crazy. But maybe brilliant if you can pull it off.

I think you're already doing that, seeing a use for materials. Keep going, go further. Consider everything.

Oh goodness, that has to be one of the most positive and uplifting replies I've seen in awhile and it was to me! :) Thank you! I'm trying to read more threads here to get ideas. I do have a minor in art, so I do think the design classes I took help but I'm still not happy with the balance of most of what I've done. I'm even thinking of digging a 300-500 gallon koi pond this weekend but decided I should wait until next year once I've gotten these other projects completed. I just don't have too many friends around here so I don't have anyone to show thigns to and get honest answers--I like critiques! Like 'I think that rock would look better to the right' or 'those two platns on the side, have you thought about planting them at the front center?'

Go Go Tangents

Not sure if I already said this but the reason I really l ove rock-gardens is I want low-maintinance/low-water, since this is a drought area and I rather hate yards. This is inspired by my regular trips to San Diego. I also want to provide more vegetation and flowers for bees/butterflies (Would like to set up a monarch waystation in the backyard along side the path). I'm also trying to decide if I want to do a patio or a deck in the back as the yards uneven and I'd really like a flat solid area. I was considering investing and having a small sunroom/conservatory built onto the 4x12 patio that's already there but given ti's Texas--it'd probably be to hot to use in the summer and to cold in the winter. So my other plan is either a deck, or putting in retention walls to level out a half-circle infront of the current patio---should only need 2 feet high at the highest area, in theory.

I have so many plans and ideas, but my biggest fear I think is that 1. The HOA is going to get mad at my landscaping decisions and 2. They're going to not look that great over-all and make it harder to sell our house (which is years away).

Brick Path Progress -

I'm wondering if I should do a slightly windy path straight back then curve to the patio (which is on the north-west side of the house, the gate is on the south-east side) or do a few circles (I might have to buy more bricks) with sand or little water features in the center. I'd like some kind of 'seperated' garden beds, because I kind of want to do a mini botanical garden / prenneial garden / Monarch waystation. Ideally with little plant name-plates of some sort, haha.

Before - Did this about an hour ago. Was a square of rocks that had been painted orange by the neighbore. Told them when I moved in a year ago I was going to do something different with it and they said go ahead. So I removed all the rocks that were painted (the collar at the base of the mailbox, it was glossy and fake looking!) And here was what I had to work with.

After - So I have my little rock garden! I had some pea-gravel and I turned rocks upside down that had been painted to have some larger rocks. I'm goign to clean up the outter edges so there is a cleaner line but I don't want it perfectly 'square'. I have a few more Chick n Hen succulents in the back I'm going to spot in there but I wanted the rocks to be the main feature. It's a little heavy on the right, I'm considering taking out the dark green Aloe (it won't survive the winter here anyways) and doing something more dense with chick n' hen succulents (which are my fav, and most will survive the winters here). Ideally I want those little succulents to grow over the sidewalk. I also have some pearl succulents I'm thinking of hanging in some kind of basket from the loops under the mailbox. Though again those won't live in the winter

so I'd have to bring them in.

Corner Garden - I need to put some more rocks on this one to give it more of a little rock-feel.

Before - Yard, all grassy and what not.

After - Inspired by some of the patterned succulent gardens I've seen online. Needs more rocks or a full ground-cover.