Of course one does also need to consider the spatial functions when designing a garden, but it is not necessarily wrong to design around what plants you want as well. I was just reading the notes of a garden lecture that the famous Brazilian landscape architect, Roberto Burle Marx, gave when he was doing a lecture tour back in 1982 both here in California and England, and he stated that he ALWAYS starts any new design by thinking about the plants he wants to use, FIRST! If that is good enough for one of the most revered modern designers in the world, it also works for me. It does need to be said that this requires some cautions; it helps if one is wanting to use plants that can actually work in your climate, and that will be able to combine together well. These intended plants will need to be vetted against your existing conditions, your intended level of maintenance, amount of water and fertilizing you intend to provide and/or make sense in your situation. As you can see, there is a lot more to designing around plants first than simply coming up with a list that pleases you. Right off the bat, it is more apparent that you will probably have some strong winds in your location, and using things like a Japanese Maple which tends to get burnt leaf edges in hot and/or drying winds would probably only work well up against the house where it is more protected. The distant views looking out over the right side neighbor's fence might also be something you want to keep? If so, planting something that only gets about 5 feet taller than the fence, and kept closer in to the midpoint of the fence would help preserve a view of the distant mountains while still blocking the sight line of the building visible in the distance, but then again, maybe keeping distant views of the surrounding mountains is not important to you from the ground level, but more privacy is. You look to have good opportunities to plant climbing roses against the fences/walls at the north side in particular, where they would get the most sun. Or it could also be an opportunity for other flowering vines that are more evergreen in your intended color range, there are pink/white tinged Bougainvilleas such as 'Blushing Thai' or pink vines such as Pandorea jasminoides 'Rosea', or a deep purple winter blooming vine such as Hardenbergia violacea. Other even longer blooming vines that are evergreen might include a Passiflora 'Lavender Lady', or the semi-shrubby scandent Plumbago auriculata 'Royal Cape/Imperial Blue', which can be pruned to stay flat against a wall. I also quite like the densely foliaged Grewia occidentalis, Lavender Star Flower shrub, especially when grown flat against a wall, and blooms nearly year round. Climbing roses that are quite easy in southern California would include Altissimo(deep single red), Iceberg(white), Mermaid(yellow) and the already mentioned Joseph's Coat(a vivid red-orange), but there are many more, and it mostly depends on whether you want one massive bloom spike or repeat blooms throughout the year. Combining Mediterranean flowering shrubs such as the various Rosemaries(upright or spreading), along with various Lavenders, perhaps some similar lower growing plants like Teucriums, Convolvulus mauritanicus, Armeria, etc could be a good choice for a lower water using part of the garden with more sun. Other shrubs that might work well in this mix could include fragrant foliage of Coleonema pulchrum 'Sunset Gold', Erysimmon 'Bowles Mauve', Helleborus argutifolius. If you like the idea of evergreen iris as an accent, I would highly recommend the less commonly seen iris relative from Brazil, called the Walking Iris, Neomarica caerulea, which blooms for about 6 weeks in mid summer with brilliantly blue flowers on top of 4 to 5 foot tall stems, and is a very dramatic accent foliage plant even when not in bloom. Other Iris members that have great foliage as well as blooms might include Iris pallida 'Argentea Variegata', along with other classic Bearded Iris cultivars. It might look very nice nestled within a lower mass of silvery foliage of a Lavender angustifolia 'Hidcote', or one of the Helichrysum petiolare 'Limelight'. Some grassy leaved plants in groupings, such as Leymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince'(tall and pale blue),or dwarfer Dianella revoluta 'Baby Bliss' or the deep greens of Zephranthes candida can also liven up a garden. Other taller growing sculptural grassy plants might include some of the Restios such as Chondropetalum tectorum or Elegia canpensis, both of which give wonderful movement in the wind and look good combined with flowering herbaceous things. If you wanted a few very fast growing shrubs that can also act as small trees in the garden, with long bloom seasons, I might suggest Psoralea pinnata or Lavatera thuringeaca 'Barnsley'. Some of the larger growing, virtually everblooming Salvia species such as Salvia leucantha 'Santa Barbara', S. 'Waverly', S. 'Indigo Spires' or S. involucrata are all very long blooming in the garden. As you can see, there are a million ways you can go with planting choices in your garden, these are just a few things that come to mind if you want things that grow well/easily in your area, have a long season of interest, and might combine to give a blues/purples/pinks range of colors over a long season, with accents of soft blue and silvery foliage. If you like the idea of interesting color/texture ground covers that continue the lower water use theme, you might also look into the wonderful silvery low growing Dichondra argentea, Dymondia margaratae, or Ophiopogon japonicus. One of the low growing Iceplants, such as the silvery foliaged Oscularia deltoides, or the Hens and Chicks, Echeveria elegans or Echeveria imbricata also make good massed ground cover plantings.

Thanks again everyone! Purpleinopp- The one leaf that was yellowing has gotten significantly worse and even browned in several spots. I'm not too sure what to look for when checking for spider mites, but I did see a couple of tiny, raised brown flecks that came off when I wiped the leaf with an alcohol swab. I also wiped the main stem of the plant and the other leaves, too. If it looks like it may be spider mites to you just from that picture, I'm going to assume that's what it is. I looked at several other plants that are being kept with this one, and they seem to be affected too. None have lost any leaves, however. If that's the case, I've got looots of leaves to wipe down! Summersunshine- I actually purchased these plants through a seller on amazon. It was listed as a "random assortment of houseplants". I received a list of potential plants that I would be getting, but after googling each of them, none of them were even close to being accurate, and I've clearly identified plants I received that weren't even on the list at all. At this point, I'm wondering if somehow the packaging forced this plant to grow all bent and it really is not supposed to be like that at all?

To pam_chesbay: I probably should have been more clear in my original post. I realize now that it made me sound like an angry, unreasonable person. I actually live in a house in which my backyard butts up against a community of townhomes. If you hop the fence in my backyard, you are on the property of these townhomes. There is a length of ground where the pine trees are growing (this is what was left of a former forest area), then the driveway/road of the townhomes, and then the actual homes. So, the area behind my home is not my neighbor's yard. It is the property of the townhomes and that is where I was throwing the sticks when the person yelled at me and I yelled back. The neighbors to the sides of me (my real neighbors) also have pine trees that are hanging over my property, but I don't make a big deal of it to them. There is no way they would cut down their trees and even if they agreed, it would cost a fortune that none of us would be willing to spend (there are lots of trees and they loom hundreds of feet in the air). Anyway, I get along great with my neighbors. I have actually solved the problem by having a screened porch built. Now the tree debris stays off of my patio, I don't have to sweep, and everyone is happy. Thanks for your supportive post!

All trees drop their leaves - the only difference is when, and whether it's all at one time. I have a huge wisteria which drops an enormous quantity of leaves onto a paved area in autumn. I HATE sweeping. So the leaves are left until they have all fallen and then get cleaned up in one foul sweep and put onto the garden. Wouldn't suit a lot of people (like my friend who regularly washes her front fence) but gardening is such a personal thing. From the sound of things, you are only going to have one tree. Make it a tree that you are going to be happy to have and happy to live with. Forget the evergreen ash. How about taking a walk through your botanical gardens and similar places and looking for "your" tree. Council parks and streetscapes, as well as leafy suburbs will also provide examples. If staff or owners don't know what the tree is, ask permission to obtain a piece and take to a nursery for identification.