some ideas

Oh. I am afraid the well-meaning posters with the above ideas don't live in Houston (Sugar Land, here same difference) where almost anything can and will grow to alarming sizes. Those grasses shown in the mock up above are planted along freeways here. I am surmising you live on a cul-de-sac so your front yard is small and widens out at the back? If you are wanting low-maintenance, then enlarging the front bed to include the tree is not advised. All that has to be weeded and pruned and your HOA might have a thing or two to say about any drastic changes.

I agree in taking out the hedge in front of the porch. Plant something that does not have to be regularly hedged and has the word "dwarf" in its name, and probably will grow in shade. In fact, I would make the front bed smaller and use your string edger to keep the line; those white rocks are not that attractive. Once the tree leafs out look around in the shaded areas at Houston Garden Center and see what kind of ferns, fatsia japonica and ground covers you can find. You can always put pots of bright colored annuals on the newly-exposed front porch.

ps. Do not plant Cannas or Gingers, or bananas here in the ground. Pots only.

The grasses & cannas shown in the mockup are dwarfs varieties. They are set outside an entry courtyard. The lantana is also a low grower. There are fatsias flanking a bench in the courtyard. The tree shading them is a tree form Ligustrum japonica. All are suited for Houston.

Yes, all will grow in Houston area. They will grow exceedingly well since we have a hard freeze about every decade.

Myer, she is absolutely correct if you do not use dwarf species of grasses. There are also many other plants you can use.

No, that is a beautiful tree when blooming. It gets very large, though.

The advantage to rock gardens is that they're low maintenance; rocks never need pruning.

Yes, Meyer R. I am in Sugar Land and have lived in the Houston area for a long time. When I first had a yard to care for (in Garden Oaks) I learned from an earlier edition of A Garden Book for Houston which is the classic guide published by the River Oaks Garden Club. All you need to know about soil and suitable plants. There is also a section for each month of the year on what to plant or prune and what blooms. Indispensable for learning how to garden in this part of the state. I still refer my my book now and then.

March is rather mild, but come August and September you will be considering the expense of a sprinkler system to keep all that you planted alive. Go slowly and enjoy the journey :-)

I would lose the square edged bed and make something more free flowing for sure, like the mockups. You might be interested in checking out Pam Pennick's blog, Digging. She's in Austin and has amazing gardens and an excellent blog.

Pam Pennick's blog

I just saw your post and thought Id give you a different idea. I would remove the everything from the front yard, tree, shrubs , boarder stones and the concrete path leading to the door. I would install a new serpentine path that would twist away from the garage wall and around to the driveway. This will create a larger planting bed to soften the corner by the garage door, and make your entrance path more interesting. Id would suggest tech bloc blu 60 for the path. Then the bed in front of your porch should wrap around the corner and extend along the right property line half way to the street. This will allow you to block off your neighbors utility area and help define the property line. Fill the beds with boxwood, hydrangea, perennials Wish i was closer id swing by and lay it out for you. Oh never by plants at a big box store, go to a local nursery, they will be much more knowledgeable and care more about the success for your planting.

Vancouver is only 150 miles north of Seattle so our climates are very similar. Very temperate. Bulbs blooming already.

You can use a garden hose or an electrical cord to experiment with different bed shapes.

The left side of your yard looks like a great place for some privacy screening. Can you post a wider shot so we can see your neighbor’s house. And maybe one looking out at the view from your front door to see if there are viewpoints to emphasize or downplay.

Myer R, Here is the story of my front landscaping project that I wrote up for my blog. Yes, I spent a long time thinking about how I wanted the front to look and function. Three years later I am still refining the plants as some did well and some did not. Maybe this will give you some ideas as you work on your plans.
Before and After

Vancouver is made temperate by the ocean, in much the same way that Great Britain is along its coast. There are plenty of palm trees growing along the western coast all the way up into Scotland. Cape Cod is the same zone as upstate South Carolina.