What about a nice rock garden instead of the pavers?

Thank you, love your ideas, we wanted to add a walk path and wanted it to be accessible from the side of the garage.

Thanks so much Yardvaark, it looks so much better with your ideas. We would like to try a diy route to do the expansion that you show in the picture, any idea on how can we do it? should we extend the succulents area to have less grass? what should we use to separate the grass from the succulents? Thanks a lot again!

I agree with Yardvaark, especially about the half wall, which creates a little courtyard - a nice feature for the front of the house.

Have you considered hiring a professional landscaper? I waited many years before bringing in someone who know what he was doing, and wish I'd done it much earlier! He created a front yard over and above my ideas, simple things I would never have thought of, and unquestionably added to the value of our home.

Nothing against DIY, but you need to do it the same way that a professional would do it. That means learn to set pavers or pour concrete, or the combination of the two. The good news is that this is the right size of project to undertake as DIY, since it is not too large. I'd be trying to match/coordinate with the work that's already there. If it's pavers mortared in at the edge, that is not a DIY project because it takes more skill than what can be learned on short notice.

If you don't have grass, you need some low, groundcover type plant in lieu of it, or a mulch, which is commonly gravel of some type, if going with the southwestern theme. I'm not familiar with the area enough to make plant recommendations. Look around where you live and see what others are using in lieu of grass, and get it identified. Artificial turf is a possibility as well, though it is not a low cost alternative. (It is installed on a tamped base much in the same way pavers are installed.)

We are concerned that it's going to be too expensive, maybe is not as much as we think? We have so much to do in the house...and the yard is in such a need that we thought we could make some changes ourselves to improve the look but we are struggling with what will look good. I like the drawing from Yardvaark, I think we can do the parts of the walls but enlarging the walkway requires a profesional installer, right? Any shape recommendations to increase the plants area and reduce the grass?

Thanks again Yardvaark, it seems that we were typing at the same time :) ...agree that for the size we could do it ourselves but for the skills required may be not so much. That's why we were trying to do something that could be done diy but still looking good for the style and finish of the house, not so convinced anymore. The plant selection will need to be succulents or drought tolerant, there is not so much rain here and we prefer not to spend much on water. I think we can find the plants, we are more concerned with the layout, how to shape the garden, how to distribute/disperse them appropriately and the shape for the walk path extension. we liked your proposal, we would like to have less grass. We will work on the walls this weekend :)

It's common for homeowners to do DIY projects, but to sometimes cut corners to the point where it is obvious to everyone who sees the project. While the homeowners may still love it, and feel proud of their work, it does not necessarily add value to the property. If the work is not good enough, it detracts from the value of the property. If the home were to be sold, for example, a new owner might be buying it in spite of the DIY work, thinking that they will rip it out at first opportunity. It is so much better to do quality work in the first place, and then it adds value to the property, or at least, doesn't harm it. Your pictures do not tell me exactly what kind of construction the existing work is. If your proposed work is more than a temporary fix, it should be the same quality level as what exists now.

I've tweaked the picture a little better to show how the existing bed could relate to a altered paving. I like the bed shape and size and think it fits the space. I wouldn't enlarge it as the preferred method of getting rid of grass. I would use a grass substitute, which I mentioned earlier, as the way to reduce the size of grass. Your lawn is small so it could be one of those solutions entirely ... with no grass at all. It could be groundcover, gravel, or artificial grass. The picture has been tweaked a little.

Thanks again Yardvaark. I love the shape that you proposed. I don't know either how to describe what we already have, I will post a picture later when I have a chance. The plant that you put on the left is meant to cover the box that we have there? are we allowed to do that?

By any chance does anyone know what plant is this one? We saw it yesterday but couldn't identify it.

Give the utilities some clearance when planting to hide them. You can check directly with the companies to see what they specify. If you plant too close will you be arrested? No. But when they do their work they will injure your plants without caring.

The plant you asked about looks like Fatsia japonica.

Yes, it looks like it is the plant you mentioned. Thanks so much!