Planning the flower bed plantings etc. is definitely the fun part. Most people skip to that step because it is the part of the landscape you see- and the most enjoyable part to think about. It's a classic mistake to do so because you will pay a long term price for all the seemingly little details you skip in the beginning. I take it that the advice of a good engineer feels out of the budget for you? Drainage issues are the boring stuff but it's already obvious you're going to have a significant drainage concern. Trenching and piping are okay but eventually trenches can fill with sediment and no longer work. You really, really need to have an engineering consult to determine if what the builder proposes will be adequate. It shouldn't cost more than a couple hundred bucks at most. Perhaps some other neighbors will pitch in since you'll all need the same thing? I used to be a City Planner. I've seen developers pull a lot of crap. Sometimes, they are well-intended but the data they based their information on was faulty. Other times- they're just out to make a buck as quickly and cheaply as possible. At an absolute minimum, call your City offices and see if someone from the City engineering Dept. can advise you on appropriate methods to handle the drainage. In theory, they've already required the developer to deal with this but sometimes really different to say it will work on paper and to see it once everything is going in. Building codes are the 'minium acceptable standard', they are intended to set the bottom threshold. Something can be up to 'code' but not necessarily be a great solution. Also, ask them what level of storm they design for. Sometimes they require them to design the drainage to handle the runoff from a 10, 50, or 100 year storm. You'll want to know which they planned for in your case as it will give you a better idea of what it will handle. As for your other issues- a patio will be much lower maintenance over time than a deck and will certainly last longer. I would also make sure to have a 2' high by at least 3' deep berm for flowers and shrubs against the house as sort of a 'back up' in case your drainage system clogs or is overwhelmed.

Thanks for the input, it does help. To address a few things- I'm considering a deck, my neighbor has the identical house (small 1950s ranch) and put a deck but his has a railing. I may not do a railing, instead wrap around stairs as its low enough local code won't require it. I plan to do a patio area in front of where the basement windows are and around the shed area. If I do this I'll have to do the pergola later. As for sun- the house faces south west, so this side faces north east ish. The sun in the afternoon isn't that bad, it's mainly to create a visual break between the townhouse windows and my own house's windows and back yard. It doesn't have to be a compound with real high walls and complete isolation. Now that I think about it, a solid pavilion will block out light from the house windows, so that further leans me towards a pergola. Bugs may be an issue as I had these dang biting insects in the past but I may have eradicated them by cutting down my overgrown bushes. My neighbors about 100 feet away have both a rear deck and a front porch and they regularly sit outside with no problem. Also, I am an avid DIYer, so building something like a pergola is not out of the question. I just used the "off the shelf" examples but nothing is off the table now.

I researched several of those trees recently. I liked the Australian willow quite a bit. It gives a filtered shade and has a very deep root system so it won't uproot sidewalks, foundations, etc. The mulga has a very striking bark appearence, again a very good tree. Did you mean Chinese Pistache instead of pistachio? The Both do well down here and give some nice color in the fall. There is also a variety of pistache tree called the mastic tree which is evergreen. Other trees you may want to research are the olive tree (swan hill), Texas Mountain Laurel, and the coral gum. Good Luck

If you're going to own a car it requires that you know something about car maintenance: periodically, the oil and tires must be changed; it must be washed and fluids filled, etc. These are things one learns to do in order to have the pleasure and convenience of owning their own vehicle. Similarly, if you're going to own a lawn, you learn to mow it weekly, edge it periodically, and keep the weeds out, etc. Groundcover is no different. Depending on what plant you make it of, you must learn how to prepare for it, what maintenance that plant requires, and how to control it. Groundcover requires a bit different approach than grass, but it is not necessarily harder or more time consuming. It is just different. I find it to be easier so my yard is 100% groundcover. The number one difference is that weeds must be kept out. This is not harder than weekly mowing. It's just different and there are methods one can employ to make the job easier. In the long run, groundcover can be considerably less work after it's established (which depends on the plant used) than a lawn. Your example of "battling an ivy plant for years" has me thinking that no one is employing any effective methods of controlling it. It is a bit like never mowing, edging or weeding the lawn and then blaming the grass for being out of control. One thing is for sure, only weeds will be happy if you try to grow grass where there not sufficient light to do it. It boils down to the fact that you must have something growing to cover the ground, or you must cover the ground with mulch (and replenish it ongoing). The something growing can be a sad attempt at a lawn (which is what is there now); it can be groundcover; or it can be a mixed variety of plants (like in that picture above). What else is there other than solid hardscaping which is not the least practical? Of those solutions you can already see exactly what one of them looks like because you have it now. You can probably envision the mixed variety of plants covering the ground. Is there any question that it would not be the highest maintenance of any solution? If you take another look at the left side of the photo I submitted of the houses with sloping fronts, you'll notice that it is solid groundcover. It doesn't look like there's a weed in it. You can see at its left side a sharp division where it abuts its neighbor's grass lawn. Each planting is distinctly separate. The groundcover is neither running into the grass, nor is it rampaging over the edges of the walk or steps. How is this even possible? The fact is, it happens in millions of places all over the country. It's obvious that one can learn how to employ plants in such a way. Or they can refuse to do that.