The area is too small to try and attempt to make planting "beds" - I'd treat it all as a single planting area. Lawn in this situation is absurd. First, the area is far too small to have anything more than a token lawn, which is pointless, and lawn in an arid, desert environment is environmentally irresponsible. I'd design the area as a xeric garden featuring natives and/or plants that would relish this situation. These can be extremely interesting and visually appealing, offer a great deal of color and texture and most have the attributes of being virtually no maintenance as well. A visit to a local garden center should provide a range of choices but I'd consider cassia, salvias, aloes, agaves, senecio, kalanchoe, euphorbias or any of the many succulents that thrive under these conditions. One or two larger, speciment type plants and a limited selection of smaller ones placed in groupings should suffice - you don't necessarily want to cover the entire area with plants. And keep the gravel mulch. These plants love the reflected heat gravel affords (it is a common occurrence in their native state) and like any mulch, gravel will help to retain any soil mositure and keep weeds at bay. One thing I would consider is changing the topography slightly. The area now is extremely flat and featureless. If you were to bring some additional soil to mound up a portion of the planting area - say an irregularly shaped mound roughly following the 'L' - add a few larger rocks and a flagstone path from the street to the entry, you provide some immediate character and some staging for the plants. The attached link connects to a number of xeric gardens, some well-designed, some not; and not all suited to your climate, or conditions. But take a look at some of the plant choices and how they are combined and notice specifically how many of them treat smaller entry gardens sans lawn. The first (Nelson, Huntington Beach) is partcularly appropriate for your situation. Here is a link that might be useful: xeric garden possibilities

I remember how difficult it is to get started when you have a bare, flat yard. I kept staring out the windows, trying to imagine what I could plant where. It helps if you have someone stand outside while you look out the windows. Have your helper walk around from place to place, waving his/her arms, and maybe even holding a broom up overhead. Try to imagine your helper is a bush or a tree. When your helper gets to a spot that looks good from the inside, make a note of the position, or have your helper plant a garden stake (much easier to move than a tree!) Then go stand outside, or across the street, and see if that really is a good place for a tree. Use pots of annuals which you can move around until you find a space placement that suits you. THEN dig a bed. You can always set out empty boxes, or laundry baskets or even chairs to find spots for a shrub. Anything of a similar size that's easily movable will do. Here are some general principals I've found helpful. If the front is your main entrance, plant things that you will be happy to see when you come home. Start planting close to the walk and steps. This will encourage you to expand. Take it slow. I read once that you should live in a house though one set of seasons before you do any major changes. I translated that into planting annuals at first...which will have to be redone anyway. Fall is really the best time to plant trees and shrubs, as then they will get lots of rain. And, they will be cheaper at the 'year end' sales. Plant evergreens and long season perennials in the front as you and the neighbors will be looking at this area every day. Don't be afraid to take out something you don't like. Try to transplant it, or give it away. If it lives, fine, but you don't have to put up with something you don't like. Bare ground will make you feel better than a plant that irriates you. Don't plant acid loving plants close to the foundation of the house or near the cement path or sidewalk. They won't thrive. I figured this out after losing a row of azaleas, one by one. You can buy spray paint that is specially made to be sprayed holding the can upside down, so you can mark the edges of the beds. Just make sure that it isn't 'clear' paint. (Yes, it does come that way - a friend did this!) Or take a container of flour out and use that to mark plant placement or bed edges if you want a very temporary marking. The front yard is your house's public face and a place to show off your gardening skills. Rather than screening off the street, plant so that people driving or walking by will have something pleasant to look at and your visitors will find inviting. And for safety reasons, you don't want to 'hide' your house. Burglars go for entrances that are screened off from the view of the neighbors. Re paths: Make sure you leave good access to the utility boxes. Make sure you can get a lawnmower and wheelbarrow everywhere they'll need to go. You won't want low branching trees too near paths, either. If you don't have a pleasant view out the windows, one small patch of bright color will draw your eye away from the eyesore. Try a few pots of color, just set out on the ground, and see how they draw your attention. You do want to 'hide' the foundation of the house with taller, more solid shrubs. This will help transition the house into the lot, and help it look 'planted' rather than just 'plopped' onto the lot. Place lower plants further away from the house, along the path and sidewalk. You don't have to have ANY lawn in the front, but you don't have to take it all out at once, either. Have fun! Daphne in Tacoma

I'm not sure what you mean by "I want a lot of space." Could you clarify. You have a lot of space. Do you want a garden area that takes up a lot of the empty front space in your yard? I'm imagining the sloping part of your yard is a pain to mow. Would you like to landscape that area to something that doesn't need mowing? You'll not only have to accommodate the size of your yard, but also the slope when landscaping, so please elaborate a little more on your needs. Also step back for photo of your lot to show how it relates to the slope and your neighbors holler. That area is shaded in the aerial photo so not sure what is in there, is it just all grass? P.S. I had to look up Oudalf. Groovy! So I will add that you'll have to figure out the sun exposure of that site too, because if it is really shady, that will influence what you can pull off. If it were me, I'd wrap a wildish perennial shrub and grass garden around the walkway, tree island and down the hill. I wouldn't go towards the flat part of the yard. Nothing easier to maintain than a straight shot of green grass on a flat surface.

As for the lawn, knowing your zone is meaningless. Zone 5 runs from Maine to the Aleutians. We need the name of the town where you live. That tells us more about your soil and climate than the USDA zone does. I'm going to assume you're going to trim that tree up so people can walk under it and stand upright. It will still cast so much shade that only fescue will grow under it. You could have Kentucky bluegrass in the sunlight, but only fescue will work under that much shade. Now is not a good time to seed, but the alternative is weeds. I would encourage you to understand that seeding now is a waste of time, effort, money, and hope. If you spent the effort, you're going to be disappointed in July when it is all weeds, anyway. Suck it up for now. You can fix it right in August. Seeding in the fall gives the new grass time to mature before the summer heat. Fill any holes you have, but don't use too much soil. Don't topdress 1/4-inch just because the yard is doing poorly. Soil is easy to fix. Spot spray Weed-b-Gon NOW to take care of the dandelions and other broadleaf weeds. Two weeks ago would have been better, but now is the next best time. That gives you time to evaluate the effectiveness before the summer heat hits when it's too warm to spray. Set your mower to the highest setting for the rest of the season. Tall grass is much healthier than short grass. It also helps prevent weed invasions. I would fertilize now with an organic fertilizer. If you want to use a synthetic fertilizer like Scott's, then wait until Memorial Day - no earlier. Summer watering is most important. The deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. With a lawn on a slope like yours, it will have to be done slowly to prevent runoff. You can measure 1 inch by putting cat food or tuna cans around the yard. Then turn on the sprinklers and time how long it takes to fill all the cans. That will be your watering time from now on. As for frequency, with temps lower than 70, deep water once per month. Mother Nature usually takes care of that for you. With temps between 70 and 80, water once every 3 weeks. With temps between 80 and 90, water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 90s, water once per week. Use this schedule as a guide, not gospel. The important thing is DEEP watering and never water every day (or 2 or 3). Deep watering makes this all possible. My watering time with my oscillator sprinkler on full sweep is 8 hours. That is pretty slow, but runoff can still happen. The time depends on your water pressure, hoses, sprinklers, etc. If you get the watering and mowing right, it's going to look much better for the rest of the season. Come August, write back to the lawn forum for advice on reseeding.