Thanks. I really needed the encouragement. I laugh because I had the same ideas and have started my action. My walkway has pots started with caladium and morning glory (my daughters planter) started only a couple weeks ago. I have a vitex tree in the center of the yard in the landscaping that I can't wait to grow. I love those trees and contacted many people to find out if they were agressive and it seems that in my area it is not known to be. My mom got me a little snail for the garden and I planted some small monarda cuttings which should fill in next year. I have some cuttings in the back area by the bird feeder that is already blooming and some planted in the back behind the bushes for my enjoyment but it is larger and not blooming or budding. I know these will do some filling in in the next year to come. I also have foxglove seed in the back for some height around the birdbath and some various medium bulbs (cannas, iris, lilies, glads) toward the back. On the side I have a small trellis (need to replace with taller one) behind my hummingbird feeder with painted lady runnerbean and a potted coral honeysuckle that I'm babying. On the other side of the porch I have a trellis with coral honeysuckle. I'll show pictures, it's an overload though. Sorry. I am going to put in a bird house. I love the link above. We had a very sad unsuccessful house finch family starting on the corner of my porch and I'm heartbroken that we had no survivors. I don't use pesticides (even on my roses) so I don't know what happened. Here is the picture overload. Frontdoor view Front of porch-closer Corner of porch-need bigger trellis (where else could a trellis go????) The rose is in this corner (First prize I think?, there is mums also and colombine planted in this area also and other bulbs planted around the guara that I can't remember the name of (blue flowers). side of house by windows--hostas which may come out if they burn but they've been there for 2 seasons already, 2 mr. lincoln rose (jap beetle breeding ground right now), gardenia in front of windows and some bulbs that may not come up this year and in the center is mexican bush sage. back corner with gaura, liriope, salvias of different variety, a baby crepe myrtle in the very back corner, gladiolus, rose in front of fence with various other stuff, creeping raspberry underplanted in the whole corner. snail in front garden more towards the sidewalk with monarda cuttings and various reseeding annuals. mailbox with clematis, LIR salvia, white salvia, creeping phlox and setcreasia. This is all I can do on the side. Hubby wants to keep this area grass for golf practice. I will do something in the front corner of the yard for sitting though so I can watch the kids. I had to replace the climbing America because I accidently shovel pruned it last year. The other is Josephs coat which takes off like a weed and various minis. Again, I do not spray and the roses will be much better looking come a few weeks when I can go and butcher the jap beetle damage. Thank goodness these things only last a short time. Ideas for location of bird house and other plants, trellis, where to put daisy's (I NEED some) or ANYTHING else????? I love y'alls ideas. A huge thanks and even hugs to you all.

You're exactly right about the trees. I've seen folks kill trees building beds around them. I've also known people who have built beds etc... and it didn't seem to harm the trees. Building a raised bed around an established tree will stress the trees. I can't say how much it will stress them or much shorter thier life will be. That said, trees in the wild DO have an understory. This includes ground cover,vines shade tolerant shrubs. My advice is to add plants slowly ONE inch of soil a YEAR at a time. The first year put down an inch of good soil. Add drought tolerant,shade tolerant native flower SEEDS. When the flowers come up add a thin layer of mulch (1/2"). The next year add another inch of soil and more seeds. Do this one inch a year add soil (oh yeah 2ft from the trunk don't bury the root flare!) then shallow mulch until it's 5" deep. Then add native,drought tolerant,shade tolerant perenials here and there and allow them to spread naturally. Keep the soil away from the trunk. Keep it around 5-6 inches deep. Slowly add some very small native understory shrubs being careful not to disturb the tree's roots. Basically over like 5 years slowly add native drought tolerant (to prevent overwatering the trees), shade tolerant and native understory plants to mimic wild tree stands. If you plunk down a 5" layer of soil all at once and add a ton of plants and water you very well might stress the trees to death. Go slowly and give the trees time to adjust. Trees breathe throught the soil from trunk to drip line. It's smothering the oxygen and feeder roots with a huge pile of soil,plants and the water to get them established that kills the trees. By going slowly, one thin layer at a time, the tree can continue to breathe and develop more roots to compensate slowly to the new environment like they do in nature.

Honestly, I feel a bit sorry for people who have a hatred for English ivy (Hedera helix) because it is so darn useful. As I have said many times before on this forum, I have managed large amounts of it over many years and could not be happier that it existed. It is work-horse plant capable of transforming and beautifying large shaded areas. (it would not be the plant I recommend for a small area, though. Nevertheless, I've seen needlepoint holly used successfully in some quite small areas.) On top of that, where it grows it is easily available so basically free for the taking. I understand that for those who don't know how to manage it, it can become a total PITA, but as I look at it that's just a small learning curve. Pachysandra might be a good plant for you then, Birdman. While liriope spicata is very good looking in the right spot, I wouldn't recommend it here. How would you keep it out of the lawn? I don't know its shade tolerance. I can't see that Liriope muscari has any use for you in the way of a groundcover for the yard. It's better in a smaller bed where you can plant it solid .... say like in that retained area next to the walk that goes to front door. Just a note about my sketch .... I'm not trying to show you THE correct scheme. As you can imagine, landscaping can have some complexities and I can't show or explain them all in one simple sketch. I'm just trying to show you a general idea about how to arrange the major and secondary elements. All these things need to be worked in a plan (plan view --- bird's eye view) before work commences, in order to know that things work, calculate quantities and for a guideline to follow when actually doing the work.

As Emmarene said, a photo in a larger size is needed. Telling us where you are (nearest large city) would be helpful along with such things as what type of water restrictions you might have. You removed desert plants, but what kinds (such as cactus or yucca or mesquite or herbaceous flowering plants) or do you have a photo of what was there? Likewise, what didn't you like about the flagstone - color, style, poor installation, etc.? Knowing what was there that you didn't like will help, as will knowing your general part of the world. . It looks from your photo like there are still low bushes by the house and taller bushes by the road and property lines. Is that the case? Have you ever owned a pond and do you know that it takes a fair amount of maintenance? Would you be likely to spend time in the front yard enjoying the pond? If not, I would either move it to an area where you can see it from a seating area, either outdoors such as near a backyard patio, or near a window that you look out of often to enjoy the wildlife it will likely attract, or else remove it entirely.