How exciting! I would love to have a fresh palate with a backyard for myself again. I would definitely go with a 3/4 grotto encircling a hot tob as the main feature. You can extend the sides of the grotto to create a retaining wall to change elevations in the backyard. This would make it easy to have a waterfall - and of course a stream...some stepping stones that look like tips of huge granite boulders just protruding from the surface of the ground leading around the garden...ahhhh.
Why stop there...beach entry 3 sided negative edge pool with an L shaped area to one side equipped with 5 HP swim jets. Floating island in the middle equiped with bar and stainless steel BBQ and underwater stools surrounding the bar on the deep side.
Batting cages and driving range with ball catch netting.
What else...a waterpark for the kids...random action floor jets, big splash waterfall onto the deck which drains into an isolated closed water loop. I also am a huge fan of big, obnoxious art. A giant moai head - 6 feet tall, or a giant fish sculpture or a huge tribute to stone henge something...
Does anyone have any other / better ideas than these?
My long over due backyard project started this past Sunday with the ground preparation for my gardener's shed, waterfalls, stream, and nursery area. The shed will have a 16'x20' deck with a 12'x12' building. A potter's area, small greenhouse, and storage area will be included. The base structure for the 32' long and five feet tall waterfalls has been in place for two years but that is as far as it has gotten until now. I will start the framing and faux bois application over the next two months. I hand dug a 6000 gallon coi pond in 2003 and it is doing fine. I have over 300 plants and bushes ready for planting and tons of rocks for accents. Oh! Did I mention the nine-hole miniature golf course? Yep. Quite a project. To make things worse, I am scheduled to debut it to my garden club and fellow Master Gardeners on April 18, 2007. Anybody want to help?