Cliff May Restovation

It's amazing how soon we switch from cold and wet to hot and dry. Finally we're settling into that cloudless sky 80-85 degree weather pattern that California natives know all too well. Anyhow, all this talk has gotten me thinking a lot about fun activities outside. For me, outside space has always been just as important as inside space when living in SoCal (though, you'd never know that based on the present condition of my landscaping).

My grandparents were down visiting this past weekend from Arizona. My grandmother decided to buy me a book as a present (thanks Grandma!). Anyhow, here's what she got:

Not to do a book review, or anything, but it's pretty good. The book is divided into several sections: sample gardens, plants, structures, and planning. I really apprecdiate the fact that in many captions they list the plant species. This is especially useful if you see something you like and want to replicate it. Naturally, the largest feature of a book like this is its ability to spur on the ideas in your own mind. Since my whole yard needs redoing...the toughest question is which area gets redone first. I've decided the courtyard is the most important important to me. It's an area you see right from the living room and and area I'd like to spend a lot more time.

In the true spirit of being hyper-analytic. I've made some preliminary drawings. These are of the courtyard portion of the lot (the red bricked-in area below):

Here's my proposed replan:

One of the struggles is that my lot is mostly flat and I'd like to introduce as much elevation change as possible in the courtyard to give another dimension to it.