And not sure of this but the neighbor said the larger tree in the front of the house is the same as the smaller one against the wall in the back but what is it? And is it actually the same?
WRF

close up of leaves

Backyard tree

Backyard tree leaves

and finally...My guess based on thorns, leaves and flowers is foothills for the palo verde. So far no seed pods. Am I on the right track?

I love all but the palm; it makes nothing but a mess. Your front and back yard trees don't appear to be the same. Hope aztreelvr comes along with some ID for you.

If it was me I would get rid of the Mex fan palm. The trunk/root on that thing can get up to 10 ft in dia., distroy your pool deck and wall. It will get so tall you will not be able to trim it. Rats also like them. It is known as the junk palm because they are cheap to buy. Had five of them in So. California cost us over a thousand to get them cut down. Ours were 2 stories high and thats considered short.

Hi WRF,

I think your two large trees are some type of ash like Fantex, Shamel or Majestic Beauty. They lose their leaves for a brief period in January and leaf out again in late February.

Ash trees need lots of water and often struggle in our urban landscapes so be sure your irrigation system (drip/hose, etc.) is delivering enough. Ash trees with a 15 foot diameter canopy will need about 300 gallons of water once every 10 days in summer and once every 3 weeks in winter. If yours are larger, they'll need more of course.

It looks as though they've both had numerous branches removed previously so don't prune them again for a while. Remember that the more green leaves that remain on a tree the more food (sugars) are being made. The tree uses the sugars to grow and if you prune too much you starve the tree. Don't let anyone talk you into thinning your ash trees, they look fine.

Mexican Fan Palms have tall, slender trunks and the petioles (stems) of the leaves have teeth along the edges. They can be pretty messy around pools with falling flowers and seeds. Plus when they get as tall as yours you'll need to hire someone to prune and or skin it (remove brown leaf bases) which can be expensive. If you like the palm look around your pool, opt for the smaller palms like Pygmy Date, Windmill or Mediterranean Fan. You could even look at larger palms like Mexican Blue or Pindo which grow slowly.

Here's a link to a list of plants suitable for pool landscapes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants for Poolsides

Thanks Tomatofreak, Campv, and AZtreeLvr! You all are awesome. I moved in around April and thought I'd cool off before making any important decisions. Someone had trimmed everything up before...I was happy they hadn't hat racked everything! I spent years trying to make the bad choices that the original owner made in my last house work (it never did) so I'm glad for the feedback and will probably take out the mexican fan palm, the back tree and the palo verde. I had hopes that if the palms were california fans maybe I could make them work since I do love palms. The palo verde, while pretty, has done nothing but drop litter including thorns almost constantly on the pool deck (always fun when you're walking around barefoot!). The other tree doesn't look so great and has all ready started to buckle up a little stone patio. I guess the one in the front will have to go too eventually since I can see it is planted about 20 feet directly in front of my sewer caps. Sigh, I will miss the shade come summer! Are there ordinances about removing trees here?

AZ, I'm definitely going to study your suggestions! Definitely going to be palms and more palms lol!

Thanks again everyone!

WRF