Shed update.
Here is pic of how it looked after it was painted last summer in August. Darker green on the top.
Today I carved out the paths and patio. You can see those in this pic. Will lay down gravel/sand/stone. Should be done in two-3 weeks. I'm doing this part myself, plus hiring one assistant.
Another view. I've started purchasing shrubs and some trees for this area. I will be putting down 3-4 inches of compost over all of the beds also. That will make things look tidy, and cover the irrigation hoses. You can see I planted lots of tulips here last fall. I'm glad I thought ahead to do that.
View of the expanse of new bed that goes along the chicken fence enclosure. My plan is to install more formal shrubs/grasses in front of the shed---then it will flow into this bed and gradually become all cottage garden on this end. With lots of perennials, annuals, and maybe some pumpkins, too.