Hi friends. It is that time of the year. The soil is ready to get tended and bear new life. And I am at a loss.. So much information in my head. I want plants that are drought tolerant, I want them to have some sort of symmetry. And yet everything I plant seem to grow in a different way than that I intended...
Let me show you what I am working with. This is the back garden the biggest of the two. It used to be a jungle before since it was abandoned for almost a decade.. Now it is a complete mess since we changed the roof and there are still roof tiles to be thrown out, we are fixing the fence and there are pieces of wood everywhere. 
We have installed wooden deck where it was a broken mosaic. In the garden all around there were lilies that I unearthed and replanted them around the edge of the deck...
They were growing beautifully but there was a weird snowstorm in Athens that took its toll on them so I had to cut them down a bit to allow them to flower again.
I have made a path made of stones. And I had planted lavender plants at the sides. But the snow killed a few since the plants were not used to these weather conditions and right before the snow we had an almost Summery weather so they were starting to flower. So I have to replace them.
There is a big orange tree right in front of the garden and right across my witch shed where I work..
On the side of my shed there is a huge night blooming jasmine tree that we build an arch for it to grow on. I did not have a chance to paint it white yet like the shed. Here you see my trampoline and an old air condition unit that are to be stored away. The place is a mess.. You also see the lamp under the arch because I still have not decided where its new place should be...
Right behind the night blooming jasmine is the garden water faucet(that can't be the right word,lol) and a huge Angelica tree that hangs over my shed. Also this is Spell one of the many cats that decided they live with us now.
I have tied together a few branches of a bergamot and a lemon tree here. Which would look much better if I pruned the rest of the trees to match the height.
At the edge of the garden I have installed a small goldfish pond which weirdly enough the cats drink from but do not bother the fish. Around the pond I have put a bunch of big stones that I picked from the park(and pulled my back doing so). But I still dont know how to hide the plastic edge of the pond.You can see the lattice fence that we have begun to install all around. It will reach the bare wall that we have cleaned as much as possible from the really old ivy that I loved, but burried inside it were metal rods and garbage. It will grow back eventually, hopefully.
Here on the far left I have planted a few more tropical shade loving plants like ferns, and a bunch of other plants I can not name for the life of me.
And basically I am trying to make a creeping thyme ground cover.
I am basically trying to find drought resistant (to both survive the greek Summer and be environmentally sound choices) plants that hopefully repel mosquitos, because we have a huge problem here most of the year.
With that in mind I have planted lavender, rosemary, a eucalyptus tree, melissa plant, and more..
As light features we have 5 big lamps as are seen in the picture about and we have 20 lanterns to be installed around the fence as we built it.
Please give me ideas. I am about to order 50 more creeping thyme plants, but I would love to add color and bring the plants together in a coherent way. Also, if you know any chemical free solution for mosquitos that actually work. I have tried a solution of mouthwash, beer and epsom salts but it did not do anything..
You can not tell since I do not have in my phone the before pictures and there is a mess due to the restoration process but I have put a lot of work in the garden. Maybe I need professional help.. Lol besides therapy I mean...
