I second the concept of a "relaxed, old fashioned garden that says “farmhouse” - yes with grass meadows. With 140 acres you will have plenty chores. There is no need to make the grounds around the house into another constant chore, unless one of you is an avid gardener, well then we can't stop you. Some ideas to ponder: A farm house landscape needs a legacy tree, that single, large, perfectly shaped, mature, deciduous tree. You have only shown us one view of the land. That tree might belong on a different side of the house. Someone has to plant that tree first. What is the state tree of Missouri? What is your favorite big tree? Give it the room to live to be hundreds of years old. Be the people who planted that tree. Piet Oudolf is a great source for inspiration. His work is based on very intentional layout of plants. I think you could go with a more specific to your place, natural grassland meadow and still mimic Oudolf very well. A grass meadow is probably the best way to live with deer. Plenty forage and color for everybody. Paths are most important in this kind of landscape to give it intention. Mowing would be easiest it seems and just done regularly with the areas kept as lawn. You can add a touch of modern or formal with sculpture placed in a meadow. Could even be done in plants. Picture this off in the distance from a primary view from the house, rising from the meadow, a row of columnar evergreens standing alone, closely planted to make a green wall or hedge shape with a single Lime Light kind hydrangea given the room to grow to its massive self when left alone. First thing I would think about in laying out your landscape is the traffic patterns of people and the machines you will be using. If you do any regrading or bring in top soil think about grading the paths first and making them rideable in ATV's. That will help tell you where the gardens go. There is joy to be found out there.

@triciamarie81 It helps everyone on the board if you tell us the nearest metro area and approximate gardening zone. The overall climate in the area dictates which plants will look their best and has an impact on the recommendations you receive as a result.

i would get rid of the tall thin tree at the corner of the house.. before it falls on the house.. or gets so tall.. it just looks out of place .... and i would get rid of the tall tree which i suspect is a pear [pic 2] ... in front of the front door ... its just gotten too big also.. and all out of proportion to every thing else ... i bet it was planted by the builder ... and then remove those you hate.. lifes to short ... and ... THEN .. once they are gone.. i would put together a plan to make a cohesive whole ... with the two huge plants.. everything else just looks squat ... and yuck .. those are technical terms.. if you dont know .... one of your design issues will be the height of the house.. versus the narrowness of the beds to work in ... and anything that gets tall enough to deal with that.. will put you back where you are now.. inside ten years ... around the neighborhood.. if you see other houses which you like the design.. snap a pic.. and we can interpret it for you ... so you can set some long term goals to accomplish .... this would be a good exercise.. even if you end up hiring out the job .... we need big city name to help you with ideas ... for your area ken

I think there are plenty nice shade plants you can put in there with some sort of walking path between some plants/shrubs. I would not want something that grows too large and something easy to care for. I would put a hydrangea for shade in there at the back and maybe a border of something that will stay small and keep you from stepping off the wood. I would not plant close to the a/c unit and I would maybe add something to keep the dirt away from the unit. It all depends on what you want to spend and the labor you want to give to an area you don't see much.