Hi Sunbeam, this photo is from last summer, right after we moved here. Those containers have all relocated to my back patio/deck and have multiplied big time (pics posted on the main pond section).
Yeah, the magnolia is out front, original to the house. It's pretty, but also pretty messy this time of year. I'll let it stay since it is a nice shady evergreen. The neighbor next door has 3-4 very mature pecan trees, as tall or taller than the magnolia. You can't really tell in the photo I posted. Here are some aerial photos in both the summer and winter.
I have outlined my property with a yellow line. So the side yard I'd like to start with is on the left in these photos. You can see in the summer that it's almost completely shaded by the pecans towards the back of the house. I was thinking day lilies since they have such a "grassy" appearance to the foliage and would be easy to maintain (not too much weed eating near them). I could possibly put in a preform pond towards the iron fence/gate, since it has more sun and less leaves dropping in the fall. We don't go out here too much except to play bocce ball and croquet since it's a nice long lawn. The kitchen window does look out into this yard near the middle, and the dining room window looks out closer to the fence. I really don't want a straight edge border on either side, something curvy would be nice.