hello, linnea56! 2 possible sources: I got out of the library Gordon Hayward's The Welcoming Garden: Designing Your Own Front Garden. Very useful for front garden/paths, etc. ideas & he breaks it up by style (e.g. informal, formal, cottage, etc). Fine Gardening just put out a separate magazine in the grocery stores that I just bought called: Outdoor Ideas & Solutions--Vol I/2010 (w/ a blue cover & blue porch furniture). It goes over various design problems but it also has lots of photos & specifically has a section on hardscape materials. Might give you some ideas! MCG

"... we have a contractor but need design help ..." It's going to boil down to you doing your own design work or hiring a designer to do it. The contractor will need written directions to follow. If the directions are too general, he will likely "fill in the gaps" but possibly not to your liking or with certainty of sticking to the budget, even if he is the greatest contractor in the world. If your intention is to hammer out ideas/direction in your mind prior to hiring a designer, you're short-circuiting much of the forum's potential to help you. Without proper pictures (complete scenes of connected pictures), or a base plan (an "empty" map of the relevant area of the yard), onlookers are limited to offering general do's & don'ts instead of feedback that is specific to your project. As an example, in one of your earlier pictures, there's a building at the left side of the photo; but we don't know what that is since a garage is elsewhere, or now, even if it's your property. One wouldn't know the constraints of your project if they don't know these basic facts. There is, so far, a lot of information not shown in the photos since they are, more or less, snaps of various portions from various angles.

John - first, congratulations on selecting this excellent property. second - I would follow the wise advice from kentc, to live in the house for a while before making any major changes. I like the advice from NHB, and would like to see the hedge or continuous growth along the drive remain, just transplant some of those rounded mounds behind it in order to spoil the formality of the repetition. For anyone to help you with the backyard, they would need to know who will be living in the house, how you plan to entertain visitors, if you will be conducting business within these walls. What activities each member of the family hopes to perform in this new setting, with ample room for sport courts, swimming, exercise equipment, dining areas, cookouts, vegetable & herb gardens, small greenhouse, dog yard, horse barn. Take your time. Analyze first then plan. The master plan that you prepare will be implemented in stages over the years, based on the available budget and the children's age. For instance, a preschooler will need a sandbox and swing-set within view of the kitchen and the office or study. In a few years this will be replaced by a lawn area for lawn sports like badminton, volleyball, croquet, corn-hole and the like. You are ambitions and will do an excellent job, all in good time. You might add a finer gravel to solidify the existing stone drive, and add asphalt as budget permits. Keeping the slopes to 10 percent or less will allow comfortable walking and bicycling up the hillside. A couple stone columns down at the drive entrance would be appropriate, along with a post lamp and the house number and maybe you will add a nickname in the future. I refer to my home as Hill House as it is in the town of Round Hill, which I enjoy when my GPS says "you are arriving at Hill House". Happy New Year, John, you have a lot to be thankful for.

The issues with using rock for mulch or to surface an area are many and have been discussed on this and other forum ad nauseum!! In most areas of the country the maintenance level required by this is high......much higher than if one used a dense groundcover or even a more traditional wood type mulch. For an area that looks like it might be used mostly for storage or at the very least, is not a very visible or highly trafficked area, then simplicity will always be the best approach. It is enough work to maintain the visible and functional part of the landscape - don't add to it by making more work for yourself!!