Building a backyard

Mike and I had a GREAT idea. My sister and her husband would come out for a few days and we'd landscape our backyard. We'd flatten the land, dig the sprinkler lines and save lots of money. Then we woke up and realized it was over our heads. :) We love where we live, but it's on the side of a mountain and full of boulders. We decided to use the landscaper the builder used. We had my friend Kaylen draw up some plans, since I didn't know exactly what I wanted, and the landscapers went to work.

Here are the general plans. First is what I'd drawn up and the second was what Kaylen drew. We went with hers. :)

Their first day they pulled these three boulders out of what would be my garden area. Since our yard is sloped we needed to do a rock wall to separate the upper and lower portions.

I don't know how long it would have taken us to complete the backyard, but it only took them a week. I now have a garden, so I need to figure out how to use it. :) We put a little "thoughtful" spot on the right side of the yard that we are going to dedicate to Erik. We're going to build a tree and have a bench as well as some nice flowers and shrubs. We can't decide on the right tree. Mike and I would like a small shade tree but the kids are set on having a weeping willow tree. Here are some pictures of the final product.

We're planting fruit trees on the top tier and normal garden variety in the lower portion.