Those mockups look nice, but they are a bit too elaborate for this situation. I am thinking more natural-style would be good. I also have a VERY limited budget. I will be trying to do all the work myself...I'm pretty handy, but not really a gardener per se. Yes, I have been reading Las Pilitas website, it has a great deal of info about native plants, plant communities, and more. Here are some more specific questions I have: 1) There are trees growing up from the creek and thru the soil and some of the trunks pop-up thru the soil look like roots growing and then they pop-up on the right of the picture and grow into trees (if that makes any sense). I was considering adding some clean fill soil to cover up those weird trunk/roots/stumps on the left side. Would this create any problems for those existing trees and other plants/soil/environment? 2) I was also thinking about adding woodchips or mulch to cover some of the ground, hoping the oak trees will like it and also suppress weeds from growing. Is this good/bad? What kind of woodchips are best? Thanks again for all the help. -aaron

Talk to some landscape designers and ask to see their portfolios. I’ve looked at a lot of landscape photos online and most of them are overdone, loaded with too-wavy lines, unnecessarily complicated shapes, fire pits and fountains that no one uses, redundant “features” and stepping stone paths to nowhere. A good pro design will address your family’s needs in the simplest way possible, IMO, taking into consideration the amount of time you want to spend maintaining it. Making a list of your needs and wants and a sketch of your yard as suggested above is the first step. You can do it yourself if there are no grade change or drainage issues, or paver installations that you can’t manage or aren’t willing to learn how to do correctly, but it’s hard physical work and there’s a lot to learn first. Planting and mulching is moderately hard work but doable with some advice on plant selection from a good nursery or the forums. Books from the library or online advice on proper planting methods are important for success. Having a lawn seeded or sodded is not that expensive in my area. Lighting is a job for pros. Here is an outdoor living area with a patio for sitting/dining, grill, lawn, simple flower beds, and not-yet-mature plantings for privacy in the background. It provides a walk from driveway to house. Small tree for shade. Retaining wall provides an interesting grade change. Out of view is a bird bath for bird watching, and additional small sun and shade gardens. No squiggly lines, extraneous rocks and gravel, squirting fountains, monuments to stone-look blocks, or kitsch. Simple. Professionally designed. Last summer this area was a construction site with a new septic system being installed until the patio, sod, and new driveway and were installed around October. There is enough space here to satisfy an urge to garden but not so much that it creates a burdensome maintenance problem. Beds are kept mulched for weed control and moisture retention. You could easily do something like this in your yard even if you completed the project over time. Some of the garden accoutrements here have been collected over a 25 year period. Some of the gray pots on the ground are 3 or 6 dollar plastic pots from walmart painted with rustoleum camo color spray paint that blends in with the concrete and stone. They were lime green before. Good luck and try to enjoy the process.

Beware of landscaping for low maintenance. Over the years, quite a few of my neighbors have replaced their front yard grass with ground covers and shrubs "for lower maintenance". To them, that means a garden service coming twice a year to cut down perennials in spring and fall when they die. They also cut the tall weeds down to ground level (e.g. a large patch of wild goldenrod reached 8 ft before it was cut to the ground.) The original ground covers and perennials are a mess since they're never weeded, and some like Bishops weed and lily of the valley, are taking over. Some areas (e.g. low sedum) are so covered with weeds that the original ground covers are not that visible. The shrubs are overgrown, hanging over the pathways and sidewalk. Overall a very messy look that cost them more money than they would have spent by just hiring a lawn mowing service and keeping their original evergreen shrub foundation bushes. If I were you, I'd concentrate on some hardscape improvements like that hot tub idea and leave much of it as lawn for the children to play on.

You have a lot of fencing in quite a narrow lot, so it seems like an ideal location for some vertical gardening. You could go with hardy perennials, including some of the natives you'd mentioned, or grow annuals for color or scent... even herbs or vegetables in wall pockets. That would be a great way to indulge your love of plant abundance without having your garden look busy or messy, and a nicely set-up vertical garden can actually help your space to feel a bit more expansive. As an added bonus, it would bring plantings up to eye level so you can enjoy them from your deck and create a feeling of being immersed in the garden rather than sitting above. Here's an example with perennials (not necessarily appropriate to your zone): And here are a couple of herb gardens: Have you eliminated the stepping stone pathway? If not, I'd recommend you move your stepping stones much closer together. A 3-4" gap between will make for a much more walkable pathway. You had mentioned an interest in NY native plants. I'll bet the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens would be a good resource, as would your local Extension office. As an alternative, this website seems to be pretty comprehensive: New York Native Plants. Finally, I don't know if this is true in New York, but in many parts of the country Butterfly Bush is considered an invasive species. Even where it's not, it can be a pesky plant that will want to take over your garden. You may want to investigate. Possible alternatives would be some sort of viburnum, clethra, ceanothus, or rose of sharon. You could also go with one of smaller peegee hydrangeas.