tanowicki - it is a big slope to keep the weed out. The developer hydroseeded some native vegetation which looks like weed and very stressful to look at. Yardvaark - thank you for the suggestion and sketch/picture. Yes, it can be very costly which depends on the type of landscape design. However, at the time being I am planning to just plant the ground cover with some shrubs, grass and trees. But don't know where to plant those which provide a nice landscape. This is not next to the highway. The top of the slope is a ridge full of tall shrubs which slope away from my property and down the canyon on the other side. Cannot see the canyon beyond the fence. Therefore, no view. The steps are to help get up to the top of the slope where there is a narrow flat area for a gazebo (when I have the money to build it) and other landscape and has a nice view of the valley. Beautiful night lights and July 4th fireworks. The rain water is draining onto the lawn which has many small inlets connecting to the drainage system which eventually drains out to the street from both sides of the house. There is a nice view on the left side of the slope which I don't want any tall trees to block the view. Right side of the slope doesn't have nice view except neighbor's backyard. However, I don't want to block their view with tall trees as well. Therefore only some trees like Crepe Myrtle should minimize blocking the neighbor's view. I fully agreed with your suggestion that fruit trees should be on the lower part of the slope for easy access. Between the house and the toe of slope is the lawn area which is flat. This is the top of the slope. This is the toe of the slope. deviant-deziner - Wow !! I am impressed with the landscaping. Very nice before and after pictures for comparison. I wonder how much maintenance you have to put in for these type of landscape. Putting seating along the way up the slope is such an excellent idea. I might incorporate a few in the future.

Ok few questions, if anyone still gets notifications to this thread.. Mike, that pic of your stump/rocks/sedum is great-- the stump is under the rocks? I can't tell what is stump and whit is rocks, or if it's all rocks and the stump is completely covered. I'm sure we can cut ours down some more and probable enough to bury it and plant something shallow like that. Love that idea. I'm confused about the downspout though. It would be buried underneath the sidewalk and come out somewhere downhill on the other side (of the sidewalk, in front of the house)? Sounds like a job for professionals. I like it though and now would certainly be the time to have it done. I also hate the green shutters and screen doors and have been considering brown-- maybe a brownish/taupeish/greenish-- and would like the part of the downspout that comes down the wall to match instead of that stark white. Probably more than I can afford right now, with the doors especially. Also about the foundation-- I didn't realize our dirt was up too high-- I don't think I've seen anything *but* brick on the soil line since we moved in!! Should I be alarmed? I guess I need to go all around and pull quite a bit of mulch and soil down away from the house, still on a slope? If I do that, I'm not sure that it'll be level with the sidewalk anymore by the time I make it that far.. And while I'm at it Mike, your pictures are too glorious. It's taking restraint on my part to not lose myself in jealousy : ) The picture of the really bright red twisty JM in fall-- that whole scene is heaven to me. The colors in that shot, red/orange/gold/yellow/green and blue with such interesting conifers peeking through- if I can get a teeny tiny taste of that feel in my little garden one day, I will be very very pleased. Breathtakingly beautiful. Ken- I'm sorry, I got confused on which piece of grass you were talking about as there's a little spot in the photo on the left. Yes, husband and I have discussed and the grass is going! Wish I'd have posted for insight before I edged it out a little farther and curved it-- here's a pic of the hydrangeas I thought I'd killed when pruning last fall that will show what it the edge looked like a month ago-- but oh well. Was fun practicing with my new edger : ) And the previous owners used the black fabric everywhere (as did the previous owners of our first house) and in each I have cursed it's existence! I've pulled up what we have here as I've gone along but there's plenty still in the areas I haven't even started on yet. They used it everywhere. EVERYWHERE. The method I started using at the last house, loved, and want to continue with here is the newspaper then mulch. Once my soil is amended some and all turned over, loose and level. That black stuff either creeps up no matter what kind of mulch or rocks people put over it, or they never put *enough* whatever over it in my experience, bc I can always see little bits of it here and there, EW. Not sure when my first road trip is as I have plans or appointments every weekday this week except Thursday so either Thursday or one day early next week but I am super excited! And will be following your exact advice-- take pictures, write down names, post here and get feedback : ) BTW you didn't respond about my burning bush-- if it were you, would you get rid of it altogether or do you think my new plan for it is ok?

Kimmsr- Thanks for the detailed reply. The info you provided is helpful. I do have some other questions though. I live about an hour southwest of Chicago in zone 5, late last summer I did the jar test and My soil is about 85 % hard clay, which is strange because one block away the soil is about 70 % sand. Last year I did 2 applications of the shampoo and it helped out with water retention. How do I know when weed seeds will start to germinate? Also what can be done using CGM that will not give me positive results? It sounds like timing is everything with that. My issues with weeds didn't surface until July last year. But they were way outta control. I just figured there would be something I could do early in the year to prevent a lot of them. This lead me to CGM which I'm having a very difficult time finding in my area. In the past I have always mowed at the highest, or second highest height setting on my mower, cutting no more than 1/3 inch at on time. We have had a ton of precipitation this winter and the ground is very moist. I don't know how much of an impact the temps are but we haven't had consistent temps over 40 since last fall. Late March into early April looks like we will be hitting mid 50's consistently. As for watering I learned that I was doing that all wrong as well, listening to the lawn care company they tell you to water every other day, even the irrigation company suggests the same. I'm glad I found this communityð As far as the mole issue I have tried a few different things to combat them. Good to know that i may only have one to deal with. I have had success using both methods but no consistently. The first method I tried was a little metal mole trap that you press into the ground with your foot over their tunnel. After moving this around 4 or 5 times I caught one and that Tom care of my problem for the rest of that year. However I looked toward a less lethal approach. Which lead me to Dr. T's whole control. This is 100 percent castor oil and this also worked for about 5 weeks but after that they came back with a vengeance, and I couldn't repel them at all. After reading your post I learned that I need about twice as much as I used. The bottle says the pint will treat 5000 sq feet. So I guess I will continue to use the trap and the whole control. At least I had some kind of results using both methods. One last question I have is do I over seed? I have read conflicting posts about this, from "you never need to over seed KBG" to "over seeding will help build thicker KBG turf" either way I have not done this in the past 2 years. The lawn care company would over seed when they aerated the lawn.

Here are my thoughts on your questions: Get all soil off the roots. Rinse with sprayer if needed. (How important is this? I'm concerned about damaging the roots) This is very important. Healthy plants can easily withstand a good spraying and manipulation to remove all the old soil. You will not be able to take advantage of your new improved mix without completely removing the old sand/soil. After potting, don't water for 2 days. Usually I wait a week. There is no real rush to water after repotting, unless the plant is extremely dehydrated (which watering should be done very carefully). Keep out of sun for [how long?] Keeping completely out of the sun isn't necessary, but newly potted plants should be in a more protected/shady area so they can get a good amount of light, but do not dehydrate too quickly before the root re-establish themselves. I have spots in my growing areas that I know are a little lower in intensity and put newly potted plants there first. Maybe I would call this 'bright shade' or 'moderate shade'? All depends on your growing conditions really. Any other tips or advice? You have a big list of many succulent species that have varying watering needs. For example, Faucaria felina should get a much different gritty mix than your Crassula mucosa. Doing a bit of research on each will give you a better idea on how to customize the mix for each pot.