The tale of the garden that went kaput and its (awaited) rebirth

My yard is in a mixed state. Usually the backyard is tolerably pleasing with an array of flowers across our hill that starts with irises in the spring, to coreopsis and cosmos, to white onions at the tail end of summer. Then the virginia creeper officially takes over and we end the growing season with a week of blazing red. Then the rest of the year, it officially looks like crap. This year, erosion finally won out. The cosmos and coreopsis didn't happen. The onions are an inch high, if they exist at all. We'll still have the creeper, because...well...it's creeper and invasive. Over the past couple years, I've tried reseeding the hill with drought tolerant wildflower mixes, planting assorted xeric plants and...nothing. My hill is officially dust, not an ounce of organic matter in it.

So I've been planning, gathering inspiration, and trying to figure out how to amend my hill with out it blowing away with the strong evening winds that tear across the yard and how to dig a hole deep enough for a tree that doesn't require a jackhammer.

Here's what I'm thinking: on the hill, try to get some sumac in as it is invasive so maybe I'll get something out of it. Add a couple of aspens. Some sort of hardscaping to help it out during the winter months. Grasses look good year round. Fill in the spaces with wildflowers for summer. I'm going to make a sunflower patch where the vegetable patch is supposed to be (but always gets nibbled away by Nora). I'm also going to make an evening garden that is full of white flowers by the patio (which I want to expand) .

And the inspiration:

white (via gardenhoe/sara) and here (from me)
sumac and here too (both from me)
aspen (via knitting iris...the butterfly dress doesn't hurt either...maybe if I grow a grove, I can knit one to hang in the trees. a girl can dream, eh?)
sunflower (via nessie) and here (this one from me)

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it. Or wish me superhuman strength so I can dig a hole through the boulder that comprises the base layer of our hill.