I have dial up and I didn't have any trouble with the pics. I loved the woodland setting of your house. If it were me, I'd fill up the area in front of the chimney with a woodland type island. A small group of trees as ilima said. I don't know all the southern ornamentals, but dogwood, serviceberry, redbud, fringetree, silverbell, are all small trees that are easy care. Even some magnolias I guess. A friend of mine recommended sweet bay magnolia as an easy care small tree. Some shrubs to consider are witch hazel and spicebush, winterberry holly, perhaps elderberry. These are all natives, and personally I think a native grouping is your best bet for low maintenance. I've grown all of these plants and you can basically forget them once planted if you place them properly to start. Of course all the rhododendrons and azaleas are gorgeous options too. I'd throw in a dwarf hemlock because I just personally love them. But anyway, I'd opt for a natural arrangement with my selection of trees and then some shrubs and then groundcover under that, with bark mulch around it all. Then basically that whole area would become "maintenance free" as far as mowing. You will have to watch the weeds and do some pruning now and again. As far as how to arrange it all, I would have a hard time describing it. If it were me I'd get the combination of textures and foliages I liked and then move them around a bit until I came up with something that looked nice. So then instead of having this big blank space at the corner of your house you'd have a lovely woodland garden that blended your home with the surroundings and took care of itself. Plus would attract lovely songbirds to serenade you! I am not couching this in "design" terms such as line of sight, etc., more in terms of the "look" or style I would go for. Of course you may not like this and your style might be more formal. But to me, a native small tree/shrub/groundcover option looks great and is low maintenance. Oh yeah, and I'd try and find a small maple, I don't know the japanese maples that survive in your climate. If the area is still shady (don't know how it looks without the trees you dropped) then I'd try and find a mountain/striped/goosefoot maple 'cause I just love the bark. Acer pensylvanicum or something like that I think. I've seen them in the mountains of NC, but again, I'm not familiar with the flora in GA.

You can plant right next to the house and semi-espalier it. That is what I have done on the south side of my house with a key lime....this provides it with some extra protection and most years, looks cool and gives me more golf ball sized yellow gems than I know what to do with. This year,m because of the cold, my tree is defoliated with some small limb kill...but very much alive and will be fully leafed out by June. This is a good way to plant a citrus "north" of its zone and have it not only survive, but thrive, most years.

I am thinking Im going to go somewhat symmetrical for ease of a newbie like myself. The only two I might not have match are the outer corners because they have drastically different sun light (left corner-full sun, right corner-partial/full shade). Unless I can find a variety that can take full sun and full shade. I did a little a quick mockup with colors to represent varieties. I looked up the varieties you mentioned gardengal as well as started looking at the site you mentioned. My favorites are the Pieris white Cascade but I worry that it is posionous (small kids) and the Osmanthus Burkwoodii. I do also love the gracefulness of the Loncicera Lemon Beauty and my neighbor has one I often admire BUT I worry it tends to lean more Japanese-PNW garden where I would really love more of an English garden with PNW suitable plants. I do like the Mahonias but I think it would work better in my back garden where I plan to have Hostas and ferns and think it would mix in quite nicely there. A came across Viburnum Tinus which I like as well. And as mentioned I think the Osmanthus Burkwoodii would be quite beautiful and I like it is fragranced. would these be better than a Mexican orange blossom or rhodi? Would they mix well with hydrangeas? sorry for my incredibly long post.

Thank you, your insight and vision has helped me tremendously. I was so stuck. Not being a fan of massive lawn, the concrete slab in front really helped me to see that it will be ok removing the lawn :)