I took some pictures and uploaded them to Photobucket. I will also upload a sketch with what is currently in our yard and some ideas we have for possible changes. I have a sketch with exact measurements and locations of trees, etc., but it's too big to scan in so I'll have to do a basic sketch on some smaller paper as soon as I get a chance. The dimensions of the backyard are almost exactly 80' wide by 80' deep. It appears to be deeper than it is wide, but maybe that's because the veggie garden (which is 15' wide by 47' deep) takes up a good chunk of the east side of the yard. I really like the idea of going to some favorite nurseries and collecting business cards from designers. I was trying Google searches and met with one company whose work looked nice, but it turns out that they don't do design work without being locked into a contract with them to do the bulk of the landscaping work. We'd have to sign a contract (telling them our budget range) and they would draw up plans within that range and do most of the work, subbing out stuff they don't do themselves, with the design being part of the package deal. I think I'd rather work with someone who has more flexibility in allowing us to do parts of the work ourselves without being penalized for it. lazygardens and butterflygardening: Thanks for the helpful links- I am reading through them! alygal- We love the idea of raising chickens (or ducks!), but unfortunately our city doesn't allow them in residential areas. Some of the towns around us havejust recently started allowing them, so maybe it will be a possibility in the future! Here are some of our current ideas for making our yard more attractive and usable in the ways we'd like to use it. - Possibly ditch the sandbox, although I am torn because the kids do use it when it's nice outside. The problem is that it's so close to the house that they always come in still covered with sand, AND it's location really limits the width of the planting bed around the breakfast nook. If we keep the sandbox, I think I'd at least make the flagstone path along it more narrow to allow for a slightly wider bed there. - Widen pretty much all of the beds to allow more layered planting (to increase attractiveness and privacy in the yard). I would also like to have a nice bed along the patio and around where the sandbox is, so basically be left with an area of the grass in the middle of the yard. - Possibly add a slight berm along the garden fence and plant a variety of shrubs and small trees to make the garden less prominent since it's not much too look at most of the year. - Make the patio more usable by extending it a little deeper (it's now 20' wide by 10' deep). - Add something to get more shade on the patio. It gets shade starting in the mid-afternoon and through the evening from our neighbors house to the west, so I don't really want to add a hard cover (my husband's idea) because I think it would detract from the look of the house. I am thinking a well placed tree would eventually have the right effect (and I'm content to use a patio umbrella as needed until then). - Add a screened in gazebo (about 12' x 12') south of the patio area toward the south side of the yard for dinners and entertaining. My husband is a mosquito magnet so he really wants this for enjoying the yard in the evenings. - Add a structure toward the southeast corner of the yard (about 8' x 10') to be used as a playhouse/garden retreat. I picture it looking like a little cottage style potting shed more than a mini playhouse, so that even after the kids outgrow it, I can still enjoy it as a garden retreat. - Revise current pathways through the yard and add pathways as needed to new structures, to the veggie garden/shed, etc. Would like to maybe use some reddish flagstone in addition to the buff ones we currently have and mix them up a bit as the buff looks so bland to me against our house. - Possibly cover the patio with flagstone to make it more attractive and more cohesive with pathways. Thanks for any advice or suggestions you may have. Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard Pictures

Those mockups look nice, but they are a bit too elaborate for this situation. I am thinking more natural-style would be good. I also have a VERY limited budget. I will be trying to do all the work myself...I'm pretty handy, but not really a gardener per se. Yes, I have been reading Las Pilitas website, it has a great deal of info about native plants, plant communities, and more. Here are some more specific questions I have: 1) There are trees growing up from the creek and thru the soil and some of the trunks pop-up thru the soil look like roots growing and then they pop-up on the right of the picture and grow into trees (if that makes any sense). I was considering adding some clean fill soil to cover up those weird trunk/roots/stumps on the left side. Would this create any problems for those existing trees and other plants/soil/environment? 2) I was also thinking about adding woodchips or mulch to cover some of the ground, hoping the oak trees will like it and also suppress weeds from growing. Is this good/bad? What kind of woodchips are best? Thanks again for all the help. -aaron

Thank you for your inputs! It is really useful to get some new points of view. I thougt about pruning lower branches and filling in for privacy. These branches are thick, so I am afraid that it will be too harmful for the tree. My next door neighbour pruned several lower branches of her pine. Pine died over 1 year. I am not sure what was the reason: drastic pruning, infection or something else. On the other hand, these are too low and too long now. They cover the area of at least 20' in diameter each. And I can not use the shade everyone is talking about! This shade is too deep to plant anything under these trees. Probably, it is not clear from the pictures, but this space is completely wasted for me. These two trees consumes about one third of all available area in my backyard. Columnar trees like Hollies would be much more compact. Anyway, if I will go with pruning lower branches and interplanting something evergreen between these two trees, can you please recommend something that will tolerate dappled to full shade? I was thinking about Camellias, will they work? A couple of things: 1. 6' fences are not allowed here. 2. I do need privacy in winter time also. It is not about using the yard. The neighbours' houses are too close, they all are 2 story homes. All our living areas including bedrooms will be exposed. The good thing is that these houses are higher than ours, so we do not need very tall evergreens to screen them. 3. 2 out of 4 surrounded us yards are cluttered, full with dead and overgrown ugly plants. I would love to get this obscured also. 4. Sorry for my English! I try to do my best, but with long posts like this one... :-)

Goathead, aka puncture vine, is an annual plant that grows in soils that have a low soil pH and lack organic matter. The first step in control is to have a good soil test done and then begin to correct any soil deficiencies that are there. Since any plants you see now probably are dead (winter killed) spraying a plant poison will do little. Digging out the roots of dead plants does little since any new growth will be from seeds, those burrs that may be laying around.