Make yourself a list of what you want most from your front yard landscape -beauty, ease of care, hardiness, screening your property, etc. Then start choosing designs according to your needs. This will probably take a good week or two of surfing websites, checking out zones, soil requirements, pictures, and a sketchpad and pencil by the mousepad. ;p Then rewview your landscaper's list and see what fits and what doesn't. I suggest getting your hands on a list of 'native' plants to NY state so you'll know they'll survive the seasons, provide food for native wildlife (minus deer, apparently) and blend in with your surroundings. Butterflies are always a joy to attract. Found you a jumping off point: www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/rdsduse/ny.htm The Finger Lakes Native Plant Society of Ithaca may also have something to offer -www.fingerlakesnativeplantsociety.org/ The idea is to have a front yard that is harmonious looking from the road AND from your front door now and 10 years from now, not a scattering of 'planted this here and that there'. This is usually accomplished by 30% trees (hardwood and evergreen), 30% shrubs, 30% perennials or annuals, and 10% inspiration (a sundial, a fountain, big rocks, etc). I like your rock idea too. The trees are the anchor. Shrubs act as a connection between those tall trunks and the ground, and the plants provide close to the ground interest. Colour can come from all 3, and since we have 4 seasons try to choose plants that provide a show of interest year round (spring flower, autumn colour, winter berries, etc). Your placement of flora should be balanced and enhance the look of your front facade, not hide it or make it difficult to navigate your way from the driveway to your front door. It should also 'curve around teh house' and blend with anything you put backyard. That's a cheerful yellow colour you have on your house, so choose some perennials to match and compliment it. (White, yellow, pink, violets, soft blues) And just because you'll plant trees that will make some shade doesn't mean you can't have some awesome shade plants around them too! I love ferns, lungwort, trillium, bleeding hearts, bugbane, jack-in-the-pulpit and all sorts of other shade lovers. Put your hardscape in first (rocks, walls, brick, paths, fences etc) and then trees. Then shrubs. Watch the shade and sun and water patterns, then add your perennials. Mulch cuts down on water needs, and automatic drip hoses underneath the mulch make watering a snap, no sprinklers required.

I second the congratulations and good wishes. I would agree with Coorscat; wait for a year or at least until fall and see what is already there as far as plants go and where the sun is or isn't as the year goes by. Of course, if by a "new house" you mean a newly built one, then there is probably little to be found naturally growing in the construction area, and you may and should do what you like! And fencing the perimeter is a priority for you and your dogs - I would suggest you make a small enclosure where the dogs can make all the mess they want, if you have to be away for a day, so they won't destroy plantings - these dogs may be well-behaved in the garden, but I imagine you will have more over the years, including rambunctious and destructive puppies! Putting in the hardscape can be done, and probably should be done, before you begin to do a lot of planting, but again, waiting to see just where the sun will be strongest in the heat of the summer will let you place arbors, gazebos or pergolas where they will be the most enjoyable, and let you make paths that won't aim you right into the afternoon sun come the middle of July, and let you build decks, terraces and patios at leisure, without disturbing plants! If you want to have beds around the house, then doing that should allow you to indulge your green thumbs, without deciding a couple of years down the road that you REALLY wish you had put this there, or that in the other place. Of course, if there are things you REALLY can't stand, then by all means, take it/them OUT!!! You can be drawing, and re-drawing, and re-re-drawing plans for what should go where, planning for water and lighting placement, and amending the soil while you wait. Start now by collecting photos (as Coorscat suggests), looking in books for designs you like, and generally getting a feel for what will suit both you and your property - formal, semi-formal, cottage, etc.. Get your soil tested, so you know whether you can grow acid lovers or not. Drive around the area, see what plants and what families seem to do well in your area, and which ones you don't see at all. Talk to the county extension office, and get a list of their recommended plantings - see which ones appeal to you and your spouse. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly your garden does come together if you exercise patience and wait until the fall. If you want a vegetable garden, then you should wait see where the sun will be the most constant - most veggies need all day sun to do well, with some exceptions. If you do want your veggie garden NOW, then by putting it in the middle of the lawn, whether temporarily or permanently, you will probably have enough sun to make a beginning.

Some plants I would recommend for a hot interior southern California garden that can look pretty good year round and give lots of color from both flowers and foliage would include some of the following. Anigozanthus flavidus cultivars such as Harmony- this looks great year round. Some brilliantly colorful long blooming perennials that I would recommend would include any of the various colors of Arctotis cultivars, Oenothera berlandierii, Lobelia laxiflora, Centaurea gymnocarpa, Limonium perezii. Accent shrubby palms to consider might include two silvery foliaged palms such as Chamaerops humilis cerifera or Brahea armata, or for shaded areas species with tropical green foliage and colorful berries such as Chamaedorea radicalis and C. microspadix Salvia clevelandii-a must have native for the fragrance of the foliage and interesting summer blue flowers. Coleonema 'Sunset Gold'-great foliage color, fragrance, and lots of color contrast when used with darker foliaged companions. Teucrium cussonii is a great low ground cover with long bloom season Convolvulus mauritanicus is another very long blooming ground cover with gorgeous blue flowers Lavandula species such as L. angustifolia, L. intermedia, L. stoechas, all work well when massed, and have long bloom periods and low water requirements Erysimmon linifolium 'Bowles Mauve'- has a very long bloom season and makes a nice complement to the Lavenders Cistus species-in general I don't much care for the Pepto-Bismol pink color, often too large size, and relatively short bloom season of most species and cultivars, this genus just seems very boring to me, especially when out of bloom and drought stressed. Eriogonum grande rubescens-a stunning native with very vivid red flowers over long season with just occasional summer water Mimulus aurantiacus-another semi-shrubby perennial which will stay in orange bloom nearly half the year with some supplemental irrigation Grasses such as Eleymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince' for great vertical presence and soft blue foliage, or Muhlenbergia dumosa, M. pubescens, M. capillaris, Carex divulsa for the deep green foliage color and cast iron hardiness to sun or shade Alstroemeria cultivars such as A. aurantiacum, A. 'Third Harmonic' and A. 'Sussex Gold' for nearly year round flowering bulbs such as Scilla peruviana, Bulbinella robusta, Amaryllis belladonna, Tuhlbagia violacea, Kniphofia thomsonii and K. uvaria, Watsonia borbonica, Succulents such as Beschorneria yuccoides, Bulbine frutescens, Agave celsii, Agave bracteosa, Agave 'Sharkskin', Aloe striata, Aloe camperii, Aloe castanea, A. vanbalenii, Dyckia brevifolia, Graptopetalum paraguayense, Graptoveria 'Fred Ives', Cotyledon orbiculata, Senecio serpens and S. mandraliscae, All of these are fairly drought tolerant plants that have either a long season of interest, or look great year round, and will handle the heat of your local. Repeating plants in...

As currently planted, your shrubs are all far too close to the building and poorly placed so that they are growing in front of windows and into the front walkway. The blob pruning is also unattractive. In the long run you will want to remove the current foundation plantings because nothing is salvageable between the placement too close to the building and the poor pruning. Make the foundation beds deeper front to back and when replacing plantings, choose plants that will stay within a reasonable size for the space so that this dreadful style of pruning isn’t needed to keep them in check. Limb up the tree so it doesn’t hang in front of the window and replace the front walk with one at least 4’-5’ wide along with a generous landing at the base of the front steps. Remove all the plantings crowding the front steps as part of the removal of shrubs or even right now, and if you want seasonally planted front entry pots, put them on the ground on either side of the steps, not as one more thing crowding a small entry. Right now the front entry looks barricaded. Start a folder of photos of plants and gardens you like that are appropriate to your home and your area, whether they are from Houzz or the designer referred to by Cleo07 or photos taken in your area in well landscaped yards or local home and garden magazines. Whether this is a DIY or something you hire a designer for this, you need to have ideas of what you find appealing. Do you use your yard or would you like to, and so do you want some private space in the areas photographed? Or is this just ”curb appeal” that you want? How much maintenance work are you willing to do or to pay for? Different gardens and styles have different maintenance requirements, and what you choose needs to fit your lifestyle or it will look bad regardless of the design.