[mikester]

I'm looking for some advice on redoing the landscaping around my house.

The project will include the following:

Stairs into the house with a small deck (I want to say decklette) outside my kitchen with enough room for an entry way and my gas grill. Currently the stairway is only large enough for the entry way and it is done in block and mortar with a wood skeleton.

Second, I have a retaining wall that boarders the street facing parts of my property. I am almost certain that this wall will either need replacement or significant repairs. I have a corner lot so it is corner shaped. I want to say it's about 50-60' by 30' and varies in height to almost 5 feet at its tallest points. There will also be some stairs from the street level to my ground level that will need to be redone.

Finally, my back yard is small but it needs some attention to make some sort of a design back there that isn't just 'being'. Which is how it is right now. We have a large concrete pad which my kids enjoy playing on. I would like to keep that. We also have a 6' high block wall surrounding the yard. I don't want to change either of those. There is a short section of the wall that needs to be repaired and moved back to the property line about 10'. I would like some nice looking doorways into the back yard. I actually already have made those myself (redwood) and would like to keep them. Primarily back there I would like to either stain the block wall or plan a nice jasmine vine to cover it (drawbacks to jasmine?). I'd like to do something with the path from the front of the house to the back in between mine and the neighbors - concrete - some surface treatment as now it just gets weeds and pest plants. The concrete pad I think I would like to have the surface stamped and stained or have a stone put over it. I would also like a path from the concrete pad through the yard to the back entrance. I'm also considering a pergola over the pad as we get a lot of sun and it can get pretty warm back there in the heat of the day. Finally, I'd like to run a couple of outlets back there for accessories. There is one now but I think adding one more would be good.

We also have 2 avocado trees in the back which I do not want to hurt or change.

I think that covers it.

I don't think I can wait any longer unfortunately (not that I really want to). I need to get some plumbing repair which is probably going to require some demo of the block wall and a staircase since it is right over the problem. The main water line into my house has started leaking. I have to call a plumber about it on Monday...

I'll also be calling my bank to see about the terms on a HELOC. I don't think I have enough saved to cover all of this.

So - where to start? I'm thinking of course that the design is where I need to start but I'm not quite sure what exactly that means...