A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2007 bland backyard

Hi all...we have an older home with about 1.29 acres and I have so many ideas like a pond, gazebo, gardens and so forth but my biggest obstacle is that I dont know WHERE to put it !...where do i put what? i cant figure out where do plant my garden or where to start digging for the pond.....GEEZ....I need help, lol
If I could figure out how to add pictures, i would show the back yard...lol its full of trees, mostly cedar , u think u lived in the woods, it has sooo much potential I just dont know where to put what...I do not know how to use those landscape softwares either, they look nice but leave me lost.....any help?
I live in Texas, central.

Either using a programme like 'MS powerpoint' or 'draw' or a piece of graph paper, lay out a plan of the yard to scale adding all that you have already, direction north, the house, established trees, boundaries etc. Cutout shapes and write the names on them and put them where you think they need to be. Move them around until you're happy, taking into consideration the amount of sun/shade, drainage, availability of water etc. In other words, you need to make a plan. Once you have a plan you're happy with, then start on the heavy works. Organise a bobcat to come in a move soil, dig holes etc.
Consider a pond, an arbour, a vegie and herb area, (close to the backdoor). Deciduous trees for summer shade and winter sun. Fruit trees. Chicken run etc.
Here's an example of what i'm talking about. I used MS powerpoint for this:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v239/m.longstaff/?action=view&current=frontyard.jpg