New house with dirt backyard questions

[subersibo]

Hello, everyone! I am new to this forum. I live in Northern California (Elk Grove) and just bought a new house with a dirt backyard. We are planning to do the backyard ourselves as much as we can to save money and for fun. We are not planning on having any grass at all. We want it mostly gravel, stepping stones, a pond, some kind of ground cover like moss or creeping thyme, and a few trees and plants mostly for a Japanese themed landscape. Right now, there is a few patches of grass scattered all around and a little bit of space between the ground and the neighbor's fence.
Do we need to have the yard graded/leveled at all? Is that a requirement before working on the area?
Would it be okay to just put newspapers, mulch, and then the gravel and rocks to prevent weeds from growing?

[Pop Alexandra]

Should be fine for such a project, but I'm not very experience either, so just wait for the garden shed veterans to confirm.

[DianaCantor]

Hi there! I don't have any ideas about the landscaping, but few days back my neighborhood has done with the landscaping project an they has taken the help from a professional from Gardening NorthSide for doing the Landscaping project. They also suggested me to do the Landscaping from gardening NorthSide. I think you may also take the help of a professional for doing landscaping and also they will help you in solving the question.

[Pop Alexandra]

Should work out just fine. In case of any questions, feel free to contact True North Plans.
They have some pretty open-minded landscaping specialists.

[Shivani Adams]

Hi everyone,

My husband & I are located in Southern California, and we made a garden video (a long-awaited project) to share our 4 year adventure —> turning our grass yard into a food forest!
We created a Youtube channel (Grow Create Films) … and slowly we will be adding videos re: ecology / sustainability / nutrition & people reconnecting with Earth again.

Check it out…and, enjoy!

https://youtu.be/GunJE0-9w98