On the north side of an older home near me used to be the most beautiful cedars. The yard had shade from trees, as well, and these small cedars looked good all the time, winter & summer, and didn't seem to be bothered that they maybe saw the sun for an hour at 5 a.m. and another hour at 8 p.m. in the summer. Additionally, the house was empty for a few years and so there was no supplemental watering, care, pruning, etc - they thrived and looked beautiful. I often thought a planting of a brightly coloured hosta in front of those cedars, or a mass planting of variegated goutweed (I know, I know, but it really is a superb plant in certain situations) would have looked stunning. The smaller cedars, a group of 3 of them, were like a small global. There was also a Brandon and another unknown larger one. At another house near me on the north side quite close to the foundation is a dwarf Alberta spruce, planted haphazardly by an inexperienced gardener grass growing right up to the trunk, knocked weekly by the lawnmower, and when it's not shaded by the house, it's shaded by a large Manitoba Maple tree. It's thriving. Go figure.

Most azaleas - not all - prefer shade and oak or pine mulch . They do have very shallow surface roots that are sun sensitive and dry out quickly . If necessary - Screen native soil of rocks by putting it through half-inch by half-inch hardware cloth. Then, mix up to 1/3 organic matter such as compost, peat moss, or composted manure into the native soil when planting . Do not use bagged store bought soil exclusively . It will make it difficult for roots to penetrate the native soil as they grow. Do not plant under an overhang or near downspouts, as rain run-off will damage the plants. It is also a good idea to avoid planting next to concrete walkways or foundations, as concrete surfaces have a very high pH and this can cause problems with growth and flowering. Do not use pea rock as mulch. Apply 3 inches of organic mulch, keeping it away from the trunk. This is very important to keep all mulch a good distance away from the trunk or stems of plants . Would any of these work for you ? coffee - Coffea arabica gardenia - Gardenia species Mexican fire bush - Hamelia patens firecracker vine - Manettia rubra false poinsettia - Mussaenda species wild coffee - Psychotria species panama rose - Rondeletia splendens bush pentas - Rondeletia leucophylla

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.

Okay first, you'll need to pull back those stones. If you don't have a 'hard rake' yet, invest in a good one. If you have one, and it's cheap, work with it until it breaks. If you need one, you will forever appreciate a good tool - get the best one you can afford. For a hard rake, you'll want one with 2 connecting points on the edges of the head (bow rake.) The type where the handle makes a single connection with the rake head is not designed for heavy materials, nor as good for long-term landscaping tasks such as moving stones or leveling beds (the back of a bow rake is perfect for moving a lot of dirt and putting a nice finishing touch on the project.) Get one that is size-appropriate for your height. These choices are what will take much of the drudgery and frustration out of already difficult jobs. Next, since it will be an ongoing project, break it down into stages. I do suggest that when it comes time to buy the plants, you buy all of the same varieties of plants at the same time. They can be like kitchen tiles. If you don't get the same exact shrub, at the same time, colors of both foliage and flowers may not match. Do all of one type at one stage, then later get all the next type, etc... If you have a decent size back yard, and can afford it, buy at least one extra of each shrub and plant it in an out of the way place, or in a spot where it can be moved later. It's not uncommon for a shrub to die, and a small investment ahead of time can save you headaches later if you need to fill something in. If you have so many plantings that this is financially a problem, skip it. Start with the rocks. Get a good size tarp, a wheelbarrow, and a round shovel. Start with pulling back the stones in the areas that will get the same plantings. Place the tarp on an out-of-the-way corner of the lawn and start dumping stones on half the tarp. Use the other half to fold back over to keep them clean and to keep the neighbors happy. This will kill the grass, so if you have extra driveway space, just dump them on the driveway and cover with the tarp. Keep removing more stones as you gather OM (see next paragraph.) Next step is to decide if you are going to buy the soil amendments, or build the soil yourself. Since you expressed a desire to build your own (the vastly cheaper route) begin piling on any organic matter you can. Either start a compost pile, or just start tossing on what OM you can gather on the now stone-free areas of the beds... or both. Some very cheap examples of OM resources are coffee houses (free,) wood chips from the companies that trim trees from power lines (free, or a small tip that makes them both happy to dump it where you need it, and happy to return with more,) kitchen scraps, grass clippings (learn how to compost these properly... a great source of organic matter, but a pain if not used correctly,) city leaf collections (even out of season, some cities use the same place each year and uncollected leaves piled up become what is called leaf mold... great stuff for lightening clay!,) and county dumps (many dumps in Tn. are now separating out all tree products and shredding them. They either give it away free, or sell it at reasonable prices to county residents.) There are many other sources for organic matter, just keep your eyes open and you might be surprised at what becomes available. Let it pile up high, and keep it pulled back a little (or really, just don't let it pile up too high) against any plant you want to keep. As it begins to break down (kept relatively moist, organic matter breaks down fast in Tn. My 8' of long grass and hay mulch on my garden beds broke down to an inch over the summer and was incorporated into the soil by the worms) add more and/or turn it into the soil (next paragraph.) Next you'll want to buy or borrow a 'garden fork'. You can use a shovel, but a good fork works better. At least once a year, and as often as every 1 - 3 months, turn the organic matter into the soil. If roots are in the way, you can keep it on top, or pull out the plantings that you don't want, and just mulch around what you want to keep. The worms will incorporate the organic matter into the clay around established plants, but it's a much slower process. If you did a good job at scrounging OM, you will be ready in a year or 2 for your new plantings. Of course, the longer you wait, the better, but strike a balance. When you dig clay, and turn in OM, the expansion of the volume can be surprising. Clay packs very tightly, once you begin to loosen it, you may quickly find you'll need to pull some out. This will depend on your desired level of the bed. When it comes time to remove the old plants, think about reusing them somewhere else, or use them as trade to get people to help. Lastly, decide what you do want as mulch. Organic mulches will continue to improve the soil and have many benefits. The downside is continual replenishment. Stones are fine, and when used with a weed barrier of some sort, look good and clean. The downsides are weeds that poke through when no weed barrier is used, the soil stays in a 'stasis', well-intentioned landscapers trying to weed eat around, or on top of stones inevitably break a window, and stones don't always stay in place... matching them, and replacing them ain't cheap. Anyway, that should get you started, and if you piddle around a little here and there, you'll be surprised at how fast removing the stones goes. BTW... a bbq gets family and friends more in the mood to help, and if you tackle the entire project in stages, the work for each step is nothing.