I'm not sure if I really want a Rain Garden, but as rexanne said, if all else fails -- I need a plan of something I can do/try. I choose to avoid fighting with the city early on, and the city really did help me out a lot in geting my larger drainage issues solved with several other parties that probably would not have helped me otherwise. They gave me power when I would have had little to none otherwise, other than paying a lawyer and hoping to recoup the costs later in a settlement. The city still has leverage with builders in other ways (even beyond permits) in that the final handover of all the builder development owned/maintained drains, sewers ... has to be approved by the city before handover occurs. So the builder pays maintenance on all stuff till its good enough for the city to take over and becomes property of the utilities dept. But if the city tells me to live with it ... then all I can do is whine and take it to a political level and whine to city council, etc. So far, they have been pretty good and actually wanted the best for me. I cooperated on this project and made is easy on them, as they could have dealt with 5 difference property owners instead ... so dealing with just me was easier. Besides a rain garden, I can only envision putting in a drain to the underground sewer (costly, but very effective) or some kind of all-season, low volume pump (like a sump or pond pump) ... but would be potentially problematic and would require electric runs throught the yard and into the wet zone ... not exactly appealing either. This is all assuming I can get them to pay for this without spending an arm and leg myself.

Since you are a new gardener, here are some suggestions about your plants choices---many that I wanted or tried myself in SE Michigan. If you are able to work around their drawbacks-go for it. Zoysia grass--tried it--it is a southern grass--IF you can get it to spread & grow (mine didn't) it is very late to green up and goes brown very early in the fall. Redbud, even though a native tree, is short lived in MI about 15 years. Crepe murtle tree-not in MIchigan!! I can't remember if it is golden chain, or golden rain that is a zone 6--check it out and also check out which one likes moist soil-can you provide water all the time??? Fruit trees sound great, just get on a spray schedule, or expect buggy fruit. I have a 3 peaches (also a 15 yr tree in MI) that needs spray for peach leaf curl in winter 2x, European scale now & later, and other bugs in the season (check out the 'fruits & berries forum). I tried bagging my fruit with zip lock bags last summer, a real chore, but at-least I got some delicious fruit. I haven't seem the yellow lilac, but the shrubs forum say they are a pale yellow/white. So don't be disappointed if the blooms are not what the catalog show. (5 yr wait for blossoms) My trumpet did well for 5 years--then the suckers started everywhere in the lawn--up to 15 feet away. Just know what you are dealing with. Sedum and hen & chicks need full sun. Roses--I usually use a full spectrum ortho system--and you must mound up soil in the fall or the winter kill with be high. (I didn't do that last fall to my 2' tall knock out rose and the winter kill is 6" from the soil. At least the plant did not die totally. Join a local garden club, read the books from the library, and read more of the forums to understand the plants requirements in your area. Also watch out for winter winds, they can lower your plant choices by a full zone. Gardening is a constant learning hobby--and then when you think you know what you are doing--mother nature step in with a surprise or new bug. Landscaping ideas change, plants grow and die--just enjoy it. I just saw a stepping stone that said 'this yard on loan from God" and "I tried-it died."

I think it's kind of rude to comment just to tell me what I did wrong by asking for help (with plenty of detail) and using pictures that were readily available to me. If you are giving advice, which is what I asked for, these pictures are good enough. It doesn't matter on what site, on what forum- there is always one person who just HAS to pipe up to be unhelpful and critique your request instead of answering your questions. I was asking for advice on my own fledgeling plan- not asking for free design from someone. Next time if you don't have anything helpful to say, and if you can't give your thoughts nicely, just don't say anything. I'm sure it's satisfying to try to discourage new gardeners by giving your two cents about their photos, their ideas, and whatever else without giving your opinions on the questions actually posed. Going on the attack like that with the third degree, "You indicate you are new at creating a landscape, and frustrated by attempting the process of planning it. Then you go on to say how you intend to resolve it. Do you care if those ideas are good? Or you just want help in how to implement them? You might consider advice on what you ought to do instead of what you want to do." I'm not a child and am fully capable of planning and doing it on my own, thank you, I'm just here to see if a KIND person might give a few suggestions or point out something they've seen that looked nice on a similar house. Also, there is nothing wrong with being honest about what's in the cards for you (budget, time, and overall investment wise) than just wasting everyone's time. I didn't want a thread with 20 responses about how I need to limb up, thin, or remove trees in my yard. I want a thread about how to plant a line of perennials in front of my house that will look nice together. I think in my essay of a post I made that fairly clear.

It is YOUR garden and YOUR tree so you can do what you like with it. It is maybe not the best selection for that location but it is well established, appears quite healthy and has significant value. Personally, I would try to work with it as the removal of it and the other plants you noted would leave a rather bare front yard that would need substantial time to fill in and look decent. I am often called in to consult with homeowners who have inherited an existing garden they are unsure about and I tend to encourage them to leave existing plants in place provided they are 1) healthy and disease- and insect-free or not otherwise problematic (invasive, drop copious litter, etc.); 2) not obstructing walkways or driveways; or 3) not overly crowding their neighbors and not readily prunable. It doesn't necessarily make for a "perfect" garden design but typically offers a workable program that maintains an established landscape to the best of our/thier ability and reduces the effort, time and significant cost of establishing a new one. But it is always your choice :-) From the street view, the garden looks good - not great but good - and good beginning from which to just do some tweaking of the smaller plants and groundcovers. I personally would be inclined to leave the larger trees and shrubs in place...........and maybe hire a skilled ISA pruner to do some modifications to provide more definition and training/guiding of the growth of the larger choices.