Thanks so much for everyone's time in posting. I think my response is going to be longer than my initial post! The lemon treemaybe I should take a picture from the sidewalk. The picture I posted was taken from my neighbors deck as the "before" of our roof. I think the tree looks taller from the sidewalk. And we like it covering the window. We can see out, but people on the sidewalk cant see in. All the yellow lemons are really very pretty from the inside, almost like Christmas ornaments! We dont spend much time out front because we have a large, gorgeous backyard. We get shade from several other trees. Matter of fact, I am always concerned about having too much shade to grow some of the plants I want. I really do feel very strongly about the natives. I volunteer on an annual native plant tour. I raise butterflies in the backyard. The front garden needs to be drought tolerant, deer resistant and butterfly friendly. I could probably accomplish that with Mediterranean, but the natives are important to me. Mediterranean plants are in very heavy use in our microclimate. Maybe Im having a Mediterranean backlash like I had a purple backlash several years ago. I guess part of wanting a "strong design element" in front is based on the fact that with natives, the front yard isnt going to be in bloom all year. I want it to be interesting to look at. Also, I spend a lot of time maintaining our backyard and really cant come up with a whole lot more time to spend on the front every week. I have driven around looking at front yards and I like the ones that look like the owners spent some time on the design rather than just an accidental collection of plants. But I dont want a highly formal design. I tend to be a plant collector in the backyard, so I want to have something a little more restrained in the front. I have seen dry streambeds done well and not so well. So I understand your concerns. I'll put that in the "don't do that" file. I should probably explore berms, but I dont know if they look any more natural than dry streambeds. One of the main plants I know I want is the vine maple and I want it to be well planted and integrated into the design. With our backyard, we could divide it into sections and work on it a little at the time. The front yard seems to need a cohesive plan. I will have to have some dirt hauled in, so if I am going to add any dirt, I probably want to do that before putting down the new flagstones. I'm not really seeing this as increasing the hardscape unless you are talking about the streambed as hardscape. We are basically going to redo the existing front walk and then where it going from the front walk to the driveway. Yes, the fence would go all the way to the drive. I was almost embarrassed to post that picture. The fence has been taken down in sections as weve had the work done on the driveway and the roof. Weve got to get rid of a ton of red rock and black plastic. Im under no illusions that this is going to be easy, but I want to make sure I dont get to a step and realize that Ive done something out of order or something that created another problem. Later, I am going to bust up the concrete between the sidewalk and street to get rid of those diamond shaped planters that have been so hard to deal with, but that is further down the road and I can easily separate that from the main project. Ill give more consideration to a post and rail fence painted white rather than a split rail left natural. My partner found a round stone patio with a bench in one of the library books I brought home. If I could find a bench that really spoke to me, I may go in that direction. Oh no! Now I'm feeling unfocused again and that makes me afraid that this project is going to keep stretching out... Yes, the chimney is quite the focal point! There are several like it in our neighborhood.

You people are great! So much input and so fast. So here's a little more info on what I'm thinking: - Privacy: We would like to have privacy in the yard. The windows are not an issue. We are in the yard a lot as soon as it's nice enough outside and practically have every meal outside. The neighbors use their yard not as much but often enough, the lady runs a day care out of her house, and they mainly use their back entrance for coming and going. Right now it's so open you bascially cannot not say Hi. And while they are nice, I'd like to have the option of ignoring them once in a while without seeming rude. :) So I guess, we don't need a castle just more view protection from their yard/walkway into our yard, especially our sitting area and my hammock. A picture of the other side of the yard from early summer so you can imagine the whole thing. On the patch of concrete in front of the hammock is now a table with 6 chairs. As you can see there's not so much sheltering us from the other neighbor either, but it's not so bad. The impression is different because of the oak tree "ceiling" and the rose bush (hard to see, it's hidden behind the tree from this perspective). And I've had some annual climbers grown on 5 ft supports. They came with the house and are not pretty but for now they'll do. Also, the neighbor is never in the yard and we rarely see him coming or going... Walkway: The first thing I wanted to get rid off was this ugly concrete path, especially since it cuts the yard in half like that. But after I figured out how much it would cost to remove the concrete and then to put down a more appealing alternative, and into how many plants/other yard structures that would convert, my plan for now is to try to develop a plan around the existing walkway, maybe add arches for depth, a focal point in the middle of the pathway, have the "rooms" go off to the side of the path, and stain the concrete a dark color. No lawn yard: I'm really in a total starting phase. I went outside and measured everything yesterday. When I get it on graphing paper and some ideas down I will run it by you guys. So far the following ideas are floating in my head: Since it would be better if the pathway could stay, my thought was to go with the geometry of the space (square) and have square four rooms that go off from the path. The patio will stay where it is. It's convenient too because of the shade from the oak tree. I would like to make the hammock area into a retreat corner. Surrounding vegetation for that should be at least chest high. For the back right side there are a few things in my head but nothing concrete yet. It has the most sun. A sitting spot with a rockgarden. Or with perennials centering around peonies. Or... On the left side the front may be kept open for a child play area maybe with sandbox. I may actually keep the lawn there or replace it with a no mow stepable groundcover. But I would want to widen the flowerbed or planting area next to the fence at least a few feet. Then something to divide the "childplay room" from the back left. I was thinking of a veggie garden there since it gets decent sun, but I'm not yet sure how much we'll be here enough during the crictical months of the summer. It may have to be a yard to be enjoyed in early and late summer. If not veggies, then I don't know yet. All this hasn't been scatched out so I have no idea if I'm trying to cram much too much into our small yard and should depart from the four room idea. Fence: It's stained from what I can tell. And it's worn off in quite a few places. I'm from Germany and I don't know what people do with the fences here in this climate. I'll find out. Re: the privacy issue so far I like the idea of supports that maybe mimmick the shape of the pickets maybe just part of the whole length. I worry that posts and wires will not look good. I will also look into tall, narrow pergolas, but I find the structures usually too "heavy" for our little yard. Or just plain ugly looking. ;) But maybe there are some out there that could fit the bill. Karin, what would you do if the pathway was to stay? I liked your thinking, I just don't think it's in the budget... Hmh... lots to think about... Thanks so much already. And keep it coming.

Thanks to everyone for posting a reply! :) I've been really busy with work all week. ideasshare, thanks for taking time to edit and post the photo. I've included another photo showing a pile of rocks that I have salvaged from my property when I moved here. I'm intending on using them somewhere...some in the frontyard and some in the backyard. It'd be neat if I can have some moss too like you suggested. gardendoll, i too realized that I have to consider that the areas around the sidewalk would have to withstand winter salt and doggy waste. I don't want to rely much on perennials as they won't be around all year long. I wouldn't mind few but I'm mainly aiming for evergreens. Do you have a thread going for your new garden plan? woodyoak, I really thought hard about your suggestion and you really made me realize that my squiggly paths are pretty silly! I tried again and posted an updated plan below. It hasn't snowed here yet but I did some walking around and found out that you were correct about only curving when going around corners. Yes, your assumption is correct in that there will be gates on each side of the house...as shown on the updated plan. berndnyz5, you are correct. Before removing the Mulberry tree, I knew there'd be a trade-off with loosing shade but the trade-off was easy considering that the tree was a female and the mess that the fruit made was unbearable. The tree was also an eyesore in my eyes as it was stumpy and hacked by previous owners. It also had a split in one of its trunks which was an accident waiting to happen. Since the house faces west though, when I walk out the front door at about 6 PM in the summertime, I get practically blinded by the sun :S I am aware of the metal brackets that you are referring to and those are what I intend on using for my wood posts. As far as I thought cedar or pressure treated wood will eventually rot. I have until the spring to decide on which type of wood regardless :) There is an old lady who has lived across the street for the past 50-some years and told me that the hedges that I removed had been there for around 40 years. She also told me other neat things like how the driveway used to be by the south-west corner of the property. Anyway, the hedge did provide some privacy and noise barrier but at the expense of being ugly (especially in winter) and super high maintenance in the summer. It was too linear for me and I just couldn't take it any longer. I was surprised after I took it down that I haven't caught one person cutting across the front but regardless, I agree with you and am planning on having something near the NW corner. I was thinking about possibly a small berm/rock garden near the corner but I am unsure how I could link that to the bed beside the driveway. I'm thinking about having taller matter on the NW side and lower matter on the SW side as technically my house address is for the street on the SW side (i.e. the side that I'm planning on putting the new main walkway). Thanks for pointing out about a mulch walkway would be a never ending cycle of tracking it inside the house. I'm going to have to rethink the material for the secondary walkways. I'm planning for the main one to be 4 feet wide and the secondary ones to be 3 feet wide. I'm okay with spending more money on the main one (i.e. tumbled pavers) but need the secondary walkways to be a complementing less expensive material because the walkway are going to be so long. As for the conifers, I'm planning on choosing ones that are appropriate scale for the property and that are slow growing. Since they will grow slowly, if any pruning is eventually necessary, it don't see it as being nuisance at all.

I can't see how you can grow anything in that space on the outside of the fence. It looks like it is only about a foot wide. And if the town won't allow a taller fence, I can't see how they would allow a taller trellis. Even tall perennials and grasses would need more room than that. About the only thing I can see that might help, is to move the table and chairs away from that sidewalk side, and add some pots on your patio with tall plants. I grew Arborvitaes in pots and they have taken on quite a bit of height in only a 20 inch pot and I leave them out all winter. Ilex 'Sky Pencil' is another narrow evergreen. A standard Hydrangea could work too, not sure about leaving it out all winter. Or you could move your fence back a foot and a half and have room to plant Ilex 'Sky Pencil' or an Arborvitae that would need to be pruned after it reached a certain size. Have no idea about whether the root mass would disturb the retaining wall.