Your home is gorgeous! I think you are being a little hard on yourself... Your backyard is paradise. There is not a doubt in my mind that you could bring your creative ideas to the tiny front yard- in no time at all. What if you hate the design you come up with? Just do it again! We aren't talking about acres here! You could do pea gravel and some of your beautiful pots, a bird bath and a bench. Done! I think you are like me- whatever you decide this year, you will probably have a brainstorm and want to change it, next year!
The section closest to the driveway is approximately 4 1/2 ft. x 18 ft.
The section to the left by the hedge is 6 1/2 ft. x 20 ft.
I personally don't care for the hedges but my husband wants them there so that he doesn't have to look at the neighbor's ugly brown fence and see the dogs he strongly dislikes. Her house is by the driveway. He says I can remove those but I must put another hedge in. I would love to have espalier apple trees where the hedges are but they would not give us the privacy he wants.
There are some very pretty different succulents out there. I also like arctosis which flowers almost year round here. Lavendar and yarrow need to be pruned and then they won't look so good. I notice that landscapers leave a lot of space around plants even when matured and use mulch. I'm concerned that the mulch will make it almost impossible to rake the leaves that fall from the trees on the street. I'm open to any ideas on low drought tolerant plants.
The space to the left of the stairs used to have a small tree and shrubs in front that we removed. We want to put up a big trelles and plant either a jasmine vine, climbing rose bush, or bouganvillia. The jasmine is my first choice since it's evergreen but my husband really likes bouganvillia. We will put in either a brick or slate patio and put a bench there. We probably won't use that space but it will be low maintenance and xero scaping.
Lesa, so true. I don't want to use pea gravel because leaves from that maple and those from the trees on the street fall and it would be impossible to rake.
See, you already have a plan! You don't need to pay anybody! For goodness sake, you could vacuum the leaves off that spot! You might be over thinking this... I always think I want lots of space between plants- and then mother nature tells me different. You would be hard pressed to find a spot of dirt, that doesn't have something growing in it! Lots of nice choices for mulch. I am a fan of the black stuff- although it is dyed- I think it looks very attractive.