I really, really like hrigsby's idea with the deck. Under the deck storage can be for kid stuff--they can keep their outside playthings there, from bikes and scooters to enormous waterguns. Enclose it and make it a closet. >I was thinking of doing climbing roses and clematis on the shed, but I want to develop a clear plan before I start buying plants. You are totally overthinking this. If you want the look of a clematis and rose-draped shed, get a clematis and a big climbing rose. Go to the species forum and ask for advice, and then go and buy your New Dawn rose and whatever clematis everyone's enthralled by now. Plant them. Mulch their roots so they don't get weedy. Done. You are not going to throw off the entire garden plan by choosing the wrong rose and the wrong clematis. The rock work on the shed foundation is awesome, but as far as plants go...could you possibly do worse? >The park-like look really appeals to me with mulched burmed beds, if that makes sense. Manicured, simple, orderly. You mean commercial and/or parks-and-rec sorts of plantings? This seems to be what you're saying--shaped hedges floating in seas of mulch... This takes a lot of weed killer and a BIG budget for mulch. It also will look, at best, like a rather nice office building. I think you might need more exposure to various kinds of gardens. What you're imagining is mass-maintenance, not low-maintenance. And it's unsuited to a home, though many builders of cookie-cutter homes throw in the cookie-cutter shrubs like this. >Photos of Japanese style gardens appeal to me also. Not low maintenance. >I also love the idea of attracting birds more. I have seen blue jays, cardinals, sparrows, and morning doves. A water feature would be great but I don't think I want a pond. If you want a wildlife garden area, circle where you want it on your layout. Do you want to see it from the patio? From the windows of which room? I'd advise a prefabbed, plug-in type of water feature for low maintenance. Most are hideous. Some are nice. Eventually, you can find one you like. >We also love the idea of doing raspberry, blueberry, blackberry bushes for the kids and birds, but I hear the roots can be very invasive. Why didn't you go over to the fruit forum and ask? The very nice people there would have explained to you that you need a 2' deep root barrier for the raspberries but none for the blackberries. (The lazy way to do it is a 2' deep raised bed, but that may not be smart in your zone.) You will want to plant this either on the east or west side, parallel to the property line but with a pathway at least as wide as the mower. You want this on the OPPOSITE side of property than the wildlife garden, if you really want it for the kids. If you want it mostly for birds, there are better choices of plant--far more attractive for people. If you want several types of raspberry, each needs a 2' deep root barrier between them, or the more aggressive types will take over. The bed needs to be 2' wide. Mulch it well to prevent weeds. Each plant needs 3' of length along the bed. Put a hedge up along the other side, between you and your other neighbors, to reduce the feeling of exposure. As far as the existing arbs, I'd personally do a mixed shrub border, but I fear you will want an orderly row of evergreens that will do nothing to soften the shape of the yard and will grown unmanageably huge themselves in time. I can't really see the commercial berms and sterile plantings plus wildlife combination. It does not at all work in my mind.

The funny thing is - when I look at the house foundation - how much foundations is exposed between ground and bottom of brick siding - it all looks even to me. There is no way there is a 6" or more difference between the 2 ends of the house. So it still really surprises me that our yard is so unlevel. When it rains, we never notice precipitation draining towards our driveway. Not sure if we are going to try again this year. The whole thing is covered with snow right now. We never took it apart - I just drained it before we got that storm. So to start over we would need to first disassemble what we have. We originally installed it shortly after Thanksgiving. On a relatively nice day. But we didn't lay out the tarp then - I was concerned about potential branches falling. Or neighborhood dogs running through it. And if you get a hole in your tarp, the tarp is useless. And we didn't level it then. Since we weren't sure where the frame would need to be leveled. And we have no means of checking the leveling over the 34 foot span. (And in hindsight, I would have leveled the wrong places!) The manufacturers instructions say to wait until you are filling the rink to lay the tarp, and they say to level it as you fill it. I just never dreamed that our front yard was on such a slope. We own the rink now. In huge letters all over the box there are huge caution signs saying that you cannot return the tarp after you open it. So make sure your yard is level before you open the tarp. And I'm reading it saying Duh, how does someone not know if their yard is level or not. So I guess I'm that huge Duh! My daughter is a skater, so I justified the purchase of this rink by telling myself that I wouldn't have to pay for practice ice time over the winter months. But instead I just bought ice time for January and February. The world is full of good intentions.

There is an old thread about ice skating rinks from some years ago here: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/2064228/backyard-skating-rinks?n=23 I don't know if anyone addressed the idea of attaching two sections of plastic together, but I remember a lot of different ideas being tossed around. I would think that even a make-shift seam might work on a very cold day/night when ice would freeze more quickly than it could escape. I wonder if you might simply fold over the two sections of plastic where they meet several times creating a seam, and weighting it down with small rocks or bricks that would be under the ice once the rink was filled. Good luck in any case, and let us know if it works!

My parents were both very good skaters and they used to take us roller skating. It was one thing my father would actually do with us--he didn't like sports, concerts, or camping. We had the clip-on skates for the neighborhood sidewalks, but rented skates at the rink. I was thrilled when my feet grew big enough that I could use my mom's white leather skates. My kids started skating early, with the little plastic toddler skates, then we bought them their own skates and eventually roller blades. I just bought skates for both of my grandsons. The local rink where my kids skated was recently sold and turned into a Dollar Tree. I hadn't been there to skate in many years, and I wouldn't even try it now.