Creating a Garden in My Yard of Southern-Germany Quality. Well, Someday!

Today I got a bit of a bug in my butt.  Becca lives in such a picturesque part of Germany and the gardens and yards there are so beautiful and well maintained.  Here are some images from the town she lives in.  Just  gorgeous... 

 

I have seen picture after picture of the area she lives in and today I decided to make some attempt to emulate some of that garden beauty in my own yard.  Now, I can honestly say that it will be awhile and will take lots of hard work before my yard looks anything like the gardens of Southern Germany but I figured I needed to start somewhere.  
My Mia and I went to Lowes and got some pretty tapered stones to place in a circle around our flag pole.  The pole has always had grass around it, and I have always liked how it looks when the base of a flag pole has a polished looking, stoned-off edge to it.  
I did this to ours and I like how this simple change turned out.  
Then I cut back a very unruly tree in our front yard that's chaotic look has been making me crazy for months.  I cut off all the lower branches and then mulched the ground around the tree.  I plan to put a stone edging around this too when I get a chance. 
All of this produced some sweat and a little blood but no tears thank goodness, well at least not from me.  (Mia is actually crying right now because her bathrobe won't stay closed while she plays so I guess that could count as the tears part of that "blood, sweat and tears" saying).  Working on these updates was fun although a bit of work since the stones were pretty heavy and I had to get them from the store on my own and into the yard.  An I also had to manage to  keep a 3 year old occupied and out of the road while doing the work.  Overall though, I think these little changes look great.  I am glad that I set aside the time to do them and I am officially 2 steps closer to having a Southern German, well-maintained and beautiful garden at my own home.
So take that Becca and your picturesque surroundings.  I'll be livin' with a stunning German-esque like garden like you in no time. (twin 2 sticking tongue out at twin 1)

So, what do you think our next yard project should be in order to move us even closer to our South-German Oasis?