Something I've learned about #permaculture over the years is that it's not always a pretty process, especially at the start. I can't imagine my neighbours love the piles of cardboard boxes or the heap of woodchip in my driveway, but you have to trust the process.
This used to be overgrown lawn. In fact this is the last corner of the back yard that I haven't converted over to garden space yet. The cardboard helps to smother the kikuyu grass. The woodchip adds organic matter to both help retain, and drain, the water. Both will break down over time and form rich soil, along with all the nitrogen heavy greenery I'll add.
Give it a year to get some life in it, and a couple more to be fully established, and I assure you the neighbours will appreciate the biodiversity, beauty, and productivity of the space.