Excellent advice! I would also add now that it is raining you should go out either in the rain or right after and mark/notice any drainage issues that may need correcting. You could even brainstorm ideas on a simple piece of paper. There are lots of things you could use depending on sunlight, dirt etc: plants (shrubs or trees?), rocks, gravel, pavers, mulch, raised garden beds, water features, rain barrels, firepits, dog run my head will explode :) Looks very private already.

There is a pretty sharp learning curve when it comes to landscape design. That's why professional designers usually have considerable training and formal education behind them. That's not to say you can't learn to do it yourself, only that it may take a good bit longer than you think to arrive at the desired conclusion and you will likely encounter a lot of expensive trial and error along the way. You just can't get all what you need from reading a book!!

California is blessed with a plethora of very skilled and talented landscape designers, many of which you can find here on Houzz. Most will come to your property for an inexpensive consultation to provide you with some ideas to start with and then, if you wish to follow that route, develop a design plan for you to follow yourself or job out some or all of the project to a landscape contractor.

I will say that the most successful and attractive DIY landscape designs are those created by already very experienced gardeners. If you are newish to the entire process, I'd seriously consider bringing in some professional help.

It would help to know which zone you live in. You could get one of the Sunset books and just some of their ideas. I hated caring for lawn so I pulled it out and made paths and mounds and planted drought tolerant in it.

It looks like you have a driveway going to a garage on the right side of the first photo, but that could be a sidewalk going to a tool shed. It would be helpful to see the yard with the house in the background as well.

Is the tree with yellow fruit a loquat? What city are you located in?

You could consider a water feature and maybe a pergola or gazebo, but that would depend on your house, to some extent. I would consider adding a cover to the deck, but I cannot tell which direction is north, and so you may not need the shade.

I agree with not rushing. My back yard has evolved a lot over the years, and I made changes very gradually and spent a lot of time just sitting and looking at it, to decide what I wanted. I first built a pergola and then put a redwood slat roof on top of that, so that I would get about 80-90% shade, and I have a teak table and chairs there for dining outside.

For me, it was important to decided upon a color scheme and architectural style, and I ended up choosing Mediterranean, but many people choose Japanese. Personally, I think it is a mistake to choose Midwest or New England as a garden style for southern California, but if you are far enough north or high enough in altitude, that could be a consideration. I have a lot of South African plants in addition to a lot of bromeliads from Latin America.

Here is one of the properties I designed with a deck, some large square pavers and a little lawn. If you are in california I do suggest a small amount of lawn for dogs or kids. There are plenty of other groundcovers that can be used if lawn is not needed. A consultation with a designer can always help you. It might be good to find one in your area :). Good luck.

Los Angeles · More Info

Los Angeles · More Info

How much money do you want to spend on water? Are you an outdoor chef? Would you enjoy apples to go with your oranges? ( tangerines? ) What is that big leafless tree and also what is the smaller one with the trunk guard. Are the trees on the South where they cast shade on the lawn area all day? Is this picture in the morning and they are on the East most part. I'd be planting more fruit but if you want entertaining space, you might prefer pavers with cozy seating and hanging lights, and/or a fire pit. You can always do fantastic potted plants around an outdoor seating area. Raised beds are fun. They look great and they're easy to maintain.

The other consideration is how much time do you want to spend caring for it? If you don't have a use for grass, I'd remove it because it needs to be weeded and also well watered to look good and take foot traffic and you need to mow it regularly or pay someone to do it. Without grass, you can have paths and butterfly plants. You can have a cat paradise of tall ornamental plants and soft mulch to lay in the sun in. My cats won't lay on grass, they want soft soil or mulch. If you have a dog or a rabbit, I think you really need some grass.

What about a fish pond with water lilies. That's relaxing.

I like your big patio. If you aren't planning to have big groups of people, I'd plant all kinds of interesting plants and sit on the patio watching the hummingbird and butterfly show. If your patio is mostly sun, I'd make a shady place to be in summer where you can stretch out and relax.

There is a new book on small garden spaces by one of the top garden designers. It has some very good advice like having two small spaces instead of one big space to make the garden feel bigger. I highly recommend it. The only problem is that the plant species that get recommended aren't great for California but that is pretty typical.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0711236801/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483115492&sr=8-1&pi=SL75_QL70&keywords=kingsbury+small+garden

Hi daywednes. You have a wonderful space to start with with mature citrus. All the advice here is great. It can be overwhelming to redesign a yard. I have done quite a few of my own yard designs and remodels, but I know that's really rare. I didn't realize it at first, but each contractor has told me that they have never seen such designs without professional help. I wouldn't have been able to do it without growing up on a ranch and having a base understanding of landscape, as well as a creative side. If you do it yourself, it is helpful if you can draw (for plans), have a really good understanding of measurements and math (physics helps too), can communicate extremely well with others and also have a pretty laid back attitude because things are going to be misunderstood, go wrong, need to be done over, etc. As long as you have all of that... I think it's possible to design yourself but it can still be really time consuming and a bit of a headache. You can also miss important things like drainage, mentioned above.

Drainage is extremely important in all yard designs... but especially with pavers.

But even so, it's good to have a strong idea of what you want even if you get professional help from a designer.

From the photos, what I would do if it was my yard is:

1) Take out the lawn. As others mentioned, I also personally don't like lawns so I have taken them out at each house I have lived in. Either partially or completely.

2) Put a garden in the sunny spot in first the lawn photo - either flowers, veggies or drought tolerant natives depending on how much I wanted to care for it later. Possibly raised beds if the soil isn't great.

3) Cover the rest in mulch with pathways in stepping stones, compacted gravel/stone dust or something similar.

4) Install drip irrigation. Also fix drainage that takes advantage of rain water and directs it away from the house and either to plants/trees at the fence lines (but not into neighbors yards) or to a better place based on your plot.

5) Replace the concrete with pavers, new concrete, stonework or a deck surface. Everyone will sell you on pavers, and they're great... I just had a bunch installed... but unless you're really going to live in the house FOREVER I still am not personally sure they're really worth the extra money, compared to concrete or other stone options.

But... it's not my yard. It's your yard! Write down what you love to do outdoors. Look at ideas on HOUZZ and create ideabooks. Walk around your yard and look at where the sun and shadows lie, where the frost settles, where there are puddles, where weeds grow, where nothing grows, etc. Like everyone said, don't rush it. Take time to dream.

Good luck!!!

Also... if you live in northern CA in the Bay Area I can recommend people to help... as well as people to stay away from. :)