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.)

Oh, I missed a sentence up there LOL, that is the bush/tree with the deck that we cut down. The SO was cutting it while I was taking pics. I had to get them taken before he cut down all the tree/shrubs in pic #2 because I wanted before and after pics. In pic #10 if you look in the background at the bottom of the hill you can see one of the neighbors houses, this is the one I want to block the view from. I am planning on planting some fast growing trees in a line. In pic #9 on the right side of the pic is my holding flowerbed we put in too, I am using it as a nursey bed for young plants. I didn't take a pic of my WS containers LOL. Dan, tell the kids I said thanks for thinking about me, but I think we will leave the scratching and rubbing to lavish on them! LOL. Bunny, I am a country girl through and through, I can't stand the thought of living in the city although we did consider it but only for a minute. I like being in the country and NOT seeing my neighbors everytime I go outside. At the other house the trailer park folk would pull up chairs to watch us that I think that is 1. RUDE and 2. CREEPY, WHO does that? Joan, I am so totally pleased to be here. It is a small country house and it could use some work but I am tickled to finally have a place that I am surrounded by nature and not homes. We even have a nice size front porch to sit out on when we get it cleaned off LOL. It is so peaceful here, with the exception of the little &^*&^* that run up and down the main dirtroad on the trail bikes and 4 wheelers but if I had one I would be too! hehe. I am just so pleased to be here. A lot of folks wanted to see the place and this thread was the easiest way for me to share. In the front yard where that little ridge is, we are putting a flowerbed in there too, to make it more level. Can't understand WHY someone would make a cut out section in the front yard but someone did! Crazy is all I can say. Ok, well, thanks for the comments. Have a great night. :) Fran

Photo 1 has daffodils. When the foliage dies back you can remove it. Photo 2 is pachysandra, an evergreen groundcover that can be a bit boring, but is good to leave unless you have something else you want there. Photo 3 is a peony Photo 4 has Rumex, a tap-rooted weed on the right. Use a dandelion skewer to remove it. On the left looks like it might be the self-seeding biennial Lychnis coronaria. For future IDs, the Name that Plant forum might be a more appropriate place to ask. There are some real whizbang plant experts there.

I think sprucing up your lawn quality will go MILES. I also like the post showing a corner tree, and nice edging/mulch. You have good bones to work with, just needs more TLC.