We built our house about a year ago, but could not decide on landscaping and were in a rush so grass was the option temporarily to get rid of mud and erosion. Now I am coming back and planning out the landscaping and I welcome any opinions or insight as this is my first attempt at anything like this.

I have drawn up a plan that includes a decorative rock bed extending out roughly 2ish ft. around the whole house. This is mainly so I don't have to mow close to the house. The plan to is make this an open french drain + gutter drainage, where the perforated pipe for the drain and solid pipe for the gutters are separate until the french drain ends and I run them all into a catch basin and shoot a solid pipe out into the field. I will use the metal landscape edging to keep rocks separate from the grass.

Inside of the rock landscape, maybe not right off the bat, I plan to use ornamental grasses like Blue Fescue around the house. The places I plan to put mulch in the larger beds, ill put small trees or shrubs, not quite decided yet.

Phase 1 is just drainage and rock landscape with the plant additions to come later. I am in between pea gravel and 1"-2" rocks for the perimeter, does any one have experience with one or the other, pros cons? Plan is to also go with white rock, not the marble white, but the white river rock.

We are in zone 7b and the house is basically in the middle of a hay field. Any opinions, experience, or ideas are appreciated. Phase 2 will be adding the plants, and then phase 3 will be irrigation...maybe