After 20 years of wrestling with the problems of a 1913 house designed by a notable Prairie School architect, I fall back on the title of a book written by the comedian, Alan King:

Anybody Who Owns His Own House Deserves It!

...and it is NOT meant as encouragement...

But it is a great thing to do...you will NEVER have to worry about what to do with any spare time that you might find you have on your hands.

My first advice: kill the lawn and plant a dry garden.

Really.

We have a guy around here that I affectionately refer to as "The Rock Man" who lives on a block full of verdant, perfect lawns with poodle-bush evergreens and he has a yard covered with stones and driftwood. He is my hero.

Seriously, though, best of luck on it.

Best

AA