You are being held hostage by the planting decisions made by a previous owner. Don't! Either incorporate them into a landscape bed of some kind, which will enable you to add a bunch of stuff and get rid of some grass, OR pull them up (transplant or simply remove).

Creating a landscape feature out of the sore thumbs would be a nice idea, though.

Amy I usually like to make lemonade out of the lemons, so I would enlarge the area either all at once into a big bed or start small with underplantings like bulbs. I think it would be a pretty spring sight. If it's shady you could try some astilbe, fern or hosta to enlarge the area. Or underplant shady area with lillies of the valley. Maybe add a little bird bath & your yucca plant nearby. Hmmm, sounds like fun to me.

Carol

I would definately use these two shrubs as the anchors on a nice bed. A "border" or bed is great with a combination of shrubs, bulbs and flowers. Just,please, DON'T mutilate the forsythia by pruning it into a ball or a box. They look best in their natural fountain shape. I plant bulbs and small annuals around the shrubs and then mulch mulch mulch.
Plant what you like. That is the important thing.
Have fun and enjoy your yard/garden

I also have 3 forsynthia's planted by the previous owner, and as much as I dislike it's unruliness, it's a great screen between my deck and my neighbors. It's in full sun, but I cut out a section to shade my hummer feeder (on a shephards hook), which works out perfectly. I also put a a dual shephards hook and hang impatiens & fuschia (forsynthia shades them nicely); but in the ground, I have massive clumps of daylilies (orange ditchlilies), which I happen to love. It's hard to kill daylilies ;)

Whatever you plant around your Forsythia - leave a way in to prune out the old wood because Forsythia flowers best on new wood.

You might want to consider Japanese anemones, Ajuga/bugle, Cyclamen, Antirrhinum, Helianthemum, Ophiogon (if hardy in your zone), a complementary deciduous azalea, forget-me-nots, and annual mulching because Forsythia tend to be hungry shrubs. So are Viburnum.