Hello Kal, Sometimes I use Punch to set up building masses, but most designing I do by hand. Paper and pencil are my best friends. (Trace paper, too, and a million erasers). Disregarding what you have read in the past, do you think straight lines are formal? I personally don't. Not intrinsically, at the very least. They can be used to create very formal designs, yes, but they don't necessarily equate into a formal design. In your space, for example, the patio won't be the only thing in the space, and thus can be tempered by other elements to create the look or aesthetic that you want. The types of plants you choose, and/or their arrangement and/or placement can alter the look of the patio by visually breaking up the edges or by accentuating them. Even within the patio, the colour combinations, textures, patterns, scale of the pavers, all of these have an effect on the overall feeling. I personally would say that a rectilinear patio would suit the space better, given its size. With a curvy patio, you might have to compromise on patio area to accommodate curves. The leftover space between the patio and fence may be too narrow at spots to plant with anything significant. There's a lot to consider when you're designing a space, which is good when you're still in the planning stage and it's easier to change things around. I don't want to plan the space for you, since you are the one who really knows what you want to achieve. But I will try, and hopefully with the help of others on the forum, to push you to explore other opportunities or ideas that you usually wouldn't have. - Audric

"...should I have the men doing the backfill work, try to find the weep holes to make sure they are there?" Yes. If they're there and buried, that may be a simple fix to the problem. "Would it be ok to use a double layer of burlap or would that be too porous? will the regular weed-blocker landscaping cloth be ok?" That depends on how you would be using the fabric. Generally, jute mesh (or sometimes burlap) is used in conditions where slopes that are to be planted with grass are extreme, and the likelyhood of any rain eroding the slope is high. The fabric is normally rolled out on the ground and held in place with long hand installed staples. The rolling is done down the slope, not across the slope. The open weave nature of the fabric and it being biodegradable allows for grass to germinate and under the fabric and grow up through it. In places where the grass will not be mowed, the biodegradable fabric can be left in place to rot. In areas where the grass will be mowed, leaving the fabric in place presents the likelyhood of the fabric being lifted by the mower and causing all sorts of problems. Jute mesh will degrabe faster than burlap, and it's weave is quite a bit more open...and it's usually less expensive. If your lot slopes 2 feet over a very short distance and the slope is steep, then using the natural fabric can help keep the topsoil and seed in place. If the slope is not steep, the fabric is probably not necessary. The black fabric should not be used at all on top of the soil if you're intent is to grow grass. Either way, mowing with the fabric in place will be near impossible, and pulling the fabric up after the grass has begun to grow will probably pull the grass up with it. The black weed fabric is used on the surface of the ground so that nothing will grow through it. It can be used to halt erosion, but if it's woven and has a tight weave, water will tend to run off faster than if it was a more open non-woven fabric. Again, if the slope isn't ateep, it may be a waste of money to use the fabric there. Erosion control fabrics, woven and non-woven, are usually used in a vertical fashion, stapled to stakes (essentially the same things as tomato stakes) with the bottom hem buried in the ground so as to catch and slow surface runoff. Normally, that sort of installation is used where required either by local or state code, or by site conditions such as steep slopes and open ground exposed to the elements without benefit and protection of turf or groundcover. On a quarter acre lot with shallow slopes, I'm not sure it would be beneficial, but then again, I can't see the lot, so local opinion and expertise may be a better option for you. Just get more than one opinion. Another use for fabrics is actually in the ground, separating different soil types. In the case of a wall like yours, it might be that the designer will call for such a fabric to be installed prior to placing the clean free draining gravel behind the wall. The fabric in this case would keep the gravel open and free draining by keeping the fine particles from adjacent native clayey or silty soils from infiltrating and blocking the voids in the gravel.In this case, burlap would not be used as it would degrade over time. There are many specialty fabrics for this use, and most are not available at your local nursery or big box vendor. Some weed block fabrics may be similar in weave and nature, some are not. Can't say whether yours is or not. If the soils behind the wal are removed and atrench prepared for gravel backfill, the fabric would normally be placed along the bottom of the excavation with 3-6 inches rising up agains the back of the wall. The rest would run up the excavation and be laid on theground away from the wall until the trench was filled with gravel and compacted. Then the remaining edge of the fabric would be pulled over the top of the gravel, back towartds the wall, covering the gravel before the topsoil or planting mix was replaced. This more or less creates an envelope around the gravel. I wouldn't bother putting anything against your neighbor, especially if they still have the timber wall. Understand that a fabric envelope like this isn't always part of the design. It really depends on the nature of the existing soils, groundwater, and the wall design. Your situation may not require it at all. Only local inspection can insure that you're not throwing money needlessly in a hole. I don't think I said anything about using fabric at all. What I did say was that each 'weep' hole in the wall should be covered by a 'screen'. That screen would only cover the hole and extend a few inches beyond the hole in each direction, on the back side of the wall. The gravel would lie up agains that screen, and groundwater would find it's way to the hole and through the screen. If the erosion is most visible where your wall meets your neighbors, remember that your wall may be acting as a dam, and any water building up behind it is seeking a way out. The junction of your wall with yuour neighbors would be that point, and the flow may be significant. Weeps through your wall would likely provide the necessary outlet to reduce the pressure forcing groundwater to find that junction and causing it to erode. I would stay away from constructing anything that looked like a berm on the creek-side of the wall. It wouldn't serve the purpose you think it might. It may only make flooding problems worse. And, you may be running afoul of local regulations having to do with wetlands. Good luck. And remember, this is only an internet forum. We can't see what you see, we can only read your words. Even pictures would serve as limited assistance. Your very best bet is to inquire locally, and get as many second opinions as you think necessary.

>"I want to lay down Reveille seed in the spring time. " Don't do it! >"My intention was to rototill" Don't do it! >"What am I missing?" Sorry, but the real answer is time spent here researching. Here's what I and many others here would do, since you are running out of time before frost. Go ahead and get your soil delivered and graded - at a leisurely pace this year. No need to rush, you just have to live without a lawn for now. Treat the dirt (I mean soil) as if it was a lawn! Water it, letting it settle, letting weeds sprout from any seeds that in the soil. Don't worry, you'll kill them next year, what frost doesn't. Do the same next spring and summer. Get a soil test next spring. Get the soil amendments down before fall - when you can seed on a proper seed bed,

This ended up being a lot more work than we originally anticipated, but the overall process was very straightforward. We had also originally planned to have 12 foot 6x6 posts but when we stood one up, we realized it was WAY too tall, so we cut them all down to a 10 ft length. I would have preferred a nicer wood, however, we didn't want to spend that much money on it and went with regular pressure-treated wood.