Hi Aggie,

I'm a landscape architect too . . . not yet licensed, but I'm working on it . . . Everyone above has provided excellent advice. I only have this to add:

Are there any gardening organizations in your area? You might get some great suggestions from the local gardeners.

Plus, TRUST YOUR GUT. You probably have a good sense of what you like, and it sounds like you have a good sense of what's NOT working. I don't do residential landscapes, but I find that in my conversations with people that they often already have a good idea of what they want to do, but they're not sure how to execute it. I can't tell you how many times I've talked to someone at a dinner party who wanted to make changes to their property, and convinced them that they didn't need a landscape designer, they just had to trust their own instincts.

Some of landscape design is trial and error, especially when it comes to learning what plants will thrive where.

If you're not making major changes to the layout of your property, you may want to start trying things out based on what information is available to you from local gardening resources (books, people, organizations, etc.).

California/west coast has Sunset magazine as a great resource. They've got different editions for whether you're in So. Cal., No. Cal., PNW, etc. Maybe there's an out of state edition, I don't know. But I imagine the So Cal edition might have some good xeriscaping articles from time to time, since water conservation must be a bit issue there.

Maybe there is a good local resource where you are . . . your local public library/arboretum/garden center would be great places to start. Reference librarians always know how to find anything you need. Plus, every state has a a cooperative extension that can provide a lot of information. They are often focused on agricultural concerns, but there is a lot of crossover to ornamental, especially where plant diseases and pest outbreaks are concerned.

That sunny space with the two green chairs looks like a great spot for a little kitchen garden . . . think "potager"