Claudia, I have some suggestions for you first before one can answer your question here. Even a professional landscaper that comes to your place would be able to do a better job if you had answers to this list of questions ready. Seeing the photo alone won't answer a number of questions that come to mind. I'll list them so you can plan your landscaping job better. 1. Is there any slope to the ground & if so, what is the inclination? Flat, gentle or steep in places? 2. What type of soil do you have - mostly clay, silt, or loam? Acidic, alkaline or neutral? 3. Where are you located - in other words, what USDA zone do you live in? Here's how you can find out if you don't know: http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html What will grow will depend on where you live. 4. I see tall trees on one end so it would be good to keep an eye on how much sun your backyard gets. Are the trees on the north, south, or what side? You should keep tabs on how many hours different parts of the yard gets as light requirements for plants vary greatly. 5. Will you be able to water your plants at all? If not, how much rain do you get & during which months does it mainly fall in? 6. What direction does the wind blow in? Does the stand of trees protect your backyard during cold winter winds? 7. Lastly, what sort of preference do you have for your yard - wild meadow garden; manicured neat borders; low maintenance; or what type? Would you like some additional trees or mostly shrubs or a mixture of shrubs & perennials? Any trellises built so you can plant vines? No one would want to put lots of effort into making a garden that doesn't suit their tastes or time. As for costs & machinery, I don't do the big stuff so I'm of little help there. But once you have a better idea of what you'd like done & have the list of answers ready, you should be able to phone up professional landscapers in your area & ask for an estimate. Check around carefully & ask for referrals so you can see what their work is like. Ask to view some clients' yards. Too many so-called expert or professional landscapers just have the bigger, more costly equipment & little skill in what they do.

Wow, if that were my property and I had access to the water, I'd definitely be marking it as my own. Does your neighborhood association allow you to plant right down near the water? I'd be tempted to take that bed with the two palms surrounded by hedges right down the side of your house to the water with an interesting mixed planting, native grasses, local waterfront plants, etc. Would be a big project but you could tackle it over a few years. Even just getting a bed laid out and mulched might signal a boundary line that warns people off. I'd also plant some stuff directly outside your pool fence on the side that faces front on with the water. Even some bougainvillea or something on the fence would give you a bit of privacy. And then another bed or planting that runs down the side of your house on the neighbor side to keep folks from coming in from the waterfront on that side. Given the long swathes of grass that seem to be between all the houses and the water, though, I suspect there may be some restrictions about what you're allowed to do.

Hi Karina, It looks like your garden area has lots of potential. I'd look through images of gardens online so that you start to get clarity about your own sense of style, what you like and dislike. Also, make a list of goals for the garden (eg : play space for the kids, grilling area, dining / entertaining area, herb/vegetable garden. or whatever makes sense for you). Knowing what you want to be able to do in the garden, as well as what is beautiful to you, is a good start. Then measure the garden and make a basic plan of its shape, and include the house and the placement of windows and doors (measure their location). See if you have an outdoor GFI electrical outlet, and a hose bib or faucet---if you use low voltage landscape lighting and an irrigation system, you will need these. (You will want the irrigation outlet to be continuous, that is, you won't want it on a switch because you don't want anyone to turn the irrigation off). I can't tell what part of the country you are in? But from the photos, a few thoughts: - it looks like you may get a lot of sun, and so if you're in the right zone, a fragrant garden would do well: lavender, rosemary, butterfly bush, monarda. rose, perhaps lilac, plants like that. Or are you in California? I can't tell, but plants that make sense in your area; you can discuss with your local plants nursery. You'll want to choose either an angular, geometric garden or organic, curvy shapes for the layout. From what I can see of the photos, one design I would try out would be : formal vegetable and herb and fruit garden in the sunny area near the house (if it gets full sun), with gravel walks. Also, flower beds. A terrace with shade of some kind (sail cloth, or umbrella, or pergola). Then I'd make a small woodland where there are tall fences, this may be along the side of the house where the pool is, it's hard to tell in the photos. There could be seating in a few areas: a bench in the herb garden or a chair & ottoman there (eg adirondack chair, nothing fancy); dining table or deeper seating with a dining-coffee table on the terrace, for say 6-10 people if that makes sense for your lifestyle; and then a bench or a couple of chairs in the "woods" area. You could also incorporate a small oval or rectangle of grass for play space. Good luck with your design process. I think you might find helpful hints on how to approach designing your own garden on gardenista.com

Something tall and skinny for passing boats or passing gators? How about the common house plant False Aralia, Plerandra elegantissima. The other aralias that are not the genus aralia either that are worth looking into are Polyscias fruticosa cultivars. I would not plant them as a hedge, only as vertical accent in the bromeliads. This may be more a tropical look than modern. Tropical Mawdernn