front yard face lift

A few months back I finally gave the front yard a bit of an overhaul. What did I do?

Step 1.  I ripped out a bunch of dead plants, four large bushes and a pine tree (demo was very cathartic... thanks for the Sawzall, Thor!)
Step 2. I moved all the random stones from the base of the slope up top, where I used them to outline two raised beds.
Step 3. I dug a drainage ditch (and moved all that dirt to the raised beds).
Step 4. I back-filled with gravel, then laid a low stone wall (I dry stacked 3000 lbs of stone myself), and then laid some more gravel. Building this wall was like doing a giant 3 dimensional puzzle... fun, but exhausting!
Step 5.  I planted a ton of flowers (with my sister's help) and vegetables, and now I have a lovely front yard!

Before

After