Mulching out unwanted grass has been a good solution for us. This garden area was once a hard to mow grassy slope , now requiring very little maintainence. You could go with container plants for color and variety. Good luck. EP

The retaining walls are a bear of a project. That's something I would hire out if possible. I would first get copies of local building laws (state, county and municipal) for the retaining walls since you wouldn't want a telephone call from a neighbor to undo your work and since the saftety part of such laws is for your benefit. I know there are formulas for designing the walls but can't say offhand what they are. From the photos it looks like the slopes are a bit steep so a series of terraced walls would probably look and work better. If you do a series of terraced walls then you can plant up the terraces with plants that are not too heavy such as flowers or small shrubs. I would be hesitant to plant trees in terraces. From the photos it looks like the area gets a good amount of sun exposure so sun loving flowers might work. Some sort of interlocking block product might be good for the retaining walls since you can go at your own pace (one block at a time over several days if necessary) after the prep-work is done and since such walls are less likely to fail from heaving or from excess water buildup. Wood ties are probably easier and less expensive but will rot eventually. I'm guessing that the path to the pool will be paved or stone or whatever since you don't want to track mud into the pool or the house. A grated-covered drain near where the path meets the pool patio might be good so that water flowing off of the path during rains will not make a mud pit right near the pool patio. The path should be graded to slope down away from the house of course. I would also suggest observing the area during and after a good sized rain to see what drainage issues in the area might need to be addressed. Attached is a link to erosion control magazine which you can read and search for free online to get ideas and to find out suppliers of products. Here is a link that might be useful: erosion control magazine

Lord knows I love Hicks yew, but it grows 3-4 ft. spread and 8-12 feet high. I would not put one of those next to my house. You can prune them into a hedge, but pruning is not everyone's forte. Looks like Novice has some kind of yews already up against the house. That's why it is very difficult to advise someone on plant choices, because everyone is different in terms of taste, desire to do maintenance, family, pets, time, etc. Your landscaping really isn't that bad. It just needs to be maintained and pruned for the most part. I'd focus on the area around the front steps, and just edit the edge islands, there seems to be weedy plants in those areas and the mature trees and shrubs could be pruned a bit to make them look more aesthetic.

I think that solving the main problems is going to boil down to two things: the walk; and the making the entrance visible. The walk should definitely be wider - 5' could be a goal, maybe wider near the stoop - and then it should make a better connection with the drive. I don't think this means to necessarily cut across the lawn with it. Given that the yard is small, you could widen the drive a bit with whatever the walk material is, continue on by widening the city sidewalk with the same material, and then turn the corner with the walk, heading to the entrance ... in effect bordering the yard with a "U"-shape "invitation" that extends from the drive to the entrance. (The portions adjacent drive and city walk would not be the same width as the main walk to the entrance. They would be like decorative borders.) When it comes to the portion of walk that heads toward the entrance, I think it would be beneficial to pull it away from the neighbor's drive and incorporate and "S"-curve into it. That way, room for a SMALL tree could be created between the walk and neighbor's drive. It would also have the benefit of making it look like it belongs to your property without any question. Note how entrances are typically clearly marked by some type of enlarged, often raised, paved area, and a roofed covering that offers shelter from the elements. I think you need to create such a structure over the walk, in the front yard, near to the house. It would be the obvious first "entrance" that people reach when approaching the house. But after they've reached it there would be no question about where they would continue to in order to reach the actual house entrance. The structure could be a very nice arbor, or it could be more architectural in nature (such as with brick columns and an actual roof.) BTW, I don't think there's the first thing wrong with your yellow brick. Maybe you're bored of it and that is the driving force behind staining it. But I think it would be a mistake, or highly inefficient at the least, to attempt to change it to another color. If the brick was flat out ugly I'd be all for it. But it's not. You might end up creating, after spending a lot of money and effort, something that is not near as nice. If you could replace the top panel of the garage door with one that has windows all the way across, that would resolve the boring quality of the existing door. There seem to be two main approaches to planting: smother the house with hedges; and smother the house with a variety of all kinds of plants strewn in a randomish fashion. You might consider "matching" shrubs to windows (like steps would be "matched" to a door) as the main shrubs of the landscape scheme. Perennials and annuals can be fit around them in some artistic scheme, keeping it simple preferably. I would plan on keeping shrubs below the window sill height. I would hunt for a spot for another small tree at the right side of the house. (We can't see that area.)