The shrub/hedge is a ficus. The trees on the side came with the house. I am not sure what it is but blooms pink large flower. I agree, the fence is nice. The hedge is to cut out noise and to create more privacy in the back there is an apartment sitting up on a hill behind the house that looks into the yard. A 9 foot hedge would give us the privacy. We thought about trees inside the yard but that would take away space from an already small yard. The front flat yard is small. I am attaching the size. Flat land on left is approx 24' wide x 15' and right side is 16' by 15'. The left is actually larger. The lop is a aprox 30 degree 5'9" I am definitely going to hit Pasadena area. My neighborhood is mixed with landscape styles. It's a neighborhood that is changing. The new kids are doing the complete drought thing and some mixing covers, and grass with drought. The older homes have low fences/gates around the front yard (predominantly to keep the homeless from sleeping on their yards) We were one of the first to take off our front door security gate, and now, others are following. So it is hard to gauge the neighborhoods theme. I would say, 10% of the houses are fully drought resistant(new kids), 75 % grass and tree (50% with gates) and the rest of the folks have dead grass (could be considered drought tolerant (GRIN) or total hard-scape. I have to admit, I dig some of doug's designs. I am not a fan of the palm trees but that design is appealing

Consider doing what Annette Holbrook suggested but tighter river rock and a border paver piece or preserved wood. I had to do that and it worked very well. In fact I used gravel but very large gravel. First dig down six or so inches and put in your barire, wood or brick paver etc. and then add couple inches of road crush, wet and tamp to harden. Then top with heavy medium large river rock. If the rock is large it won’t move onto the grass and your barrier will stop the grass from growing over it and the rock becoming messy. This is about a 500.00 fix at the most!

@Yardvaark, yes, the grill will stay. I know it is unusual to do the cooking/dining in the front yard. If we were at any of our old houses, we wouldn't even entertain the idea of doing this in the front yard, but we are in the country on 10+ acres. The road shown on the site plan is a 12 ft wide road with 2-way traffic. The only person that lives below me is my uncle. The area between the porch & driveway is right off the kitchen/dining room, so it is convenient. What is shown on the site plan in the rear yard is a screened-in porch. We do have a patio under the porch, but is at the basement level. To grill back there, would require hauling food down the interior steps and through the unfinished basement. We did this when we lived in the suburbs and it was less than ideal even after we finished that basement. I agree having a master plan would be ideal. I tried doing a master plan and got overwhelmed. (See my response to Fori) I do have a plan in terms of "use" just not landscaping. I thought if I focused on this front area, it would inspire the rest of the design. As for the proposed uses: Back yard: we ultimately want to build a fireplace near the patio for roasting marshmallows and family time. North Side yard: This will be future (5-6 years out) parking for when the kids start driving. We are grading that area now, so we can drive to the back yard if needed. We plan to reseed with grass for now, but will have raised planting beds along the house to protect the house if someone doesn't stop in time. :) South Side yard: Not much to do here. We have 3 heat pumps that we thought about enclosing with a fench/lattice, but the only one who sees it is the propane man. We do need to build our outdoor shower at the end. Front yard: Other than wanting a flower & herb garden between the drive & porch, I don't know what to do. I'm open to ideas if you have any. To extend the thinking a little more, right now, you don't have a solid vision of what you're trying to create. It's a fact that "gardens," at times, can become a bit (or a lot!) messy. While landscaping on the other hand, tries to be always tidy. You've got that right! I don't have a solid vision! LOL! As for the garden, I was thinking more flowers with either herbs integrated into the flower beds, or a separate area with herbs. I wasn't thinking "garden" as in corn, potatoes, beans. I thought herbs were on the "neater" side of gardening and could be incorporated into landscaping easily, no? My previous neighbors had herbs growing in the foundation beds out in the suburbs and it looked lovely. Maybe they spent a lot more time than I thought tending to them?? I can't see that a fence here would be necessary or desirable. Visually, it would represent somewhat of a barrier in an area that is supposed to look welcoming. Being a MINOR barrier wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. I want this area to be welcoming from the porch/dining room. I don't want guest automatically walking through it. I have 2 sets of doors off my porch. The first set are the teal double doors on the front of the house. The second set are the white, double doors leading to the dining room. I'm hoping the landscaping will help eliminate any confusion on which door to use. Currently, 99% of our guests go to the dining room doors. (One reason is that our temp sidewalk leads to this door.) I want to encourage guests to go to the front door. Building my main sidewalk should help, but my husband wants to keep a walkway from the side porch to the driveway, too. I hope my comments aren't misconstrued as if I'm saying a garden here won't work. In addition to functional appropriateness, gardens typically require more maintenance than landscapes. I'm bringing up these points as something to think about prior to committing to development. This is why I posted. I like to hear pros and cons that I may not think of myself. I appreciate the feedback!

Thank you So much to all of the site followers and commenters who read my post and offered advice & suggestions! This was my first foray into 'crowd-sourcing' ideas for my efforts and desire to improve the appearance of my home and landscape. I got 'the message' on taking and posting pics of my particular area of concern with my property and yard 'issues'! Yes, I agree it's hard to imagine a 'solution' w/out some images🏡 to provoke the necessary 'imagination'! As soon as the 'sun'☀️ makes its next appearance* I will grab my cellcam and 'click some pics' and post to my previous question. (*here in MA we are currently experiencing the "rainiest July" in over half a century!!) Re the comment abt employing stone vs. concrete: yes, I gave that 'idea' some thought, of course, as it would look Much Better w/out a doubt but the cost of using stone is a bit prohibitive w/ my current budget. Maybe a stone veneer product might be doable as an alternative. Really just looking for a cheap solution to 'block out' the ground-level scourge of accumulated road sand & litter! If using a concrete base to a flower trough presents a water-absorbing material effect then maybe I could insulate the concrete from the trough, etc. I've actually Never Seen a residential property border their street frontage with a wooden-type trough as a container for planting flowers, shrubs, etc. so my 'idea' may be a bit unconventional and unusual! As for 'people' passing by and 'depositing' their trash: I live between fast-food establishments at either end of my street and some of their 'customers' seem to 'finish their refreshments'🥤by the time they pass my property! So I've also given thought to adding a litter basket or container🗑 to my street front to 'encourage' responsible disposal! Maybe include a 'sign' encouraging the same! 🚮