Most people offer a photograph.

It works best if you limit a thread to a portion of the yard .... say a front, back or side yard. In order to make the property understandable to those of us who cannot see it in real life, it is best to capture a wide view that shows the predominant scene from one side to the other. To do this, stand in ONE SPOT and pan the camera from left to right, taking slightly overlapping shots. For example, for the front yard, you'd line up with the front door, about 30' away and begin by shooting beyond the left side of the house. Work rightward until you've captured what's beyond the right side of house. Post the pictures directly into the thread, without altering them (such as by making a computer generated panorama.) Also, state what objectives and goals you're trying to accomplish. ...Not HOW to accomplish them, but what final results you're hoping to achieve (such as "more shade," "a welcoming sense," "privacy," etc.)

Please indicate the zone you live in and what kind of gardening you like to do.

I reposted below with pictures. The site won't allow me to add pictures to this thread. And it wont allow me to delete it, to start over. I am in a suburb 30 miles north of Atlanta GA.

I was looking to create a space that had a nice platform somewhere with a purgela. Wanted a fire feature. Nice bit off grass. And maybe some stonework on the ground. And the wife wants a garden

Howdy neighbor--I am about an hour northeast of Atlanta. You are probably zone 8.

If you have your photos in a folder on your desktop--when you post to the site-click on the camera, it will bring up a window, open your photo folder and select 1 photo and upload and it will come into the dialog box. If it has a lot of pixels it will maybe let you load 2 photos, but you can keep posting and loading pictures until they are all on here.

Hi KS. I saw some photos you posted in another thread, but now I can't find them. I saw a 2 story white house with wood siding and a 2nd story deck, lot sloping toward the back. It appeared to be mostly grass and dirt in the back, and was that a driveway going down to the small shed at the property line? Then a nice green wooded area behind you, lots of tall, dense trees.

I can imagine a graded patio off the back of the house bordered by a low stone retaining wall, with steps down to a grass terrace that can serve as a driveable surface for the rare instances you need to drive down to the shed. Then a third lower terrace, densely planted with medium-height mounding shrubs that will flower seasonally, maybe even a small water feature.

The patio will have to be fairly wide and deep to contain a fire feature in a safe location. Consider the direction of prevailing winds, and how you will sit around the fire -- permanent bench seating? A collection of comfortable outdoor seating? Be sure the patio is large enough to allow for all that. Plan your lighting at the same time -- uplights built into the patio floor? Overhead strings of lights? Lanterns on low posts on either side of the steps?

A lot will depend on your budget; terraces and stone retaining walls will be expensive, but will add value to your home and your family will enjoy them for many years to come.

For those who do not know there has been a problem with posting photos and links. It seems on and off.