agarden, thanks for your input. That is what I was hoping to do so will have to start looking at ornamental trees to see my options. I have had an Amelanchier, Autumn Brilliance in for about 3-4 years in another part of the back yard....and although healthy it just seems like it won't grow! So, I'll have to look to others that might actually grow a bit faster and fill the area. I like the idea of 3 season interest.

The trash house is half a mile away and you are disturbed by the view? Do you use goggles or a telescope? If it bothers you so much, why don't you talk to the people? I am in a similar situation but reversed. I bought a run-down house with overgrown yard last fall and I didn't have time yet to clean up the yard because all my time was spent fixing the inside, which is more important to me than the view of my neighbors. Also, during this time, I accumulated an old air conditioner, coil, stove, countless cardboard boxes, old kitchen counters etc. in my side yard (behind a gate, so not visible from the street, but visible from my neighbors second floor). It'll be disposed off sometimes this year but I am not going to rent a dumpster more than once. Disposing of bulk trash can be expensive. I'd not be insulted by a neighbor asking me politely to clean up. Why don't you try asking?

Thanks to all who have posted their suggestions so far! How far up on the wall should I go if using tile or stone? The fireplace is up to current building codes for my area (Southwest Los Angeles County), but that doesn't say much since all that is required is for the fireplace to be properly vented to the outside - mine is vented to the roof like a regular fireplace with a chimney would be - and two feet from the walls, with or without the connector to a gas line ignition (mine has the thing on the wall but is not connected.) @pesky1 - I do have a lot of empty *blah* space on my walls, some of which is due to the vaulted ceiling height and being only 5'1" (If I had the storage space for it, I'd have a ladder taller than 4.5ft, but there's barely enough space for the one I have...) but the kind of tv I have can't be wall-mounted, so I'd have to save up the funds for a taller entertainment center. Still, it's worth considering. I've spent the decade I've been living in my place getting the funds together to purchase furniture and so forth, but now that all that's done with, I'm just now getting to the point of realizing I forgot all about doing something with the walls. I sort of ignored them after having them stripped of the awful brownish plum color selected by the former resident (who didn't bother getting the permission of the landlord whom I bought my place from...) and painted white just prior to moving in. It took me a while to implement the solution to the majority of the wiring being on one wall (literally, one living room wall had like 5 electrical outlets plus the cable wiring, and the other wall had just 2 electrical outlets and the wall switch for the patio light outside!) - I'm still working on saving up the money to have the bannister for the stairs stripped back to the natural wood that can be refinished, something I hadn't even thought about being an issue later; I just wanted to get rid of that ugly brownish plum color. Who knew that years later, all the dings and chips in the paint that happen over time would make the bannister look so awful. :P Painting is an option, but if I only go to a certain point on the wall, what to cap it with so it doesn't look like I just got lazy and stopped painting in the middle of the process?

I would say that your style is "gardening" instead of "landscaping" because you're not using plants to build on to existing architectural features. You're collecting plants you like and finding a garden space to put them in, irrespective of what's going on with the building. Following is an idea of a basic landscape approach. If you wanted to make it more "garden-like" in order to show off plants and flowers you enjoy, you could use low plants, blending your favs so long as they take the conditions offered, in place of the groundcovers. (I got rid of your other gardens just for artistic clarity. Not trying to tell you to get rid of them.)