I was thinking about that 165gallon pond... You might want to make it above grade for two reasons - having an edge to sit on thankfully while trailing your fingers; and not having to hack through a bazillion tree roots to install it. You may need to think about either a leaf net or a cover for autumn when the leaves come down in bulk. I have a pool cover of wire netting over mine - to keep out the swamp hens and hedgehogs - and it also catches most of the trees' leaves as well. I agree about the chain link fence - and it does seem to have attractive uprights. However - can you easily get behind it to weed? Or are you going to pay the 'fibro price' for pulling and tugging in an awkward position? Thinking of bee-friendly plants for dappled light - forget-me-not (Myosotis)is great in spring (and an oh dear! if your dog has a long coat but they are easily combed out), Dicentra, Heuchera, Hosta, Clematis - which could do well in one of the lower trees, Prunella. And the simpler forms of Dahlia are much-visited, as are Buddleias. My old dog was always fond of shady 'scrapes' under shrubs or ornamental grasses. Or the middle of the Iris innominata...:-( The wooden decking was popular, too. If you find your tree roots rapidly colonising any garden beds you make you may have to either make raised beds with a barrier layer and above ground drainage points - or move to container growing. They might be why your yard has hungry sandy soil and weeds. The tree looks a bit like a birch of some kind. (Secondary guess would be a flowering cherry.)

whatever that weed is we don't see it much on this forum. My first choice for a weed killer would be Weed-B-Gone. Second choice would be Weed-B-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis killer. Third choice would be Brush-B-Gone. Those are three increasingly effective varieties of the same weed killer. The grass looks more like bermuda than zoysia. Is it still growing? Can you pull up a surface runner and take a picture? Does it get seed heads if you don't mow it for a week or so? Can you take a picture of any seed heads? Where do you live? Zones don't matter. We need the city or zip code to help you better. You need to calibrate your sprinkler(s). Put some tuna or cat food cans around the yard and turn on the sprinkler. Time how long it takes to fill the cans. That will always be your watering time. If you have a zoned system do that for each zone. Once you have done that calibration, there will be an inch of water in your soil. When you get back with your location I can tell you more about when to water again. It won't be for a couple of weeks, so don't get panicky. 60 days is not long to go from beautiful to this. I suspect the lawn had been nursed carefully while it was for sale and now it has collapsed. If you live in El Paso or west of Junction, I will change my story on that. For right now, I would apply a starter dose of organic fertilizer along with the water mentioned above. For fertilizer you can use corn meal, alfalfa pellets, or Milorganite. Those are in order of increasing cost. You can get the first two at a feed store. They might have Milorganite there, too, but for sure at a garden store. A bag of corn meal should cost under $10. A bag of alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow) should be around $12-$14. Milorganite might be on sale for $8 but usually it's above $16. The application rate for the first dose would be 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Then 3 weeks later you can go up to the normal dose of 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. This should correct any soil biology issues. This is in addition to the weed n feed you already used. In the future stay away from those. If this works for you, I'll be surprised, but fine. Usually those don't work well as either weed killer or fertilizer. If you want to kill weeds spot spray with a liquid. If you want to fertilize, use a fertilizer. The problem with wnf is you usually need one or the other but never both at the same time. The other problem is to apply it correctly takes two people working in close harmony to keep the grass moist while the product is going down. Then watch the grass for signs that it is no longer growing. When that happens give it one last dose of a very high N fertilizer with very low or zero P and K. After that forget about it until April. Keep it watered once a month during the winter. Mulch mow at your mower's lowest setting two times then raise it up a notch for the rest of the season. Mulch mow 2x to 3x per week at that higher setting until it stops growing.

I read an article on this site not long ago (can't remember where now) that I thought gave some good advice. Buy a couple of high quality pieces. Really nice sofa and chair for example in a neutral color. Then accessorize and add color with less expensive pillows and smaller more original pieces from flea markets as others have suggested or even second hand stores. If you spend some time browsing photos on Houzz and start an idea book you will soon see the similarities in what you like or don't like. Even colors you gravitate towards. So you could get some nice pieces and ideas from Ethan Allen but don't buy everything from them. Fill in with less expensive and unique pieces. It will keep the room from looking like a showroom. Also once you pick fabrics or pillows you like paint stores (at least my local SW) is great about helping pick out paint colors. I think you could very well pull a room together based on an inspiration photo and help from furniture and paint stores. I am no whiz at decorating but I have learned a lot from reading these forums. Good luck and have some fun with it :)

Home Interiors & Jodie White, Sorry guys. I'm new to this. Obviously, i need to create an Ideabook! I tend to go more towards muted brown, red, yellow/gold, rust colors (in past), but open to other somewhat neutral palettes. I actually love the console, but was considering an antique cream color (if I could make that work?). My tastes tend to be traditional, rustic, a little farmhouse (pottery barn, restoration hardware, ballard designs) but with so many current needs, all those in a TIGHT budget! Aktillery9, i do like all of those looks. My husband did just tell me, due to wiring, there is chance we may not be able to mount on flat wall as i hoped, so i may be forced to go back to corner console again. :( When I get a chance, I'll post some of my fav looks.