In a sizable number of instances, people show up here wanting to do something unconventional (relative to the commonly understood, general "rules" of landscape), and ask for help in going about it. I think this is one of those instances. The idea of tucking a large plant so close to the house is generally, not good. And such a plant in proportion to the house, is not going to give any separation from the neighboring structure, or a sense that the house is in any way protected or integrated into its surroundings. To the contrary, it's going to grow lopsidedly away from the foundation, looking like its toes are severely pinched ... which will be in fact, true.

It would make much more sense to place a tree, that is larger than what the OP is envisioning, off of the house corner at a diagonal, approximately centered with the side yard space. Not sure why there's no interest in placing a similar tree off of the house's right corner, but it makes sense to do. In the plan, at the parkway flanking the drive, are two large plants (I've marked "A" & "B.") Are these trees? If so, being farther from the house, they would be the large shade/street type trees. Ones closer to the house would be relatively smaller -- medium size -- trees ... which are often "flowering" varieties.

I would highly recommend that you NOT plant shrubs along the drive edge. It seems they're already in place. I predict a day where one of the homeowners says to the other, "Honey, let's get rid of those hedges; they make the driveway seem so confined."

A & B will be trees, yes. They are required by our city and we have only a few choices. They will likely be Capital Pear trees. Do you have some suggestions for the smaller versions in your unlettered circles? And instead of ornamental grasses lining the driveway, what would be recommended there?

The trouble with "lining the driveway," is that it creates, in effect, a confined, coral type of space. Where the drive is not luxuriously spacious to begin with, the confined space makes using cars an uncomfortable experience. And the "hedges" do nothing to enhance that there is somewhere an entrance to the home. In fact, they diminish it. The only way around this is planting something VERY low. Lawn is ideal. Some 6" high groundcovers could be OK, too, but unless their stripe is fairly wide, they seem pointless.

Since this looks like a western location, I'm not in as good a position to know what grows in your area. But an example of they type of tree that could work, a Magnolia soulangeana comes to mind. Here are a couple of examples. The first, is near the end of bloom when the leaves are starting to come out ... as an example of good structure (something to aspire to), and the second is in full bloom.

"They are required by our city and we have only a few choices. They will likely be Capital Pear trees." I'm not personally familiar with 'Capital,' but hopefully, they have better performance than many of the other ornamental pears, which are notorious for self-destructing in their teenage years. As well as reading the glowing reports written by sellers, it's a good idea to dig deep when researching trees in order to explore any possible negative side (which varies from location to location; some trees can be great in one place and a nuisance in another.)

"They are required by our city and we have only a few choices. They will likely be Capital Pear trees."

What are your other choices? I cannot believe any municipality located anywhere in the US is still advocating planting of any callery pear! In addition to the structural issues all forms of this species possess, they are known and well documented for their invasive tendencies across much of the country as they readily cross pollinate with other callery pears as well as native pear species and produce viable fruit. 'Capital' is also highly prone to fireblight, if that is an issue in your area. Just a very poor choice given a myriad of other possible selections.

Below is our full list of tree options. We were leaning towards the pear because we had a flowering pear at our last house that was very healthy about 15 years after planting. The hawthorn isn't a good option because of the thorns. We like the look of some of some of the maple trees but we struggled with chlorosis in the maples at our last house--not sure if that was due to the acidic and clay soil that we had there, though. Of the list below, what would the forum recommend for our landscape?

1. Washington Hawthorn

2. Flowering Crabapple

3. Canada Red Chokecherry

4. Capital Pear

5. Amur Maple

6. Pacific Sunset Maple

I'd elminate both 4 and 5 due to invasive characteristics (location dependent). Any of the rest are fine. 1-3 will provide wildlife attraction as well as drawing pollinators. Thorns in a tree are pretty much a non-issue....unless you plan on climbing it :-) And the maple (a hybrid between A. truncatum and A. plataniodes) is extremely adaptable to a wide range of growing and soil conditions. Not at all fussy about soil pH or clay as long as drainage is reasonably good. And with great fall color!

IMO, it is hard to go wrong with a maple as a street or boulevard tree. Probably the most widely planted tree species for this purpose.

If we took the advice of @Yardvaark above, could we plant the Pacific Sunset Maples in the park strips and then maybe some crabapple or chokecherry trees off the corners of the house as was suggested?

Yup! But if in your own garden, I would not just limit myself between the chokecherry or crab. There are lots of small stature trees that could work equally as well.....if we knew your geographic location we could make a few more suggestions :-)

Location is 84003 (7A)

Cornus mas, Cornelian cherry

Star magnolia

Syringa reticulata, tree lilac

Chionanthus virginicus, fringe tree

All are recommended by the Utah extension service

Okay, great! And what would you recommend we do along the side of the house and the fence line (red area below)? For reference, we have winter gem boxwoods in the planter boxes, ice dance sedge in front of those and along the drive, and manhattan euonymus around the green electrical box.

It is unfortunately all too common for some municipalities to publish some list of approved trees created by some half-wits who have no real idea of horticultural possibilities. They list a half-dozen "safe" things THEY know and like ... and think all will be well in the world. Not saying you should do it, but if it was my yard I'd probably put what I want and duke it out with them. They might not notice. Or their heads might explode.

Street or boulevard tree planting is often dictated by the municipality, usually because of size, inclination for surface root development and debris or litter production. And technically that is not private property to begin with but owned by the city/municipality....they just provide some planting options for the adjacent homewoners. Here, one must apply for a permit to plant or remove any street trees and choose from a preapproved list. But I don't know of anywhere that restricts what can or cannot be planted within the confines of one's own property, other than HOA restrictions. And we all know those have no basis in reality :-)

84003 is just north of Provo Utah.