Backyard Designs

im trying to do a garden i dont know exactly what kind or what im going to do i would like a free software to try to set up a nice garden and landscape i make low wages in homecare and cant afford an expensive software for ideas, and also if there is some sites for designs garden designs or landscaping . really i want to make my yard look nice at a low cost or reasonable cost

I have a small space in my backyard that I would like to make into a tropical garden retreat. The size is about 15 x 8 m and rectangular. Does anyone know where i can get some designs from? Any tips on design before get my bob cat in?

I want to install a shale path in my front yard. I live in the Sierra Foothills in California. A friend is excavating to build a structure and came upon what we think is shale NOT SLATE. I love it’s natural look so when she offered it to us for free I decided to design the front path with it. But I am concerned it won’t be structurally strong enough to handle the very littel foot traffic it will ge weekly, and will therofre deteriorite too quickly. Can you advise. Thanks

My husband does music and we want to build a shed type building (8×10 or larger) so he can use it as a studio.
Making it into a studio isn’t the problem, he knows what he needs for that part of the project, but we aren’t sure how to build the building itself.
We are putting it in the backyard and just want a cheap and basic design.
If anyone knows how to build one or knows of a site that has plans and all that, I would greatly appreciate it!!!

We have a thin layer of straw down now and were going to put the red lava rock on top????

I am wondering how deep I need to dig to install (River Rock stones) landscaping stones

i would like to have a pergola (A garden structure with an open wooden-framed roof) but unable to decide on the shape/material and design!
whether(contemporary/mediterranean/traditional…etc).
the house is semi mediterranean semi contemporary. covered with stone and marble (neutral earthy desert colors. ) the house has visible angularity (two connected boxes by their corners). the garden floor is also covered with hard redish marble/sement and its full of plants (palms, evergreens cactus tropical…etc)

any suggestions??

oh…the structure will be free standing on an rectangular area of about 18 square meters (3*6)meters.

thanks

We are putting in a “rock area” on the side of our driveway to allow for additional parking. We put down landscape fabric and the rock is being delivered tomorrow morning. The only problem is that towards the end of the proposed area, it is kinda muddy due to the snow that has melted. Is there anything we can do to firm up this part of the dirt/mud before the rock is delivered tomorrow morning??? I’m afraid that when the rock is put on it, it will all sink down… and then parking on it will make it ten times worse.

Thanks for any suggestions.

I have heard that it would be possible to deduct the cost of a pool for medical reasons. I have a medical condition that warrents water tharepy. What would I need to do to qualify for this write off and how would I go about it?

Let’s say my AGI is about $70K and I can put a pool in for about $30K. How will this effect my taxes? Will it just bring my AGI down to $40K? Or, will I be able to recoup that money in some way? Trying to figure out if I can do this and how I can pay for it, because I don’t have $30K sitting around. Can I write off the payments for a loan to install the pool? What about the surrounding landscaping? I’ve read somewhere that you could write off the landscaping around a wheelchair ramp along with the cost of the ramp. Does that apply to landscaping around the pool?

Thanks in Advance for you Advice!

This is what happen. I have a pool in my backyard. The pervious owners broke a oval circle in the concrete to install the pool on the dirty instead of just installing it on top of the concrete. So I have a gap between the pool and the rest of the concrete. So when it rains the water just backs up in that gap instead of heading to the drains on both sides of the pool. Anyone know if I can fill that gap with rocks and hope the water will go towards the drains? If not rocks anyone have any ideas what I can do?