Hi GerberaDaisy, When I read your email, I almost had a heart attack myself! ;) My lot size is similar to yours and was just a lot of unplanted dirt, except for the deck abutting the house. I am a SAHM, so I have had the time to educate myself and do most of the work myself.....which is what I am highly recommending. It is not rocket science, it is great exercise, and the feeling of accomplishment is unbeatable. In contrast, my neighbor went the professional route and is still ripping out what her person planted because it turned out to be inappropriate for this area. Caveat emptor! If you are open to doing more yourself, here is what I'd recommend........ Spend time learning about your lot, where the sun shines, where the darker corners are....check lots and lots of books and magazines from the library and see what you like, don't like....drive around and look at other front landscapes to see what the common themes are (usually the plants that grow well in your area will become self-evident) take digitals of what what you like and put it all in a binder and become familar with the plants.....and attend as many gardening tours as you can, asking a lot of questions if you see what you like....for example, who helped them design it, where did they buy the plants, etc. etc......there will be many soon.....google for your area.....here are 2 EXCELLENT tours in my area (which isn't too far of a drive for you) http://www.bringingbackthenatives.net/ http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=8 After deciding on more or less what we wanted, I hired a local landscape contractor to put in french drains and a simple side yard concrete pad. Then I hired a different (more sophisticated and more expensive) contractor to install a large flagstone patio (over rebarred concrete) with connecting paths to several areas of the yard....garden rooms....which seems to be what people are doing these days. Now I am in the process of filling my several garden "rooms" with plants. The only thing I would change, is to have hired Alison Fleck for her consulting services BEFORE I put the permanent structures in....not that I am regretting what I did, but there may have been another scheme I would have liked. Here is her web page: http://www.simplyperfectgardens.com/ I admit, I have become quite the gardener, and if it doesn't interest you at all, you may want to hire-out.....it has truely become a labor of love for me. ...and I have to say, that this forum has been very supportive of me and there are several regular posters that have educated me/helped me tremendously. good luck! ----lucia in CoCo County

Thank you for all the great ideas and info on how to landscape the way you have it! The retaining wall we just added last fall as the side of the hill was starting to cover a window over there and my dad (a civil engineer) said we needed a retaining wall to keep the side of the hill from becoming structurally unsound. The fence is there because that side of the yard is not dog proof yet and probably won't be until we rent a big dumpster for the yard renovation as the previous owners left a bunch of dangerous (to dogs) junk under those stairs. Because at the time we didn't have the time to clean up the yard, we just put up a fence and have just left it there as we have discovered the rocks and yard in general isn't working out well for the dogs anyways so we would have to redo everything. I don't know what kind of soil we have. I've been planning to stop by the local Extension office to get a soil test kit to find out what the soil is like. There is a bare patch of grass near the deck stairs that has been bare since we purchased the house so I'm wondering if that part of the yard has something wrong with the soil. We have tried seeding that area multiple times with different type seeds and nothing ever worked. You have me very excited about doing the yard now. I can't wait to remove all that rock.

It sounds like the area is a bit distant from the areas where people usually would be. I think it's best use might not be as a place to go, but simply for the development of an enhanced view. If you wanted it to go in that direction, you'd need to show it as part of a single, broad panoramic view so we could see how it appears from the area where it would most likely be seen. To do that, don't use the panoramic function of the camera as the resulting image would be too small. Instead, stand that the location where the view is the most important and capture a series of slightly overlapping, consecutive pictures that span the entire area from far left to far right, including the pool and patio (so we can see how everything fits together.)

@Yardvaark, yes, the grill will stay. I know it is unusual to do the cooking/dining in the front yard. If we were at any of our old houses, we wouldn't even entertain the idea of doing this in the front yard, but we are in the country on 10+ acres. The road shown on the site plan is a 12 ft wide road with 2-way traffic. The only person that lives below me is my uncle. The area between the porch & driveway is right off the kitchen/dining room, so it is convenient. What is shown on the site plan in the rear yard is a screened-in porch. We do have a patio under the porch, but is at the basement level. To grill back there, would require hauling food down the interior steps and through the unfinished basement. We did this when we lived in the suburbs and it was less than ideal even after we finished that basement. I agree having a master plan would be ideal. I tried doing a master plan and got overwhelmed. (See my response to Fori) I do have a plan in terms of "use" just not landscaping. I thought if I focused on this front area, it would inspire the rest of the design. As for the proposed uses: Back yard: we ultimately want to build a fireplace near the patio for roasting marshmallows and family time. North Side yard: This will be future (5-6 years out) parking for when the kids start driving. We are grading that area now, so we can drive to the back yard if needed. We plan to reseed with grass for now, but will have raised planting beds along the house to protect the house if someone doesn't stop in time. :) South Side yard: Not much to do here. We have 3 heat pumps that we thought about enclosing with a fench/lattice, but the only one who sees it is the propane man. We do need to build our outdoor shower at the end. Front yard: Other than wanting a flower & herb garden between the drive & porch, I don't know what to do. I'm open to ideas if you have any. To extend the thinking a little more, right now, you don't have a solid vision of what you're trying to create. It's a fact that "gardens," at times, can become a bit (or a lot!) messy. While landscaping on the other hand, tries to be always tidy. You've got that right! I don't have a solid vision! LOL! As for the garden, I was thinking more flowers with either herbs integrated into the flower beds, or a separate area with herbs. I wasn't thinking "garden" as in corn, potatoes, beans. I thought herbs were on the "neater" side of gardening and could be incorporated into landscaping easily, no? My previous neighbors had herbs growing in the foundation beds out in the suburbs and it looked lovely. Maybe they spent a lot more time than I thought tending to them?? I can't see that a fence here would be necessary or desirable. Visually, it would represent somewhat of a barrier in an area that is supposed to look welcoming. Being a MINOR barrier wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. I want this area to be welcoming from the porch/dining room. I don't want guest automatically walking through it. I have 2 sets of doors off my porch. The first set are the teal double doors on the front of the house. The second set are the white, double doors leading to the dining room. I'm hoping the landscaping will help eliminate any confusion on which door to use. Currently, 99% of our guests go to the dining room doors. (One reason is that our temp sidewalk leads to this door.) I want to encourage guests to go to the front door. Building my main sidewalk should help, but my husband wants to keep a walkway from the side porch to the driveway, too. I hope my comments aren't misconstrued as if I'm saying a garden here won't work. In addition to functional appropriateness, gardens typically require more maintenance than landscapes. I'm bringing up these points as something to think about prior to committing to development. This is why I posted. I like to hear pros and cons that I may not think of myself. I appreciate the feedback!