I purchased a ¾ acre lot (125 x 260 feet) 6 years ago with a similar slope and woods on the back half. The front of the house is at street level but the back of the house is about 3 feet above grade. The lot continues to slope down another 2 feet to the back property line. During construction, I discovered the back half of the lot flooded with over 3 feet of water that remained all winter. The developer graded the subdivision but did not grade the woods. (I wouldn’t have any trees if he had.) I was left with what the locals call a frog pond. I tried adding about a dozen loads of sand to the lowest areas but I was afraid I would smother the trees if I added too much. After several unsuccessful attempts to get the developer to help I called the county board of supervisors. The county engineer was called in to inspect and the developer was “encouraged” to assist me. Luckily, the drainage ditch at the front of the property was about 5 feet deep and the developer was able to install 200 feet of 15 inch culverts from the drainage ditch to the back yard. The slope is only about 1-1/2 feet for the 200 foot length but it is enough to allow the yard to drain. It’s not perfect, when we have a lot of rain the yard holds about 10 inches of water for a day but the trees get plenty of water that way. I built a cinder block catch basin and had someone dig a shallow trench with a ditch witch from the middle of the backyard to the catch basin near the property line. I make sure the culvert doesn’t get blocked with sticks/leaves after a storm and I clean out the trench about once a year.

Any proven suggestions for zone 9? SOOOOOOO much info to read for an uneducated gardner I dont know where to start! Speaking of ground cover the White clover is just that and it will grow out of fill dirt with next to no protien. Any one else?

I wouldn't remove another thing until I identified everythng you have. You may be taking out choice trees, shrubs and groundcover. Make ample use of the "Name this plant" forum. Easy to post a picture and get answers often in minutes. I would also be very wary of what you're doing with the plant removal and potential grade change. It looks like you have created a bare slope aiming water runoff right for your foundation or cellar. Yes, tree work is expensive but you will get much smarter at it. Many of them can be felled yourself, especially when smaller. Some can be dropped and left for you to cut. If you burn wood, the hardwoods are valuable fuel. The softwoods like the pine you removed are good only for mulch and screening views (stacked). You can learn to prune. You now know the cost of tree removal. Planting new trees can be just as expensive if you hire labor to plant large specimens! It takes years of nurturing to grow a mature tree. So my advice again is to SLOW DOWN. Not to be a wet blanket...

Active dogs and a lush, healthy lawn are incompatible :-) If you wish to have a decent lawn immediately surrounding your patio area, then you must keep the dogs off of it. You could designate a dedicated (and fenced) play area for the dogs elsewhere that is surfaced in wood chips that will resist mud and destruction. Unless you need an enlarged patio, I would not recommend increasing the size or adding on to the existing one. You could also treat the disturbed area next to the patio with wood chips as well, but the aesthetics of that solution leave much to be desired.