many states have Native Plant societies and Botanical Clubs..otherwise if you have a local university, they might be eager to assist you.
love the tree. i hope you plan on keeping it, although i see it is on the terrace so it might be city owned?

Hello! Thanks for the reply. The beautiful tree is city owned. We love it too and is seems to be healthy.

i'm sure you will get lots of responses from people who actually know something :) about landscaping..but i thought it was interesting that you mentioned native plants.
from the pictures you posted, you must live somewhere warm, not like here where we have winter (WI) good luck!!!

Costa Mesa, CA. I actually have a lot of those plants already but mine aren't as pretty as those pictures... yet.

I would also suggest contacting your water supplier. Many municipalities have resources for plants that use little water.

I wouldn't pull out the grass. I'd have an oasis or two for the succulents. I'm not sure about the fence. Sometimes a plan from an expert is the way to go and will save you lots of grief in the end, and many will sell the plan and have you do the work. Here are landscaped ranch houses for some ideas. http://www.houzz.com/landscape-ranch I think the CA Cactus Center in Pasadena does plans (not sure) I know they do landscaping, look through some of their home photos for ideas http://www.cactuscenter.com/landscape.html

I think that the maroon trim color is too harsh, I'd paint it a shade lighter than the house color. You could keep your door the maroon color or paint it the same as the new trim color. Do you have iron work around a front porch area? If you do and don't wish to remove it you may want to "cover" the iron with wood, the point would be to give that more of a substantive look, we did that when we bought our home, we had iron that was ugly and rusted, my sister came over and decided she'd help us out by covering it with wood (more like columns), painted it and it looks incredible now - and she'd never done this before so it can't be too difficult. As far as plantings go I'd add some in front of your porch, keep them lower than your hedges that go along your garage, if your area supports it you may want to look at box woods or something of a similar height. You can add annuals in front of these for color but keep them to a small area since you'll have to replace them every so often. I would also look into softening the cement/stone work you have near your sidewalk. I'd use something that over hangs, if you wanted to keep the costs down then I'd limit it to near your driveway, maybe mixing in a few annuals in there too either matching the ones that you'd planted near your porch or in a similar color family as those. Always look for plants that are miminal upkeep and don't require a lot of water. Think bang for your buck. Hope this helps!

j222b - thank you for the links. I love Pasadena cactus one. soome good ideas there.

lukesgirl - good ideas, thanks! I like the idea of the wood over the ironwork. I HATE the ironwork but its structural. We may be able to replace it with wood or go over it with wood. I would love to see a picture of yours if you have one.

I would also like to soften the look of the sidewalk with something that overhangs. Do you have a suggestion of a plant that would soften the look?

Hi Raya You have the perfect house to make a court yard in front. If you have a wall or fence brought out from the right side of the house forward and across the front towards the garage. The front fence should be about 30 to 36 inches ahead of the front of the garage to allow for a gate that faces the driveway. The wall/fence should be about 5 ft. high or I would not go shorter than 42 inches high. A decorative opening ( window ) can be in the front section if you want. Then fill the area to the retaining wall with plantings. That tree is amazing and I hope that is staying ! In the court yard it can have stone paving - a seating area - pots of flowers and even a fountain. A good landscape designer could help with the design . I think you will end up doing things over time because your budget is not going to go very far. Good Luck !

I love your choice of local plants! Don't worry, those grasses will eventually grow in, succulents too. I think with those types of plantings, that painting your house in warm olive green with black trim would update it. If you can't yank those iron trellis things out, you could cover them with bougainvillea. Drought tolerant and all kinds of beautiful colors. I agree on keeping an amoeba shaped lawn in the center otherwise it's really a whole lot of plants to buy. If you have a sprinkler system you can add a drip system for the locals. They still need water and you don't want to be a slave to your low maintenance yard! You'll need lots of mulch(no plastic) to keep the weeds out. Try your local recycle center and bring a truck to get lots of mulch for cheap, but pay extra for the better stuff. When I lived in San Diego it was something like $5 a truck load for the stuff made from people's yard waste(including weeds) or $15 for the better stuff. The trees in front of your garage can come out too. I hope this is helpful and you can picture it! Good Luck!

Your ideabook is on track with plants. Definitely lose the lawn. You don't have to fill the area with all plants. Many of the succulents and bunch grass-type ornamental grasses look best when uncrowded. Consider gravel areas, perhaps flagstone. What is the reason for a fence? Privacy? Define the space? Security? Check your building codes regarding front yard fence heights & setbacks. Be aware of the perils of blocking your view, when backing your car out of your driveway and into the street!
Looks like you have serious change of grade from your entry walk to lawn? If you open that up, you'll have drainage issues and structural retaining walls to consider. Here is another link that may be helpful http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2011/03/reimagining-the-california-lawn.html look at this, too http://www.waterfriendlygarden.com/GardenTour.html

You should start at the library. I would recommend getting a few garden design books (John Brookes is my favorite). It is easy to get caught up in the plants, but trust me (from experience) you want to look at the scale, usage needs, etc. and get those right. If they are, the plant part will fall in to place easily. I also took an adult ed class (three 2 hour session) on garden design where the instructor was a professional and she helped you work through your personal project.

Thank you all for your comments and ideas. That'll help get me started :)

my yard is not going to be on a garden tour :) now or ever :) but i enjoy being out there and i have fun..i look forward to what comes up in order--you know? first the snowdrops and then tulips...but i also have some crocus that my late mother gave me during a really difficult time. i see them and it makes me happy as a reminder of her. i have some other plants and flowers with "stories" as well and i find that they mean more to me as time goes on than some of the others. so when you are planting and designing you might want to put in some personal items that you will see and enjoy--perhaps cuttings from friends? it's just a thought..
also, i think your photo is beautiful--whoever took it did a really good job.