Beginner Gardening: Sloping frontyard: landscaping a rock garden a diy project?, 1 by supriyakumar

supriyakumar wrote:
Hi,
I have a sloping front yard: ~40 degrees slope, that currently has juniper on the upper portion, 2 azaleas mid-level, and a lot of weeds where there used to be Phlox (see picture, taken from the top, showing juniper, azaleas, and phlox). I need to re-do the lower portion, and am considering putting in a rock garden. I have no experience with this, but have a bunch of questions:
1. Would it be foolish for me to consider this a diy project? I want to make sure the garden is stable from an engineering point of view given the steep slope.
2. Do you have suggestions for kinds of rock and places to source rock inexpensively?
3. Do you have thoughts on perennial, alpine plans for the garden? I'd love for some plants to be native to the area (Pittsburgh, PA), so thoughts on that would be welcome too.

Thanks.
Supriya.