For reference my directions are as viewed from the street looking at your house. The first pic, that's neighbor on L? The scar on R of fence is where your shed used to be? R half of 2nd pic is neighbor straight back...L half pic your yard (aiming toward neighbor with shed)? The third pic I know what is but I cannot differentiate levels. Sorry. Looks like that lot high, too? The neighbor directly straight back (w/2 large trees) looks like he's been high forever as if subd. created that way. The neighbor on you L side looks like his fill might be much newer. His grass has a new-ish look. (would have liked to seen a pic aiming further left...I'm trying to see where the drain path goes.) Aside from the water, he's dumping on you, where's the rest of his water draining? To his front? And the guy next to him (past power pole) where's his water going (other than what he's putting on you)? If the bulk of their water is going to the front...which you might be able to tell from standing in front of their houses, I'd guess one or both of them has blocked your natural flow. Which says that going to a lawyer for a consultation to discover your rights and make a plan is the place to start. Someone pointed out, what will you do with major rain like hurricane Irene type rain...or the hundred year flood? Your original plan will put you in jeopardy if such were to happen. Actually, with your drainage blocked, you're probably already in jeopardy. just won't be able to see it until that monster rain happens. I'm not trying to be an alarmist, but I think it's important to know where you stand legally...especially, if you can get the cause of your problems to pay for the solution. I would try to find out every last fact about where that water is draining...how it's draining for these neighbors...get out their during the next heavy rain. Take pictures. Make yourself knowledgeable about exactly how all these pieces of the the puzzle fit together...before going to lawyer. You don't want to go with just a few words and a complaint...to which he says, "we'll need to study your issues. That'll be $500 for our next hours worth of work." Go as prepared as you can be.

Realistically, I would start by cleaning up what you have. This is actually a good time of year to move rocks and brick and anything else the PO dumped back there. I'd move the things like rocks and bricks to an area for stockpiling for now (perhaps behind the shed) and get rid of any trash or woody debris. You may well find uses for the rocks and brick such as creating steps or walls or non-flammable surfaces around a fire pit, so you don't want to get rid of them for now. If you don't have a heavy duty lawn tractor with a dump cart, get one to help you move things around the property and mowing. Learn to ID poison ivy regardless of time of year, with leaves and without. Start removing it by pulling it wearing protective clothing OR plan on spraying glysophate (generic Roundup without all the other herbicides) after it leafs out in spring and repeating every 4 weeks or so with any leaves that reappear. You can still get PI when there aren't leaves, so treat winter PI with the same caution needed for the growing season. Don't burn it - you can inhale the oil from smoke and end up hospitalized - but instead put in plastic bags for disposal. If you are particularly sensitive, you can get it from your pets' fur or handling clothing with urushiol (the rash-causing oil in PI), so keep your pets out of it and wash contaminated clothing multiple times in a separate load from other clothing. If you have deer, mice, voles, squirrels, etc. you will have ticks. You can reduce the number by getting rid of the brushy stuff under the trees, but you won't get rid of them, even with a gravel barrier, because the mammals cross the barrier, bringing ticks. Get in the habit of checking yourself, your dogs, and your kids for ticks every time you come inside (just a quick check) and every night a very careful check at bath or bed time including hair, armpits, ears, and groin. Talk to your vet about tick repellents for your dogs and spray your kids' clothing (not them) with a repellent containing DEET. I can pick up a tick between the house and the veggie garden which is all lawn, and during the spring can find 5-10 ticks a day, but haven't ever (15+ years in our current location) had one embed because I am extremely conscientious about tick checks if I have been outside at all. It takes more than 12 hours for ticks to embed, so if you are checking every night, it won't be an issue. Next spring mark wet areas, perhaps with stakes so you know exactly where you have standing water, where it stays damp for more than a few days, and where you have running water. IME trying to change drainage patterns without heavy equipment is usually unsuccessful (and potentially illegal in a natural wetland) but you may be able to slightly modify them so you don't have standing water and mosquitoes breeding. You can plan to plant long-damp areas with plants that are tolerant of moisture. This winter collect information and photos of rain gardens (particularly for shade), visit web and local resources that have information on wetland plants, and find a bunch of photos of dry creek beds and read up on how to create them so they look tolerably realistic. Based on many years as a teacher at a school with natural drainages through the school property, kids love playing with shallow running water- damming it, floating stick or leaf boats, etc., so don't put your drainage under ground. It usually is more successful anyhow to do a drainage swale or dry stream bed than trying to do buried pipes involves a lot more knowledge since underground the water needs a consistent slope and somewhere lower to go to, and pipes need sizing for your largest storms. Also, burying pipes in that area will be difficult due to roots, rocks, and the difficulty of getting a machine in there. Next year after you have drainage patterns established and have moved out rocks and debris, you can do some leveling, adding soil where needed to fill holes that aren't part of your drainage pattern. If you want to keep healthy trees, don't put much soil over large areas of tree roots, however. Then spend the next year IDing what you have (photos on the Name that Plant forum are a great idea) and deciding what you want to keep such as good climbing trees, plants with good fall color or nest sites or whatever, and finding someone with a good reputation for thinning woodlands and the proper insurance. Only after next growing season will you have enough information to really get to work on getting the area thinned out and starting to replant. You should know that despite the inspiration photo you posted of the neighbor's yard, you probably won't get that result. Most grass doesn't grow well in shade, and you said you wanted to keep more trees. Also you have water issues unlike what appears to be drier in the yard pictured. You may do better to have islands of plantings with mulch over the other areas, though you can try growing grass and then changing over if that doesn't work. Good luck - it looks like this project will keep you busy for quite a while!

On the dogwoods, it really depends on how far south in Zone 9 you are. Felix, you are in Zone 9a I believe, and I am in Zone 9b. You can grow things I can't, including dogwood. It will SURVIVE here, barely. It normally doesn't thrive here, though. I have on rare occasion seen one doing fairly well, if in enough shade from taller trees, but nothing like dogwoods SHOULD look like. So, Kim, on the dogwood thing...if you are in the southern part of Zone 9, I'd say stay away from them. If they are already planted in your yard and you are moving them (not sure what you meant by "transplanting" them), I'd say leave them alone if they are doing okay. Moving them might finish them off. Most of the other things you mention in your list will probably be fine, except I've had no luck at all with love in a mist. It grows for awhile, but seldom blooms for me, and as soon as it gets hot, it dies. Maybe if you grow it as a winter annual. Good luck! Your plan sounds ambitious but doable, and it also sounds like it will be very pretty. Marcia

In general, landscape design looks at the clients' needs and wishes for the property as a whole and the creates a design that then meets as many of those as possible in the most pleasing way. Other than the sheds and the veggie garden, how do you want to use the yard? To my mind, that needs to be answered before any real plans are made. Is privacy (fence) more important than the veggies? Does it need to be there year round, or is privacy only really important in the summer when you will be outside more? Do you want a large open space for games or running around in the center? How much shade is there over the course of the day along the chain link or in other spots of the yard such as along the deck? Do you want a "pretty" yard or a kid-friendly yard or is the growing of food more of a priority or are they all of equal priority? Where will you be most likely to walk or drive and so will need to be left open? Where is water available, and would you be able to add hose bibs in other spots as needed? Do you want afternoon shade for the deck or other areas, and would you be more likely to plant a tree, or add a structure such as an arbor or shade sail? What other wishes do you have for the yard? As others have said, the more sun, the more successful the veggie and fruit beds will be, so too close to the sheds and the nearby solid fence which will provide shade should be avoided. You also will want to change your grouping/way of thinking about the plants from culinary to cultivation. Melons, like all your veggies, are annual plants, while most other "fruits" you have listed are perennials. The annuals and perennials each should have a planting area so that when clearing out and replanting annuals each year you aren't disturbing the perennial plants. The strawberries will need renewing every few years while each of the the shrubs and vines, which are fairly permanent, have different maintenance needs, and so should be planted in separate areas. If you grow herbs, some are annuals and some perennials. Consider overall goals and how else you will use your yard to help determine the best spot for the veggie beds. For instance, if you want the center of the yard left open, then think about putting your food plants along the chain link instead of a fence since it looks like it gets good sun. Or is the solid fence important enough the you should stockpile your soil for now or make temporary beds and then when the fence has been added, create the beds and plant food crops? Could you use the berry bushes and kiwi vines for your privacy instead of a solid fence? They are deciduous, so wouldn't be great for winter privacy. You would need to leave room between the shrubs and the chain link for accessing the vines. Fruit plants don't need as close access as herbs or veggies since fruit tends to be picked in chunks, while veggies tend to get harvested for particular meals, so think about putting the veggies and herbs closer to the house where there is easy access from the kitchen. Would you want veggies as a border around the deck, or does that either not fit the plants' needs or your wishes? So create a list of uses and priorities for the yard as a whole (swimming pool? play structure? bocce court? badminton net? trash can storage? etc, etc), prioritize them, and then start thinking about placement. You have already made one big decision, the shed size and placement, and so before making others, I would stop, step back and look at the yard overall. Take some time over the next growing season to look at sun and shade patterns (if you map sun as it changes from the vernal equinox until the summer solstice, you will have a good grasp on how it will look but in reverse for the rest of the growing season) as well as wind before planting anything permanent if successful cultivation of food crops is a priority. Once you have a good handle on growing conditions and your overall goals for the yard, then you will have a better idea of where is the ideal placement for each of the various uses you have for your yard.