Well here is what my yard looked like last year (shortly after we bought this house):
So, given our yards peculiar condition- very shady and lots of trees that like to suck up all the water (leaving little for any grass to grow)-we decided on a strategy of constructing numerous mini to mid-sized gardens.
On the small end of the spectrum is this garden:
On the other end of the spectrum is the medium sized pine straw garden with a river stone walkway (a work in progress):
Much work remains, but this is a good start. What do you guys (and gals) think?