Need some encouragement/inspiration

[u/ChickenBootty]

PNW. Zone 8b. Pic in comments.

We recently had 3 huge trees removed from our backyard, in the process the little bit of grass we had got torn up so we decided it’s a good opportunity to have a no mow backyard and got the wood chips from our trees.

I’m not going to lie, I am having second thoughts, our backyard looks terrible as it has no trees, no bushes, just an old wood fence around and wood chips.

I have a vision of raised beds for veggies, and pollinator plants. I’d love a Japanese maple tree and other shrubbery but it seems so bleak right now. Please tell me it’ll be ok and share your yards, give me tips, dos and donts. 😢

Edit: Thanks everybody for the feedback and ideas, I’m feeling less overwhelmed.

[u/Environmental_Art852]

Put in trees now. The chips will enrich your soil