Let's talk gardens. I LOVE my garden. It's by far my favorite part of our house / yard, but it hasn't been quick. When we first bought our house, the backyard had been over-run by dogs and weeds. Our yard was also almost a foot lower than both of our neighbors, and as such we had a LOT of flooding issues during spring thaw. First step was to raise the yard to be level with the properties on either side of us. With my work, I do a lot of grading planning, so we were able to utilize that to ensure that we could minimize water runoff issues. I cannot stress this enough. When re-designing an outdoor space. HAVE A PLAN. Understand where you want water to go. How the sun moves across the yard Can your neighbors see you? Do you want them to? Common travel paths If you have pets, where you want them to do their business Do you want a garden? Do you want to plant flowers every year? Or would you rather lower maintenance perennials? Do you have trees? Do you want trees? Do you have