It might be due to the season the pics are in, but it's sort of difficult to tell what is overgrown or where your troubles are.

But if there are plants you like, keep them. If there are plants you struggle with or are just done- don't keep them. Just having less plants in the yard in general is going to be easier to keep up with. If you want to remove path, go for it. Probably do it in the spring when you can get grass growing fairly quickly after the path is removed and filled.

where are you.. big city name ...

you might want to grow a nice lawn.. before you start tearing out the walkways.. and ending up with more ugly dirt.. i suspect its not just that.. because its winter.. i dont see much sod ...

a clean green lawn.. would be the first variable in figuring out what to do with the yard.. imo ...

agree about gravel.;. Gods cruel joke on gardeners... what a nightmare... think about it this way.. a vast majority of weed seed is airborne.. within hours of gravel being put down.. weed seed is accumulating ... its one thing of you have an army of serf to clean your garden ... most of us dont... and dont get me started if those weeds root down thru a man made alleged 'weed barrier' .... you will never pull the out...

wait.. is that a palm there.. where is this?????

ken

Thanks for all the advice! I honestly had no idea where to start so I think we will go thru and take out the plants we aren't crazy about that are growing too wild and keep the others as suggested.

I had no idea how troubling gravel was, so that advice is tremendously helpful. I'll look into bark mulch then! We have tons of pine trees and free pine needles but I don't prefer that look.

We are definitely taking the path out but I'll check on the best timing for growing grass for my area. There are some areas where we already know the grass doesn't grow well, so we'll have to brainstorm what to do with those area.

To answer the question of where we're located: Savannah, GA.

In your third photo have you considered adding a privacy fence along that lot line?

Yes! Great suggestion. We would like to fully fence in the yard

I thought that looked like home. I’m in Habersham Village, looks like you are just north of me… remember plants that are growing wild might also be the ones that are happiest (or could be weeds!!!)

You can also take photos of plants as well as a cutting to Hester and Zipperer or Herb Creak and they can identify it for you. Don’t discount pine straw- it’s free! I like bark mulch better for moisture retention and weed suppression but I often go over it with pine straw to lock it in place (as you know we can get RAIN!) Also you can join savannah backyard gardeners on facebook.

It's not quite the season, but I see a lot of healthy-looking plants, including at least one gorgeous Rhodo with plenty of buds along the fence. I wouldn't take out any of these. Maybe cut some back. I'd ID before removing, because you may have an overgrown weed shading a lousy-looking shrub that would be lovely if it wasn't shaded by the weed shrub.

In pic # 3, you're very close to the neighbor. I'd think that area could use a few more shrubs, so maybe move something you've pulled out elsewhere. Even a pretty meh shrub is better than looking at the neighbor's stuff.

You have some odd beds, like that triangle in the third pic. I'd consider getting rid of those.

You might like your paths better without the lights and after pressure-washing. They look like they might go someplace useful, but it's hard to tell.

I, too, hate gravel. I have gravel around my garage with weed-suppressing cloth underneath. Weeds grow anyway, leaving me with a choice of removing the gravel and replacing the weed-suppressing cloth (lots of work or expensive), using a lot of round-up (which I hate and is probably going to be outlawed in my town, soon) or doing a lot of tedious weeding after which I am not left with a gorgeous garden, but a gravel patch!

The Name that Plant Forum here on Gardenweb can probably id your plants just from photographs. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/namegal

Here are a few ideas:

You could design the space for a beautiful lush garden environment but be sure you have a seasoned gardner to maintain it haha. Depending on your planting zone (where are you located) will determine the type of low maintenance landscape that would accent the property and not require constant attention.

If you don’t have time to garden, the best solution is to change things you have to go around with the mower, things you have to weed whack around, and things that you have to pull weeds by hand. Weeds will grow in any type of mulch as well as gravel. I spray long acting (12 month) herbicide in as many places as possible to cut down on time spent weeding. I turned lots of garden beds to grass so I can run over them with the mower rather than spray or hand pull weeds. I would get rid of the stone pathways and be able to race across that area with the mower. You will use less fuel going straight across the entire yard than making lots of turns, and you won’t have to spray or hand pull weeds between the stones.

Lauren - From a gardener's perspective, you already have a fairly low-maintenance yard. In reality there is no such thing as a no-maintaince plot of land with vegetation growing on it. At the very least there will always be watering, weeding, pruning, raking and general clean-up. So I see two possible solutions for you: 1) add as much hardscape (patios, decks, etc. as you can afford. or 2) hire a landscape maintenace crew to do the work you for you. Or both. Good luck.

Thanks again to everyone for your helpful suggestions. We ended up working with a landscaper to execute the clean up. Since the work is now complete, I wanted to share the after photos.

After