I am in DFW, but I like to grow Turk's Cap, Lily Turf, and Nandina in the shade. All are very drought tolerant and do well with shade or part-shade. I have learned this year though, that the red Turk's bloom nicer than the pink.

Here my two cents:

I would get rid of the trees/bushes that obstruct the view of the main entrance (crape myrtles, mountain laurel, cedar and bushes by foundation) and would keep the trees on the side, framing the entrance. I would get rid of the cedar just because it seems to be to close to the house. I would also get rid of the bushes because I think they give a dated look to the house.

A set of concrete steps or flagstone path that connected the main entrance directly with the sidewalk would add a lot of curb appeal to the front yard. The picture below gives an idea of the look of the new path that will connect the side walk to the main entrance of the house.

I would add a lot of big flagstones and boulders to the sides of the path, making sure not to cover the sprinklers so very low plants can be planted between the flagstones. Some plants that come to my mind are: columbines, turk's cap, lamb's ears, purple cordyline, plumbago, compact ruellias, ornamental asparagus, sedums, dianella, oxalis, bridal veil (invasive in certain conditions), variegated liriope, carex oshimensis or ?. The flagstones would avoid erosion and will provide access for maintenance. Heavy mulch around the plants will keep the moisture and will avoid weeds proliferation.

The bushes near the foundation can be replaced with something that "moves" like New Zealand flax or Fountain grass.

Here's another picture that could help to envision the idea:

Omar

Thanks to you both. Pictures really help when you're coming up with ideas. I know some of those plants, but not all- will have to look them up. The flagstone is a great idea. I know we had talked about possibly putting a giant agave where the mountain laurel is (back far enough from the driveway to not obstruct). That would all tie in nicely.

Thanks- Lisa

You might want to take out one or two things at a time to see what it looks like in stages. I personally would take out the cedar first--don't like those at all. You might find out that you don't need to take out everything. As far as the ground cover, I can't really offer any great suggestions.

Carla, that's a good idea. And I especially like Omar's suggestion of steps going down to the mailbox. I'm thinking too that to terrace the front yard is a great idea, or it's going to be hard to keep the soil in place without the roots of a sturdy ground cover to hold it. Perhaps they could drive around the neighborhood and see what others have done to level their yards. Then they could plant a beautiful zeric landscape similar to Omar's 2nd photo above with flagstones, gravel or mulch covering the soil.

Is that the asian jasmine on the far right of the photo? Since it is so hard to remove I'd leave it for now. At least it is something green and doesn't take much water.

Perhaps if your friends opt to level the front using stone that matches the front of the house, or the blocks that are often used for that purpose, the company that does it could dig the mountain laurel for transplanting to another area. My large mountain laurel in front was wild dug as a large plant and transplanted here so I know they can take the move.

Pam Penick's blog: DIGGING has a lot of photos of what I'm envisioning with terracing, but it will take some searching to find them. Perhaps her book Lawn Gone would be a good place to start. You can "Look Inside" the book on the link.

Wishing them the best in their endeavor! It will take some time to plan it, plus some expense in executing their vision, but will be worth it.

Good point about doing things in stages. I agree about taking the cedar out first, maybe along with the foundation shrubs. I'd mentioned Pam's blog, but don't know if they've had a chance to look at it yet. Yes, you're probably looking at the remnants of the asian jasmine- it actually covers most of the front lawn and they hate it. So her husband has cut it down really short (it was full of weeds) and is trying to figure out a way to get rid of it totally. It spreads underground, right? Has anyone pulled it out successfully?

I almost think the previous owner built the elevation of the lawn up on purpose, maybe to give more privacy to the house? None of the other lawns around them have the same elevation from what I remember.

Thanks for everyone's ideas. I know most of you have done big landscaping projects (some of you multiple times). Helps to hear everyone's thoughts about how to approach this one.

Lisa

southofsa: I almost think the previous owner built the elevation of the lawn up on purpose, maybe to give more privacy to the house?

Agree it was probably done on purpose and looks like they got the drainage right. Though doesn't seem to offer much in the way of privacy to the yard or the few front windows. Probably aesthetic, but any chance there were safety concerns: a side-street T, relatively high speed/traffic street, or tavern at the end of the block? :-) Sort of looks like a good embankment for coaxing a weaving vehicle back into the roadway.

Mara- As far as cedar trees go, this one is pretty nice. It's been taken care of and does provide some shade to part of the house. But it's right next to the house and foundation. That's the main reason I agreed with them when they mentioned taking it out.

Bostedo- I see what you're saying, but I don't think so. It's a pretty quiet side street from what I could tell. There is a turn nearby, but I think their place is far enough down from there that a car would run into one of their neighbor's houses rather than their place.

Maybe they built it up to be able to plant things - there's a lot of rock behind their place. But other than the asian jasmine and trees there's not much else planted that I can tell.

Any suggestions on how to get rid of the asian jasmine? I'm starting to think the cedar will be easier to get rid of compared to the ground cover.

Lisa

So this is the first time I've taken a minute to google "how to kill asian jasmine". Oh boy, they have no idea what they're getting themselves into. I thought purple heart was bad.

Lisa

When searching "How to kill Asian Jasmine" it might be wise to include the word 'plants'. Seems there are more than one kind of Asian Jasmine. ... :-)

Anyway, the use of a sod cutter to remove the top three inches of soil as recommended on the link and then, as much as I dislike it, spraying the ground with RU to get any pieces of root that's left sounds like a good way to start. Cut stems and roots will absorb weed killers. It doesn't have to sprayed on leaves.

Best to give it all you got to start with and then being ready to 'mop up' sprouts by pulling or spraying for awhile should do it.

Xeriscape plants are the way to go for S.A.! Level II restrictions are coming up next week, they say. And when the drought returns (it will), they'll be really glad they did it. Native and adapted xeriscape plants that do well in S.A.'s climate is best.

Roselee- I've had the best luck getting rid of bermudagrass with a sod cutter in the past, but I've never had to use it around tree roots. I think it would involve a fair amount of hand work in tight spots. But then again I don't know how deep the roots are. And I think they'll have to take out the sprinkler system to use one or at least be really, really careful around those pipes. I remember hearing a lecture that warned people about using a lawn aerator when you have sprinklers installed to avoid damaging them.

Linda- Water wise plantings were one of the first things on their want list when I talked to them. They definitely get the benefits of going that route. How to get from "A" to "B" is the question :-)

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I'll pass it on to them and see where they want to go from here. With temps where they are right now, I wouldn't be really motivated to do it right now. But they're pretty anxious to get things moving, so they might.

Lisa

Yes, tree roots and sprinkler system pipes would pose a problem if using a sod cutter. On the other hand if they plant zeric style they wouldn't need the sprinkler system (I never use mine which came with the house) and perhaps they could be very careful, as you say, and do hand work around the trees they are not taking out. The ideal thing would be to replace the sprinkler system with a drip irrigation system that would go just to the zeric plants. I guess I'm stating the obvious, but just sayin' ... :-)

If they are not big DIYers the ideal thing would be to hire it done. We are DIYers and hired things done when we moved in here, like brick retaining walls, brick planters, brick walks, large hackberry trees along the fences removed, large trees planted. It was just some small business landscape guys that did the work so it wasn't terribly expensive.

When they get things cleared out then they can look at 'designer' zeric landscapes to decide where to place the dry climate plants. In the meantime, we can be watching for more photos that might help and post them as Omar did.

Just my two cents. I wish them the best! Keep us posted on how it's going.

No no no! You absolutely can NOT cut down a healthy mountain laurel! Just saying.

Roselee- they have more energy than experience at DIY especially when it comes to landscaping. I know I did projects 10 or 15 years ago that i wouldn't think twice about hiring done today- mostly because I didn't realize what I was getting myself in to. But they've just finished some other projects that had to be hired out and are trying to do things that they can when it comes to the yard. I just don't want them to put a lot of sweat equity into this, and not have it look like they want at the end.

Good point about the sprinklers. I wonder if they could be capped off somehow for now, but when they have a final layout maybe the water access lines could be converted to drip irrigation. Hmmm.

Lynn Marie- I'm not sure you can call the mountain laurel healthy. It has a weird shape. I didn't include this picture initially because the lighting is horrible, but it shows a different angle for the mountain laurel.

The trunk comes up at about 45 degrees from the ground and then 2 or three much smaller trunks shoot off straight up. It almost looks like someone tried cutting it down years ago, then it came back. Or maybe someone backed into it getting out of the driveway- it's pretty close to it. I guess you could limb it up some, but it would bug me if I was trying to back out. It's weird because the rest of the trees have been pruned and shaped pretty well

You guys have made some great suggestions. Appreciate you looking it over and posting your thoughts.

Thanks- Lisa

Yes, I can see why they'd want to remove/move the mountain laurel.

I just talked to the guy who regularly does yard work next door to me. He talked plants and landscaping. He wanted a cutting from my night blooming cereus in the big hanging baskets and has a red one to trade with me. <<< That is to say he is a 'plant person'.

I found out he has 30 years of experience, does zeric landscaping etc., so I asked what he'd recommend for removing the jasmine in a situation like the above. He said to mow it close, let it leaf out a bit and apply 41% weed killer and that would take care of it. He said to handle it carefully as the 41% is powerful stuff. I'd be very inclined to let someone else do the application.

I pointed out a slope in a neighboring yard which looked about the same as your friend's place and he said to do a zeric landscape in that situation he uses a larger size gravel that wouldn't tend to wash down or be kicked around easily.

He showed me some photos of zeric yards he and his son have done. They were beautiful. He's got a good knowledge of what grows well in dry conditions. If your friends, or anyone else, wants to get in touch with him perhaps just to bring and spread the gravel, dig a few holes, make recomendations, or whatever, his names is:

Guy Hartmann

210 854-0928

No website. He's just a small contractor making a living at what he likes to do.

Lisa, keep us posted on how it goes.

Roselee- thanks for the referral. I'll be sure to pass it on.

I went to my friend's/coworker's house this past weekend and showed them everyone's responses, suggestions, links etc. My suggestion was to start with the narrow strip next to the house, get rid of the cedar and foundation plantings and go to town. It's a small enough area to be manageable, but big enough to make a difference. That will also give them some time to decide how to tackle the rest of the front yard. However they do it I think they have some good ideas based on everyone's suggestions.

I also encouraged them to post questions here as they went along. I just think some of the nicest/smartest gardeners hang out on this site :-)

Thanks again for the suggestions. Definitely helpful.

Lisa