My Garden History... what I'm facing

I've always lived in a place where I couldn't really garden except in pots.  May 2009 I moved into my first home....Yeah!!!!  Finally I have a chance to plant in the ground, and not be scolded for it. 

I moved into a new home that no landscaping, a total blank slate.  Starting from scratch can be a real challenge and get expensive; this is something most wouldn't consider when making an offer on a home, but I'll keep it mind in the future.  Anyway, I was up to the challenge and was excited to have no limitations to work around.  I did have some bones on the steep slope of a hill in my back yard.  The hill slopes toward the house, and not away.  As a result when I step out onto my back patio the small hill is right in my face.   Whatever is planted on that hill can feel smothering, and at the time I moved in, the only thing planted was about 30 giant junipers that weren't low growing creepers, but giant grey owl junipers.

At first I saw this slope as a problem, but then I thought  at least it gives me an opportunity to see everything.  You see, like a box of crayons, the hill staggers the plants, so nothing is lost.  Even the most muted color has it's chance to be seen and loved.

Being my first real garden, I was petrified to make the decision to uproot these perfectly healthy beautiful plants that were keeping the dirt from washing down my hill.  I played the what if game over and over...what if they were impossible to uproot, what if they were the only thing holding the dirt on  my hill...what if blah blah blah.  In the end, I payed someone to remove half of them.  After a few months I needed more room and took up a few on my own, and it was a breeze!   I just cut back all the foliage and used a mattock to dig up the roots and PRESTO!  no fuss.  I wish I would have tried this before I wrote the check to have them removed.  I'll post some pictures of where I started a year ago soon.

Anyway...welcome to my new winter escape...my blog!  :)  I hope I can help someone here the way others have helped me in my google searches.