Some questions to answer to chose the right tree:

1. How much room do I have to surrounding rooflines?

2. Are there overhead power lines?

3. Do you have utilities that run under the lawn area? Where and what type?

4. What zone and region are you in?

5. Will the tree be watered with irrigation or just natural precipitation?

6. What direction does your yard face (how much sun will it get)

7. How much maintenance? Raking? Fruit? Pine cones

8. Will the main purpose be for shade? For an accent?

Start with a program; how do you want to use the space? How does the space feel? Perhaps some separation from the driveway / block view of garage? Where are the sunny spots at the times you want to use the garden? Do you entertain? Cooking / Dining / Lounging. Screening bad views / privacy. Extending the seasons (heaters / fireplace). Creating ambiant noise (fountains). The list goes on!

You should add a picture taken from near the fence, facing the deck. No way to comment on pergola without seeing the deck.

Have you considered hiring a designer to help you? It would appear from your multiple posts that you have an entire yard to redo to your wishes and needs and hiring a designer to help you develop a master plan is often the most efficient and economical way of achieving that. Plus, a consultation with a designer onsite will no doubt generate other issues or considerations you have yet to think of and that we can't see from just a couple of photos. The best you will get here is some helpful advice or suggestions but nothing close to a landscape plan :-)

But as Owen has pointed out, you need to identify what it is you want from your landscape and how you intend to use it. That is basic info that any designer will need.

What's the purpose of the pergola at the back corner? How would you use the area that is different from the deck?

Hi all, thanks for your input. Houzz does not let me individually reply.

Thanks Owen and Chris for great suggestions I will make a checklist of these while designing.

1. I would love to be able to afford a designer but this house was quite expensive as is. Any idea what is a reasonable price for just a design consultation for front yard and backyard?

2. The deck is currently uncovered and so are rest of the areas in the backyard, I wanted to have a covered seating area in the backyard somewhere, hence the pergola. So any suggestions to either add weatherproof seating arrangements on the deck or covered seating arrangements in the backyard would be great.

Pergola could be like this:

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcRxlcNtFxWFBIzb4iWbCWW9tvx2Qp0DAdqABQrH_u1FZjqB02XM

or

https://freshpatio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/two-bench-pergola-arbor-idea-with-a-table.jpg

A tiny waterfall feature somewhere would also be great but I was told its very expensive and difficult to maintain.

More pictures as requested from my backyard are here. If you can mark it up with suggestions, I will be very grateful :)

Most designers charge an hourly rate for an onsite consultation and that can vary but more than a couple hundred bucks would be high.

As landscape investments go, hiring a designer is the least expensive but most cost saving approach you can take!! It will eliminate all the trial and error involved in ad libbing on your own and avoid costly mistakes that can negatively impact property values when it comes time to sell. In my area, the fee for a comprehensive master design plan for a relatively small suburban garden like this that you could implement over time would be no more than $2-2.5K and probably a lot less, depending on the degree of complexity.

Since you're not looking for a large covered area for seating, consider adding some covered space to the existing deck. I think you'd find that placing additional seating in the back corner of the yard would not only be too inconvenient to use on a regular basis, it would interrupt the space you need for creating a nice surround of planting for the yard, since the yard is relatively small. If you can't incorporate it into the deck, the best spot should be figured out as part of the design process, not predetermined based on little information.

What's the intention for using the brick chimney BBQ? Will there be a garage or shed somewhere?

Your pictures are doing a limited job of helping us understand the space. We can see pieces, but now how it fits together as a whole. To do that, you need to stand near the center of the back wall of the house and take a series of slightly overlapping photos that pan across the whole back yard, where part of the house would show in the first and last picture. And where the camera also captures the view you see above your fence. You might hold the camera vertically in order to get all this in.

We have an immediate neighbor who has a gazebo almost in the corner between our properties. I can hear everything they say in that gazebo.... and sometimes they’ve needed more privacy than that gazebo’s site provides. IMHO: use the money you’d spend on the gazebo to put a cover over your existing deck.

Wow! I love your backyard, you have tons of potential with the stamped concrete with the brick bar b q/fireplace, I thought of this image when I saw your yard. You could add a table to eat at near that, it would look amazing!

Manasi,

Since you can't afford a designer I'll expand on some of the steps to help with design.

Like Owen said, you need to tell us how you want to use the space (make a program).

Here are some questions I would ask a client to help narrow down a program:

1. Do you have, or plan to have kids in the near future?

If yes, do you need space for a specific activity like a swing set or a basketball net?

This can also help guide plant selection (poisonous or thorny)

2. Do you want to entertain?

If yes- for roughly how many? Do you BBQ?

3. Do you have a dog or planning on getting one?

If yes- do you want a dog run? a grass area? How big of a space would it need?

(again animals can influence plant selection- some plants are poisonous to certain animals)

4. Do you want a vegetable garden? (Your current pics look like there was a raised vegetable garden.

5. How much yard maintenance are you comfortable with?

a. I have a green thumb! I love all plants, flowers, shrubs and trees! I don't mind pruning, fertilizing, mulching and watering! I want my yard to look like an English garden and can commit to several hours a week in yard care.

b. I don't mind a few plants but I don't know a lot/ or don't have time for significant plant care. I would like to minimize the work to mowing once a week, some watering and quick spring and fall tidy. I can commit to 1-2 hours a week.

c. I like being outside but I am way to busy or have no desire to look after living things.

5. Do you need storage in your yard and does it need to be accessed year round?

6. Are there special activities you want to include such as:

-a fire pit, a hot tub, a pool, a bocce court, a compost?

After you can narrow down the above to define a program, start thinking about your site, the opportunities and constraints (inventory and analysis). Are there any views you love? Hate? Neighbours you want to block? Where are the utilities ( you can normally call and have them located for free in most municipalities? Where are your existing water taps? gas meter? Basement windows and doors. Locate existing large trees that surround or are in your property. Which way is north (if you are in the northern hemisphere) South if you are in the southern? Do you get snow and do you need a spot to shovel it to? Are there any existing low areas that don't drain? Sometimes printing out a google earth image and making notes on it can be helpful.

If you're designing the yard yourself, you will want to take measurements of where things are and make a site plan. Once you have that you can start placing your program elements onto the site making sure to keep in mind any site constraints so they don't conflict with the activity.

The commentators on houzz can provide more guidance if you can answer some of the above questions.

Thank you so much for such a detailed, thoughtful comment. I think a site map will be a great place to start. I will make that.

i. We hope to have kids and a pet eventually so would like some lawn play area for them

ii. I don't mind spending 2 hrs every weekend in the yard.

iii. I definitely hope to entertain ~ 6-8 people so seating and shade for them

iv. No fire pit, a hot tub, a pool, a bocce court but a compost pit will be nice if doesnt smell

I have tried to keep some plants alive before but not gardened at this scale.

I will make a site map, implement some ideas and upload more pictures with it of the yard to continue the discussion.

Thank you very much everyone for your inputs

celerygirl that was an A M A Z I N G mock up & ideas for the space!

A blank slate, how exciting!

I would highly recommend the book Less is More Gardening. It really helped me DIY design my yard. She gives a super practical overview of basically every element of redesigning a smallish California yard; flow, design, structures, hardscape materials, and of course plants. It's worth getting a basic overview of design considerations before diving in.

I presume you want covered seating for shade. The options are:

A big umbrella. These are easiest when stuck in a hole in a table. You can get little clamp-on umbrellas from Ikea, which I used in my backyard to clamp onto my lounge chair and read.

Tropitone Counter Height and Chaise · More Info

An arbor/trellis with plants growing on it. You'd need to figure out where you'd plant the plants. Once you have lush greenery, it will cover up a cheap, less-than-elegant structure.

Trellised Dining Area · More Info

Shade Sails · More Info

A sail or other similar structure.

You could put an arbor or shade sail on your concrete patio. You want to pay attention to the sun. The picture shows a lot of existing shade. Take pictures or note of the sun in the course of the day to figure out when and where you need shade.

I think you have a great start to a lovely yard!

Keep the brick fireplace and patio and work around that for entertaining. Some outdoor furniture would be good. Maybe a pergola or some sort of shade structure?

Keep the lawn mowed while you decide what you want. Don't go hiring expensive designers. You can get a lot of info from local nurseries and master gardeners.

Walk neighborhoods that are to your taste, go on garden tours. Most of all, have FUN!