Before you take a chainsaw to everything, take a deep breath, relax, and figure out exactly what you have there. "Some evergreen hedges and a 10 ft. evergreen tree" is pretty vague, you may actually have something there worth keeping that's a mature specimen. They may just need some remedial pruning to be turned into assets. Spireas can be cut back quite hard and allowed to grow in a more natural form if you want to keep them. Spend some time on this forum doing searches and reading old threads on foundation plantings and front yard plantings to learn what things you should be thinking about before you make any changes. Most landscape elements are chosen because they serve a purpose, even if the purpose is to provide some purple, but the color is not usually the first consideration. Read the thread on bad design that was started a couple of days ago to get a feel for what you need to think about. You may rip something out only to find out that it had provided privacy or screened a bad view or gave you some shade where you needed it, or blocked the wind in winter. I would live in the house for a year at least to observe how the existing landscape works. Take pictures of the house from various angles, and some looking out from the house as well, and study them to see if a change you're thinking about will enhance the appearance of the house or improve your view or enjoyment of the property. Are the front walks adequate? Five feet wide is desirable, four feet minimum. Do you need better lighting for safety and security? Will you use the front yard for anything, or is it just for looking at as you approach the house? Do you want to garden out there, or just some plantings to enhance the appearance of the house. Does the house have anything about it that you want to hide or disguise?

I was able to get a lirope or mondo grass that does not exceed 3 inches in height. Cannot tell you a name or source as it was at Loew's at the very end of the season on a clearance rack. It stayed evergreen here in Zone 7. Two other worthwhile plants are sweet woodruff (Gallium odoratum), which is not evergreen and Asarum europeaum, which, though evergreen, can get tattered looking. None are tolerant of foot traffic. Ajuga is evergreen, quick and easy, and there are more dwarf sorts. Easily pulled up, if unwanted. Nobody could ever get me to plant periwinkle, because of my experience here with it.

In general, landscape design looks at the clients' needs and wishes for the property as a whole and the creates a design that then meets as many of those as possible in the most pleasing way. Other than the sheds and the veggie garden, how do you want to use the yard? To my mind, that needs to be answered before any real plans are made. Is privacy (fence) more important than the veggies? Does it need to be there year round, or is privacy only really important in the summer when you will be outside more? Do you want a large open space for games or running around in the center? How much shade is there over the course of the day along the chain link or in other spots of the yard such as along the deck? Do you want a "pretty" yard or a kid-friendly yard or is the growing of food more of a priority or are they all of equal priority? Where will you be most likely to walk or drive and so will need to be left open? Where is water available, and would you be able to add hose bibs in other spots as needed? Do you want afternoon shade for the deck or other areas, and would you be more likely to plant a tree, or add a structure such as an arbor or shade sail? What other wishes do you have for the yard? As others have said, the more sun, the more successful the veggie and fruit beds will be, so too close to the sheds and the nearby solid fence which will provide shade should be avoided. You also will want to change your grouping/way of thinking about the plants from culinary to cultivation. Melons, like all your veggies, are annual plants, while most other "fruits" you have listed are perennials. The annuals and perennials each should have a planting area so that when clearing out and replanting annuals each year you aren't disturbing the perennial plants. The strawberries will need renewing every few years while each of the the shrubs and vines, which are fairly permanent, have different maintenance needs, and so should be planted in separate areas. If you grow herbs, some are annuals and some perennials. Consider overall goals and how else you will use your yard to help determine the best spot for the veggie beds. For instance, if you want the center of the yard left open, then think about putting your food plants along the chain link instead of a fence since it looks like it gets good sun. Or is the solid fence important enough the you should stockpile your soil for now or make temporary beds and then when the fence has been added, create the beds and plant food crops? Could you use the berry bushes and kiwi vines for your privacy instead of a solid fence? They are deciduous, so wouldn't be great for winter privacy. You would need to leave room between the shrubs and the chain link for accessing the vines. Fruit plants don't need as close access as herbs or veggies since fruit tends to be picked in chunks, while veggies tend to get harvested for particular meals, so think about putting the veggies and herbs closer to the house where there is easy access from the kitchen. Would you want veggies as a border around the deck, or does that either not fit the plants' needs or your wishes? So create a list of uses and priorities for the yard as a whole (swimming pool? play structure? bocce court? badminton net? trash can storage? etc, etc), prioritize them, and then start thinking about placement. You have already made one big decision, the shed size and placement, and so before making others, I would stop, step back and look at the yard overall. Take some time over the next growing season to look at sun and shade patterns (if you map sun as it changes from the vernal equinox until the summer solstice, you will have a good grasp on how it will look but in reverse for the rest of the growing season) as well as wind before planting anything permanent if successful cultivation of food crops is a priority. Once you have a good handle on growing conditions and your overall goals for the yard, then you will have a better idea of where is the ideal placement for each of the various uses you have for your yard.

@doc5md We've been in since May, so plenty of time for second guessing ourselves! A few thoughts: Regrets: Should have insulated with rock wool between the 1st and 2nd floors and all the bedroom interior walls. Little boys are loud lol. Should have put a window in the shower. Upstairs could have been laid out better - space up there for 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and an office. The "UNFINISHED" area upstairs was supposed be an unfinished storage/mechanical room. It ended up finished and is now my office. It works fine, but we could have made better use of the space. Wish we'd put the upstairs air handler in the attic so the return could have a run of flex duct to cut down the noise. Its loud. Wish we'd put the bonus/play room in the basement. We've still got about 700sq ft in the basement we can finish later. And we can put a closet in the bonus room to make it a bedroom. But I value efficiency more than excess, so it bothers me. Not quite regrets, but might do different next time: Might have been better to have the laundry where the main floor half bath is. The thought was that my muddy kids could come in the mudroom and throw their filthy clothes in the laundry sink and go on. That has worked, but they won't always be so sloppy. A bathroom by the mudroom and carport door (most used exit) would have been nice. In the living room instead of 3 windows and a door we did a 12ft sliding patio door out to the screened porch. Its nice, especially in spring and fall, but it limited space for living room furniture having to maintain a clear path to walk.