before

That really looks nice. Add some low growing plants to your landscape and you will be able to enjoy your fruits of your labor.

It would be hard to give you advice until you show the entire front yard. Stand in line with the front door and take about 3 pictures that overlap slightly, aiming from left lot line to right lot line. Show all from the city walk back. Keep camera at same location, only pivoting for all pictures

Hostas! Bleeding heart! Lungwort! Coral bells! Your north-facing exposure can be a real gift...

I will take and post pictures when it gets light. Thank you!

The giant maple tree make it hard to see the front of the house. Great for privacy. Bad for pictures.

Left side. I think it looks unbalanced. Ideally, I would remove the two interior bushes and the wrought iron pieces. I like the forsythia on the ends as long as we keep them trimmed during the summer.

Left foundation

Right foundation - notice the window well. It needs to be expanded to add egress to basement. Nothing has grown here. I have tried hostas, geraniums, ferns, etc. There is one sick looking bleeding heart. I dislike the bush to the left. I don't know its real name, but it is called a peeping tom because it has spikes/thorns on the branches.

We live in a hot, dry climate in the desert of Eastern Oregon. I would like a low water solution without going all gravel and concrete.

Thank you so much! I have all winter to work on my plan.

I think your spiky plant is a Berberis aka barberry. It isn’t a problem plant as far as selfseeding in your area, so ignore any comments you get about that, but if you don’t like it, remove it. It seems a particularly unfriendly plant to put by your door and is too large, growing across the window. In choosing new plants, choose varieties that will stay below the line of the brick-to-siding transition without the need for excessive pruning. I would also be sure that the bed is deep enough front to back to accommodate whatever plants you choose at their mature size.

I wouldn’t do any replanting on the right side of the house until the work on the egress window has been completed so whatever gets planted there isn’t damaged. You may need to end up with something nonliving or in a container there because an established maple has very dense, very thirsty roots that most other plants can’t compete with. So it isn’t surprising that your plants haven’t been successful there. I even had maple roots grow up into a container through the drainage hole, completely filling the container, so I now put saucers under pots near maples.

it looks like there is a retaining wall on the left side, with a steep drop down to the neighbor’s house. If so, do you need at least a simple fence on that property boundary for safety?

I think that most US dryland areas, including those east of the west coast mountains will be neutral to alkaline in pH so you don’t want acid loving plants. Look around you to see what plants look good now, in winter, and in spring. If there are public gardens near you, check those out as well. If you see plants you can’t ID that you like, take a photo and post on the Name that Plant forum here on Houzz to find out what it is. Or go visit nurseries (not big box stores) to see what they offer for your growing conditions. One plant you might check out would be some of the smaller cultivars of panicled hydrangeas, Hydrangea paniculata. White summer flowers age to pink later In the season, and IME they are easy care, somewhat drought tolerant, and have attractive blooms for much of the growing season. I even like the look of the dried flowers on the bare winter branches.

"The giant maple tree makes it hard to see the front of the house."

And that's not all. It makes your house look somewhat neglected and barricaded, and like it would be unpleasant to do any landscape maintenance below it, such as mow the lawn. Instead of seeming inviting, it seems as if you're trying to hide or partially conceal the entrance from anyone's notice. Too, it produces so much shade that surely foundation plants below it are going to have a hard time growing & looking good. There is no reason not to trim the tree immediately. It's something that would make your yard instantly better and any homeowner can do it easily themselves. Even if you like the privacy, it's not a good way to create it ... any more than covering your eyes with hanging hair is a good way to stop people from initiating conversations with you, even though it does work.

It's very hard to grasp the scene of your house, and see backgrounds one would see while standing there, if you move the camera location. Please return to the same spot and add the left side of the house. The picture you showed cannot connect to this picture, making visual feedback much harder to give.

I'm not intrinsically opposed to the gravel mulch band that fronts your yard. I'm sure you and your neighbors are used to, and accepting of it by now. But you have to be honest ... the way it has been done, with the raised, rustic timbers, gives it an industrial, farm-like vibe. The ONLY reason the timbers are used in that manner is because it is improperly installed. I've seen this general scheme of using a raised border when it's not needed no less than a gazillion times. I've also learned that those who create it are highly resistant to fixing it. Nevertheless, it needs to be said for anyone perusing the thread later that there is a much better and cleaner looking way to install gravel mulch, and that is sans the raised wood borders. Considering that there was no border already installed at the top, the timber could be used, but it should have been set flush with the lawn -- as a mowing strip -- not raised. At the bottom, the walk itself is all that's need for the retaining device.