Even if a turf lawn is small, it can add a great deal of beauty as a setting for other plantings. Keeping it "relatively" small can make it do-able. Confining it to a central location in the back yard is where it might give the most bang for the buck... being the "white space" for the plantings closer to the perimeter. (I can't speak to what greyhounds might do to it since I have no experience with them. Do they like to tear directly across open space, or use the perimeter like an oval track? The latter could be to your advantage insofar as turf goes.) An oval shape seems like it would fit the back yard nicely and if it was a pronounced, distinct, perfect shape, it could add a feeling of strength and organization to the overall design of the yard. Since the back lot line has low trees already, beefing them up with Palo Verde or Mesquite, so as not to see buildings beyond, seems like a good goal. I agree that neighbors could not expect that you wouldn't plant trees or that you would assume responsibility for their view. (When was the last time you thought about asking anyone to alter a tree on their private property to suit your needs? Where your trees cross the property line into neighboring yards, it's the case that they own the crossing portion and can do with it as they please. It might sound like be a harsh legal reality, but plantings at yard perimeters that provide some privacy or shade USUALLY work to the advantage of both parties. Usually it's not much of a problem.) Combining some views-below-canopies with privacy, where needed, seems like it would be easily workable. Along the cul-de-sac area, you might consider breaking up the run of wall with small groupings of small tree-form shrubs with open space between the groupings. Where I live, freestanding walls and fences are frequently treated by placing a lower hedge to run alongside them. To my thinking this is a complete waste of material and effort. It does nothing to interrupt the boredom of the wall length. Just like how periodic columns add interest to a plain brick wall, periodic plantings that exceed the height of the wall add visual interest. Large flowering shrubs make good small trees for this purpose. Grouped tightly in 3s, they also add depth to the planting. As pointed out, the TYPE of thorns that plants have make much difference. I would not think thorns on TREES would make much difference (in general) to people or pets as the thorns could easily be placed overhead and out of reach. Plants without thorns can be placed at lower levels. And in some cases with certain plants, thorns that are highly visible and obvious may be acceptable. The patio area is somewhat like a stage positioned to play to a 180* view. Of course, the actual viewing occurs in the opposite direction of what it would in a theater. Here, the audience sits on the stage and views the "theater seating" area, which is the back yard. After you determine the actual square footage of additional patio needed, you might consider making its distant edge to be arranged in a semi-circular, octagonal or similar, bay-window-ish shape so as to "play" to the rest of the back yard. It would need to fit with lawn shape. Setting small groups of trees to both sides (not between "stage" and "seating") could provide shade and maintain an unobstructed view to the lawn and remainder of back yard. Trees selected for what their canopy could become (as it relates to patio and house) would be important. The discussion of wall heights surrounding the back yard can be confusing. As you refine your ideas you might submit a revised plan for the wall that only indicates what portion of the wall is ABOVE your back yard grade... as that's what really matters from back yard viewpoint. Also, for discussion purposes, I suggest that it would be easier (especially since your house is set at a diagonal to cardinal directions) to refer to right/left/fore and aft--as one would view the yard from standing at the street facing the house--as opposed to NE/SW/SE/NW, as those require one to memorize the directions or to go back and look at a previous drawing. Right, left, fore and aft is easier.

Thanks Brendasue! Good to meet ya. Great ideas, and you sure are right concerning the age factor. Luckily I have 6 months to do it all. Advice on house and barn/pasture is welcome! Imagine a perfectly square 40 acres. Then carve out a long rectangle,a strip that is the 1/4th on the left (South) side. That's the 10 acres in timber around the house saved for wildlife. The remaining 30 acres is in grass for the horses, just a few trees for shade. I am considering a 14 ga steel barn through Bargainbarnsusa.com as their OKla. location is not far from the ranch and prices include installation. I need a carport and horse shelter both, so I hope I can get a discount. Steel buildings have inground anchors set 3 feet deep. But I am not sure on what kind of shelter. I was thinking of a 24' x 12' loafing shed, but I'll be asking the mfg. what would be most wind resistant. The carport will be next to the house, and in the trees, so wind won't be as big a factor. I'm planning on putting the barn/shelter within sight of the kitchen window of the house, as being able to see the horses feeding on a large round bale during a storm is the best! I'll put the barn/shelter @ 175 ft. North of the northside kitchen window, with a paddock area in between, where a grass round bale will be located 90% of the year. (I've done this system for 4 years at my current place in Colo. and the horses are fat & happy, while my husband can help keep an eye on them during bad weather.) I pen the horses into the paddock before the storm and let them out after, locating heated water tanks in the paddock area, right next to the fence for easy filling. The barn/shelter will block the North wind and with the shelter floor on the Southern exposure, lets the sun dry it out. There's a slight slope, so drainage will be good and the soil is pretty sandy. You make a good point, so I think I'll divide the pasture into 3 areas, like a half-wagon wheel, or using a runway, with all three leading to gates reaching the barn/paddock area, which is the hub. With 30 acres, that will make @ 3 ten acre pastures. (There is also a small 2 acre pasture on the SW corner of the ten acres surrounding the house for quarantine/roundpen/colic/new mare & foal use.) I'm looking at getting a hay bale buggy (Tumble bug variety, no spear) to trailer round bales into the paddock with the ATV in the future. (Right now, I have a great hay man who delivers one within 24 hours of a call and puts it right where I want. I'll sure miss that!) I've already made note of neighbors that have grass round bales left in the field from last year, so I might buy their bales this next season, depending on hay quality. Don't want to introduce any noxious weeds into my scarce pasture. On that note, any ideas on overseeding? That's probably my first improvement, as I hope to let the seedlings grow strong til July when I plan on moving the horses. Looking at brome pasture mix to add to the drilled-but-patchy bermuda early enough to get the Spring rains. Let me know what you all suggest! Mustang

For all my old pets I give subcutaneous fluids at least once a week. Most of my older dogs and cats have had some degree of kidney insufficiency in their later years and hydration alleviates the nausea associated with it and perks up their appetites. I believe this has extended most of their lives, but more importantly it keeps them comfortable. Probably of all the things I've done to help my senior pets, this has made the most improvement to their lives. My older cats enjoy(ed) their heating pad covered with a towel. In or near their 20s, they have all lost weight and it was/is harder for them to generate enough of their own body heat to stay warm. I have a 4 foot wide gradually sloping ramp that I built so that my old dogs do not have to climb stairs to get in and out of the back door into the yard. I covered it in that fake grass indoor/outdoor carpetting so that it is not slippery. It is tough stuff and I can scrape snow and ice off it without harming it. For my collie in the last months of his life (He had an inoperable tumor in his abdomen that I believe caused him to be incontinent) I wrapped his beds with plastic tarps and covered that with washable and comfy fleece blankets. (His beds were 2" thick blocks of dense upholstery foam that I had made for him when his arthritis made it too hard for him to get up on the couch.) When he slept urine would just run out of him, so I could just change his blanket and sponge off the waterproof tarp-covered bed with soap and water. I had about half a dozen blankets that I would just throw in the washer everyday. It was a system that was easy for me and comfortable sleeping for him. Likewise my last two cats in their 20s were "leaky" when they slept. I lined all of their beds with plastic waterproof tablecloths, cut to fit. Then I covered that with soft cloths made from old towels and old clothes that were disposable. I affixed the disposable bedding to their beds with masking tape that I could tear off the next day. I had boxes of discarded fabric items cut into cat-bed-sized linens. When the supply began to run low I bought a box of hospital pads and used those. When my dogs were very old their appetites waned. I home cook for all my pets, and I cooked only those foods that they liked the best in their last days, because it was most important for them to eat to keep up their strength and to get adequate nutrition. Poultry was a favorite, and I cooked many a 25 lb turkey back then. Toward the end it was too hard for my guys to stand to eat a meal, so I hand fed them so they could eat lying down. For my dogs, glucosamine/chondroitin and fish oil capsules have helped their arthritis noticably. Eventually old age gets the upper hand, but these remedies stave off the crippling effects of arthritis for some time. I hope some of these suggestions will help you with your older pets. I find it very rewarding to care for my pets in their later years. There are so many ways to make their lives more comfortable, and to provide them with contentment. They appreciate the extra care and enjoy this phase in their lives, even though their world and activities have shrunk from what they once were. And now that I, too, am old I can empathize even more with the difficulties they have, and instinctively take steps to alleviate them.

The trash house is half a mile away and you are disturbed by the view? Do you use goggles or a telescope? If it bothers you so much, why don't you talk to the people? I am in a similar situation but reversed. I bought a run-down house with overgrown yard last fall and I didn't have time yet to clean up the yard because all my time was spent fixing the inside, which is more important to me than the view of my neighbors. Also, during this time, I accumulated an old air conditioner, coil, stove, countless cardboard boxes, old kitchen counters etc. in my side yard (behind a gate, so not visible from the street, but visible from my neighbors second floor). It'll be disposed off sometimes this year but I am not going to rent a dumpster more than once. Disposing of bulk trash can be expensive. I'd not be insulted by a neighbor asking me politely to clean up. Why don't you try asking?