I'd tear out that green thing that is up against the corner of your house. Can't quite tell what it is, but it's growing out over towards the window to avoid competing with the other green shrub at the corner of your house. Don't need two things there, so if you can salvage it, move the shrub, or just edit it out. That will give you some breathing space. Then you can create a shrub border to block the view, or a low scalloped fence mixed with tall plants, whatever. But first clear out that corner so you have a clean slate. Seems like those plants are too close to the house anyway. Maybe look at some landscaping books to find some idea photos for what looks good as a fence border or a shrub border. There are lots of options, but it takes some finagling. I have a lot of landscaping books with pictures, photos, plants and instructions, so I'm sure you can find what you need. But anyway, my two cents is to just clear out that corner, those plants don't seem to fit there anyway, its a placement issue.

My inclination would be to define the property edge with a row, or double row of street trees. There is nothing that qualifies as an eyesore needing screening and no projected use of the side yard requires privacy. So why hide a nice view? I'd invite people passing by to look into and admire your yard. Street trees (limbed up so that the view is maintained, of course!) add order and stateliness, mark the property limits, generally dress it up and display your affection for it. How you handled the ground space below the trees would depend on their spacing and shade pattern. It could be grass, groundcover (something easy) or mulch. Because the location is some distance from the house and because you have time, if you wanted, you could use trees that are more unusual, Maclura pomifera for instance. They should look nice, but don't need to reek of high formality unless that's what you want. Where you need privacy for the back yard you could use sizable shrubs placed somewhere near the fence as a hedge or in carefully placed groupings. The end of the house needs a couple of trees to shield some of the blank wall space. They could be shade or flowering trees. They don't need to be jammed up on the house but could be spaced a distance away proportionate to their ultimate size. A few shrubs to fit with the lower level blank space could be worked into the scheme.

Oh my goodness, Texas-Weed, it's a full-time job correcting all your mistakes. Cutting zoysia once a week is NOT infrequent mowing that will lead to excessive thatch. My zoysia has never been cut more often than once a week, and it's never had a thatch problem. But don't rely on my anecdote. Let's look at what Alabama A&M and Auburn have to say about cutting frequency and height. But first before we go to Auburn and Alabama, let's remember from the previous posts in this thread that 2 University of Arkansas professors and 3 University of Florida professors allow for a maximum zoysia cutting height of 2.5 inches, which is significantly higher than your maximum of 1.5 inches, Texas-Weed. Now onto Auburn University's and the University of Alabama A&M's advice for mowing heights and mowing frequencies of various Zoysia grasses. The first thing shown on each line below is the name of the Zoysia species or of the specific cultivar/variety within the species. The second thing shown is the Minimum Mowing Height in inches for that grass. The third thing shown is the Optimum Mowing Height in inches. The fourth thing is the Maximum Mowing Height in inches. The fifth and last thing shown is the Mowing Frequency in days (it's shown in parentheses). Zoysia japonica, 2 , 2 , 3 , (every 7-10 days) Meyer Zoysia, 1 , 1.5 , 2 , (every 10-14 days) Belair Zoysia, 1 , 1.5 , 2 , (every 7-10 days) El Toro Zoysia, 1 , 1.5 , 2 , (every 7-10 days) The above are all cultivars within the Zoysia japonica species (Palisades is also within this japonica species). This species tends to have wider blades and lower shoot density than the other two main zoysia species, which are Zoysia matrella and Zoysia tenuifolia. The tenuifolia species is not common in the U.S. A little bit of it is used as ground cover in parts of Southern California. Alabama A&M and Auburn also list mowing heights and frequencies for some cultivars in the Zoysia matrella species. These thinner bladed grasses have a maximum mowing height of 1 inch, tend to have denser shoot density than the cultivars within japonica, and tend not to have the cold hardiness of the japonica's, so they're not found around here in the northern half of the Transition Zone. Yes, that document is "Under Review," (because universities like to catch mistakes, Texas-Weed), but I saw similar mowing frequency numbers for zoysia printed on the web somewhere else a couple months ago--I don't recall where right now. By the way, I read in a couple textbooks I got from Amazon that a little thatch is helpful to grass. It is *excessive* thatch that is not.

Thank you for that tip akamainegrower. I will definitely not plant those trees if they won't do well in Massachusetts. Definitely wouldn't want to plant something just to have to get rid of it because it didn't make it through the harsh winter. akamainegrower and ken_adrian, I'm not sure what you mean by no tree stops growing when it reaches its mature height. If that were true we would have trees thousands of miles tall. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you? Sorry LOL tornado3800, thank you for the suggestions. Unfortunately I don't like the look of the paperbark maple, and we don't want a tree with pink flowers, which the redbud has. :/ ken_adrian, thank you for the "congrats" :) i didn't even realize i said it that much LOL davidrt28, it does actually get pretty hot over here in Massachusetts in the summer time, with temps often up in the 80s but "feels like" temp in the 90s, due to the super high humidity. Yesterday I didn't even want to go outside because the air was so thick and humid, it was difficult to breathe. Although, I would much rather have this weather than the bitter cold temps of winter with its cloudy, dreary skies. The lacebark elm would probably get too tall for us, but thank you for the suggestion. :) We have solar panels on the roof we don't want to block the sun from shining on them. We still are not sure what we want to plant in the corner and middle of the back fence, but we think we found a tree to plant in a row along the side fence... the Crimson Pointe. What are your thoughts on that? I looked it up, and it grows in our zone, meets our criteria for "mature height", and my fiance likes it a lot, even though it flowers (finally one we both like). We would plant several in a row for privacy on the side from the two-story neighboring house. Does anyone know what the growth rate is like for a Crimson Pointe? I attached a picture of a row of them I found online. Thanks so much for all the tips and suggestions everybody :)