@groveraxle--that's great if you can photoshop. I can't lol. I'm left to the mercy of trying to find pictures. Sometimes I get lucky and find possibilities ;-)

P.s.@ glenn--don't forget to power-wash everything (home and concrete!) That driveway needs some TLC, too. I'd even do the walkway in front of your home to the property line. It will make the neighbours jealous, lol.

@ groveraxle - OMG! That's incredible!!! I never thought about using Photoshop. Thanks again!

@luvourhome - I'm like you. I go through tons of Houzz photos, but still struggle to find a design that fits. With regards to the driveway, that's another story that I need help with. The stains (rust) you see was from using MossOut to get rid of moss on my lawn. Mossout contains high iron sulfate. When it contacts concrete, it is very difficult to remove. I tried pressure washing, bleach, lemon juice, CLR, etc, but they don't seem to work. I was told to use hydrochloric acid instead. I'll give it a try this summer. Anyway, thank you for the tip and reminder. =)

Be very careful but try Whink. Stuff will take your skin off.

Has anyone ever tried the artificial grass? My Costco was selling it the other day...

i have been wondering that too. Laying it out like a sidewalk around garden beds, lot easier than making a walk way. has anyone tried the new bob villa grass, no mow?

@puremichigan60 - I don't like the "wall" either. It wasn't as tall 14 yrs ago. Now they are giants! Here's another view. It was taken in March.

@amanda- I thought about the artificial grass but our HOA won't approve.

Alright, groveraxle, who are you really? Your ideas are invariably excellent, your taste impeccable. Are you an unknown love-child of Frank Lloyd Wright?

This landscape has the elements you mentioned - dry river bed, large rocks, plants. I have found in my planting bed that the more more space between plants, the more maintenance it is because of weeding. My goal is to see no mulch once things are grown in.

Plant pachysandra - low maintenance, no mulch or weeding needed, works in any exposure and it looks great.

This is one of my favorite designs.

Thanks for the compliment, arvilla_trag. I prefer to keep my identity a secret. That's the nice thing about the Internet: no one knows you're a dog (or in your case, a cat).

Re: artificial turf. It is *not* pet-friendly. As soon as a dog or cat does its thing on it, it will stain. It's worse the longer you let it sit, and worse in hotter areas. It will smell, too. A house up the street put some in their front yard. It is a gorgeous home, but the grass looks fake. It is the expensive kind, too. Our friend is a landscaper. He just laughed. That's when he told us about the pets.

well, there goes that idea!

Give the HOA fits and do a native wild flower meadow.
seriously just expand the rock stream you have with more and larger rocks. Add a few hardy native along your riverbed. You could replace the remaining grass with some ground cover if you really want. In that case I would pull the rock to the side of the drive and ground cover where the arborvitaes are. Sort of reversing the grass with rocks and plants where the rocks and trees are.I would be inclined to rip those out big trees and add lower growing shrubs and move the palmetto away from the walk. But that would not be a low maintenance job. ( I did that when I was much younger.)

I thought I'd share an update to my front yard landscape project, which was completed just a few weeks ago. I love the end result and the fact that it's low maintenance. I've received several compliments from my neighbors so far. In fact, I've seen one of them start something similar on their front yard as well. Thanks for all the comments and ideas from you all.

Fab. U. Lous.