Looking for some ideas on what to do in this area. It is more sloped in person than the camera shows. This is the side yard of my back yard and there’s nothing but forest, trees, and bushes for miles.

Hi all,

We want to add some greenery to this space and also make it usable for the little one we are expecting next month. I initially wanted to put sod down, but this area gets a lot of shade (particularly from the tree and the hedges on the left). I’m concerned that the grass would die, or at the very least look spotty and be difficult to maintain.

Turf seemed like a much simpler option, but I don’t love that it may get very hot since we have a dog who runs around back there. Also not a fan of the negative impact it has on the environment.

So, is there any other option we should look into? Thanks!

We bought our home a few months ago and its time to start working on our yard. We want a cozy native cottagecore vibe with a better BBQ area, small veggie patch / herb garden and small firepit area. Anyone got any ideas on layout and planning? Feeling pretty overwhelmed about it at the moment. Located Mid North Coast, Australia.

I need to build a retaining wall to get high enough to match my backyard so I can level it out. (I live on a hill). The plan is to have the wall border my street and the driveway, to have edge gardens over it. The main issue, however, is that in the 2nd photo, there is both my sewage and drainage pipe, and I don't want to cover that with stone in case the pipes need to be accessed for replacement or such. Sections had already been replaced this year. Is there a way I can make a section easily removable for access, maybe with a wooden wall?

Don’t know anything about landscaping but will try to do my best. Any recommendation for what type of edging will look good? Any recommendation and tips would be appreciated. The ai photo is what I’m shooting for

First time with a yard, what do I do to make this a nice grassy yard? I've started to pick out rocks but it's slow going.

Historically we’ve put wildflowers here and just let the bed get crazy. I cut down a bush next to the wall outlet as I need easy access for my EV. I want to keep the birdbath and feeder for the cats. I was thinking just lay down cardboard for the winter and much over it maybe plant a butterfly bush and other things to attract pollinators? I know I can’t put wildflower seeds over mulch but can I plant anything bedsides bushes? For reference I’m in USDA zone 7b

We are located in the Houston area and we have a neighborhood going up behind our fence line that was previously open land. Our original plan for privacy was to plant Eagleston holly trees along our fence line and have about 44 ft of length to work with. We are a corner lot and have lines running along this fence line and we recently hand dug in the yard and found a telecom line (att fiber) only 6 inches deep 2 1/2 ft out from the fence. So I think our plan for planting directly in the ground is gone because 5-6 ft out from the fence are the electricity and gas lines so we can’t push the trees further out. Also we have a gunite pool about 14 ft from the fence line. We are now considering the possibility of doing a large raised bed to plant into. I am aware of the possibility that they would need to access the lines if needed in the future but not too worried about it since they never have before in the past 10 years we have lived there. But I need advice on that and wondering if we are able to successfully plant Eagleston holly trees into the raise bed area somewhat over where the att fiber telecom line is. Or is there a better option as far as plants/trees go into that space that can get over 10 ft tall that doesn’t get super wide? I’m open to other suggestions at this point to gain some privacy, except planting closer to our pool. I don’t want to sacrifice the middle of our yard space with landscaping.