Thank you all for your comments. Drainage and overland flow is an issue here - unfortunately the city is the one that caused the problem. According to the neighbors the city put in curbs and gutters in our area about 10 years ago but they never put in any storm sewers. So during any rain event all the water shoots down the driveways uphill from us then through both our rear neighbor's lawn and ours before making it to the patio. There is a decent amount on infiltration through the lawns so we don't have any rivers through the grass and the grade around the patio does a little bit to mitigate the water on the patio issues - but not enough. The basement has been waterproofed along the rear of the house... Anyway, I know the drainage is an issue but there won't be anything done about it by the city so I'm left to fend for myself. Thank you for your thoughts of privacy from the neighbors... that has been a thought of mine too. Luckily the house to the left doesn't really look over our patio area as their house has an extension (with no windows in our direction) at the back that runs along the property line and extends about 20' past the back of our house. The house on the right would have a pretty direct line of sight to the patio so it is that side (south) that would need the screening. I've been thinking that some blueberry bushes might be nice there... mind you I know nothing about blueberries except that I love to eat them and that the blueberry bushes at my mother in laws house are large and georgous (she is Atlanta though, so what works for her probably will not work for me in Ohio)... I guess I need to do some research :) Another thought we've had is to do some sort of trellis / arbor / pergola thing to give some privacy and to eventually provide some shade on the patio during the day. I've had a look on line and in books at the library and seen some things that look a nice but nothing yet that gets my motor going. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear or see them. We haven't really given any thoughts to a wood deck... I think it is because we've never seen one that we really like. My father's deck seems to be alot of work (cleaning, sealing, warping...) granted it is over 20 years old. I know nothing of the recycled wood products though. I"ll think about it, but can already imagine my husband's reaction to the idea - "no". We've had the neighbor's landscaper over here a couple of days to have a look at things and he came up with some really nice plans. He does interlocking concrete pavers. His portfolio has some really nice pictures of his work in it and I've seen some of his patio work at another neighbor's house which looks really nice 2 years after installation. It doesn't hurt that his is a young company that is hungry to do work so his prices seem reasonable... the other paver guys that said he couldn't even imagine anything going in under 10K made me gag (same guy that told me I'd need over 400SF). As for size... once the rain stops I will drag out the hose and see what kind of space I think I'll need to feel comfortable and then add about 10%. Thank you again for all your comments. Andria

A planter from our GJ Inspiration album...how about something like this? Maybe turned spindles & painted diff colors? Stack of towels in the planter part? Color, yes use color! After all, you bought a place in Florida! Add a wood parrot to the top corner of it! LOL! Have fun, giggles! (blue planter box by sistersunnie) Here is a link that might be useful: GJ Inspiration 'Wood Creations'

Camellia

a strong second for fairview's comments about contractors' tendency to overplant in number and in size - pay close attention to the eventual mature sizes of anything you put in the ground - last year, we removed (with great difficulty) a red tip photinia that had been planted only 18 inches from the foundation!!! - those things can grow to be the height of a two story house & have no business being that close to a building in the same vein, you have crape myrtles on both front corners - make sure they're not too close - they come if different sizes, and some are the size of small trees when mature - and the front left one might be in shade the whole day, which won't go well for a crape myrtle, especially if this is a two-story house - if you're not dead set on symmetry, you might want to consider a japanese maple on that corner - lou can tell you more on that - and once your live oaks fill out, the right front corner will be just as shady and both crape myrtles will be unhappy also, why are your shade trees on the north/northwest end of the property????? - i strongly suggest you consider a shade tree for the south/southwest end of the backyard - not only will this provide shade for the house, but the a/c compressor will work more efficiently in the shade as well (lower light bill & fewer maintenance visits) - considering the narrowness of the yard, you might want to add another little gem magnolia at the top end (at the wood fence "spot"), then another west of the corner (at the stone fence bed "spot") or similar - or you could scrap the magnolias altogether and plant a couple of live oaks at that corner as you have at the front corner "know absolutely nothing" - we all come into this world knowing absolutely nothing - each of us were on square one in gardening at some point - i've found gardeners to be quite quick to share information i forget who made the suggestion, but driving around the neighborhood for ideas is an easy and very relevant way to brainstorm - take a digital camera with you so you can snap portions of yards that you like (or don't like and want to avoid) for later reflection - and don't limit yourself to your immediate neighborhood - i frequently check out neighborhoods of people who are "better off" that i am in order to see what professionally installed and maintained yards look like in hopes of seeing something i can replicate within my own budget and energy its cool that you're exploring your options now - unless you have an upcoming deadline for the contract/implementation, i'd allow yourself plenty of time to consider various ideas and suggestions - you may surprise yourself in how many times you change your mind - and its pretty d*** hard to move a tree over four inches to the right if you don't like where it's put ~ freshair