Yard woes

Let's face it: our yard stinks. It stinks so badly that Brad almost passed on the house because of the dirt yard.

Numerous advisers tell us to wait until fall to do major yardwork because of the harsh Southern summers. That's well and good, but who can have a housewarming cookout on a red clay surface?

Yikes!

Brad's grandmother was kind enough to help us get a lawn mower, so at least what little grass we have is under control. In fact, the clippings make the yard look a little more green than dirt.
His grandmother is a gardener at heart, and also offered to help us with our unruly embankments. She is bringing her friend and "yard man" to take down the overgrown weeds on the back slope.

On the side and back of our yard are steep slopes that head to each neighbor's yard (remember how I said the entire community looks like a slash-and-build?). Well, grading is out because it would cause erosion problems. You can't mow it because it's so steep.

The slope begins in our front yard and gets up to about 4 feet in the corner, then the back slope is about 5-6 feet high across the entire back perimeter. During that downpour last week I studied where the water goes. It's set up well now, so I don't want to tamper much.

We are juggling a few options, including a retaining wall for at least part of the slope, a water feature, tiered flower beds and/or junipers or cypresses.

I'll upload photos soon so you can see the "before" Brad's grandmother and "after" her.