Thank you all for your help! Saturday night we went over to a friend's house and I love their yard. Very kid-friendly, but also areas for veggies and fruits. We had him come over and help us with some ideas too. Between the ideas we got on here and the help he gave us with the shape of the yard, etc. we finally have a plan we like and can start implementing in stages. We are going to have the kids area (sandbox & playhouse) up by the house. That is the only area that gets any shade, and with these 100 degree days, well we need a shaded area for the boys to play in. We will move all the berries to the far east end of the yard, all together. We will build another planter box along that side for them. That will put the yellowjackets far away! He helped draw out a yard shape, kind of looks like a golf course green, and I like it. It will still leave most of the area lawn, which we wanted for as the kids grow so they can have space to run. But what it will help with is drawing everything together, making it look less fragmented. We now are just trying to decide what to use for the border between grass and the other areas: concrete curbing, pavers, etc. Thank you so much for all of your input. Thank you saypoint for the drawing you took the time to make. I would still love to see some pictures of other people's backyards, so if anyone has any, please post a link. I'm very visual. I do much better to say, do it like this person did, instead of creating my own ideas!

http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/buyanewhouse/vwp?.dir=/Outside+Pictures&.dnm=DSC00635.jpg&.src=gr&.view=t Thanks for the feedback. If you have a Yahoo account, check out the "before pics" in this Yahoo group I made in 2003 to share pics. The pics were taken a week or so before the old owners moved out, so try to ignore the ugly furnishings and mess in the yard! Although I love the traditional southern bushes you suggested, I'm a little afraid to plant a lot of shrubs at the lower end of the yard because of all the developed honeysuckle and virginia creeper. Before long they'd be covered. The vines have been growing for MANY years and are probably the only thing holding up the fence by now! I do want to incorporate some shrubs into certain areas. My first Priority though- I need to think of preventing grass seeds from taking root when they blow from the neighbors' yards and also about killing the grass I have now. I COULD just mulch heavily- but I'm not sure that would do it. The areas I have mulched and planted in the front parts of the yard have helped reduce my weed issues, and I want to fix the back yard to be just as low-maintanance. Sometimes I can turn around twice and find a Weed as tall as I am staring back from the back yard! I say prevent them from starting in the first place! I hear you - when you mention the slide of mulch and landscape fabric- I was concerned about the same thing. However, I know that I personally cannot create flat areas in the back yard or make concrete paths. The concrete also seems to present a "planned" look. I want it to look at natural as possible, since I have cut down all the "typical shrubbery" in the front of the house and gone softer with Butterfly Garden plants. I think it better combines with all the english ivy in the front yard. I heavily pruned the shrubs around the deck and they have grown back nicely. I planted 6 inch Mimosa trees in the back yard 1/2 yrs. ago which have grown into 18 foot tall trees in three corners of the back yard. There is a new 18X6 Red Block Patio between the deck and the house which reaches to the AC unit. The patio blocks will be extended out in the "forward" backyard to border a new garden pond to allow for entertaining. A new large flower bed begins at the other side of the AC unit and continues beyond several feet of the fence. My thought was to use some of the same blocks in a more scattered pattern, to access the back section of yard. Nobody will be walking back there except during emergencies. I mentioned I have lots of ankle pain- I won't be dragging stuff up the hill- I can barely walk it. There is a huge shaded area for the dogs underneath the deck and either side, depending on sun direction- but they don't stay out long enough to suffer- I'm a woose who spoils them to AC since they both get overheated in our summers. The rest of the backyard bakes in direct sun until the trees develop more branches. After seeing the pics- would you possibly have any other suggestions? I don't mean to be obstinate- I am just trying to work with limited mobility and hoping for the most natural looking and low-maintainance yard possible. Priority one: I want to get rid of the grass and weeds without making the yard slick or dangerous to walk on. Oh- and I have clay soil which has developed nice earthworms and a darker color than most of my neighbors here in Charlotte. Thanks! Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard prior to any changes

Thanks everyone for your answers and picture examples. They were very helpful. My patio is 15 x 20 and I have found it hard to find a premade pergola kit in that size. I’m actually wanting there to be no “ceiling” to the outdoor room so we can look up at the stars (and also so we can have a fire pit). We will use umbrellas over the dining and living areas when needed. The posts would just be used as supports for curtains, string lights and to add vertical interest by growing flowering vines. I think I’ve found my solution: 6x6 cedar posts secured to the patio with the anchors in the picture below. It looks pretty straightforward so hopefully we won’t mess it up. Then I can add curtains rods and curtains.

You are off to a great start because you have shown up with probably the most useful design tool that it's possible to have ... the BASE PLAN! And beautifully drawn to scale!!!! In spite of its awesomeness, I'm wondering if, on a copy of it, you wouldn't make a few changes to it that makes it even more useful in forumland ... Remove the tree symbols and replace them with plain black dots that approximate the actual size of the trunk diameters (which will be our clue to their size.) Keep their names but don't draw any canopies. Since we don't yet know what's yet to come, the tree canopies are a little distracting and could end up being in way of brainstorming. Remove the color shading from the patio. Remove only those dimensions that are shown inside the fence (which will also potentially get in the way) and replace them with two plain, black ten-foot lines drawn inside the house or outside of the fence. Make one line horizontal and one line vertical and label them: 10'. Leave the dimensions that are inside the house or outside the fence. Are there any buildings, such as your's or a neighbor's garage or outbuilding that occur nearby to your fence? If yes, then add their outline to the plan. If neighboring houses are very close, you might even want to show their outline on the plan, because screening them from view or for your privacy will probably be something you'll want to do. Then, figure out your needs and desires. Since a main amenity is the patio, consider how many people you want it to serve, its functions for them, and if you might need to expand it. It'll probably need a place for a grill, table & chairs, side lounge chairs, etc. After figuring out what the necessary things are, draw out an overhead view of them to the same scale, print them out on paper, and you can toy with various arrangement configurations in order to see what works best. Share the drawn out furniture here, too. (It can be crude.) You'll likely want a permanent walk to/from the patio to the garage or outer yard. Ponder what other major features you'd likely want to incorporate. Fire pit? Pool? Recreational features? Screening to block view or provide privacy? Vegetable garden? This is the time to figure out what you want, both near term and far. Even if it's something that won't be installed for 10 years, you'll want to reserve the space for it. Bring the things you're contemplating back here and let's see what kind of shape we can get it into.