I would say extend the garden and eliminate some of the lawn, but that is a personal preferrence. You are right, it seems to be calling out for a tree or a tall shrub. I just planted a river birch myself, but it is too soon for me to tell if I like it. What do you want out of your tree? Do you want shade? Flowers? Evergreens?

I kind of like the grass, but that may be just me - less for up keep, DH just rides along and mows it. We have started various flower beds in the backyard. It's all very new to me.
As for the tree- I've always been partial to palms. Shade doesn't really matter as that part of the house is facing south and doesn't get as much sun as the west side of the house. Flowers may be nice. Evergreen nice too - then I could dress it up with some color by adding plants around it maybe?
I'm going to a couple nursery's this weekend to get ideas and suggestions.

That frost on your grass has me a bit concerned about Foxtail palms in your location! I have a beautiful multi trunk 20' tall Foxtail and I'm watching anxiously as the temperature is expected to drop into the 20's here tonight. It would be advisable to check the hardiness of Foxtails for your zone.

Going to the nursey is a good idea to get inspiration. Also really look at the palm trees in your neighborhood. You can get a good idea of what you can grow by looking around you. If you like palms I think you should get a palm because you clearly like them and they would give you the most enjoyment.

Where are you in Central Florida? There are some nurseries around that can give you excellent advice.

Are you really considering putting stucco over those beautiful bricks?

Regarding the trees, the palms are nice, but the advice above is very good. Check to see what thrives in your neighborhood after this freeze. There are a bunch of trees that grow in this area that flower. That's my preference--get the advantage of shade and then flowers too. In the next few months you will see a number of trees in your area begin to bloom. Check them out; if you can describe them someone here will be able to identify them for you.

I would wait with the concrete edging until you have settled in and know how wide you want your planting beds. Once the concrete is in, you can't change your beds any more.

Thanks for the comments!
We're in Port Orange, just outside of Daytona. The bricks look nice from this distance, but they're not real brick, just painted. We may get them repainted, or may stucco over them. I've got too many indoor projects first!
We've got so many queen palms all over our neighborhood. I like the look of foxtail's because they seem like less maintenance. But I'm also open to flowering trees. Any suggestions?
I did this terrible cut and paste photo of an autograph tree in the back closest to the house, then a foxtail palm and a couple yuccas in the palm bed and an uneven sketch of the concrete edging. After seeing this, I'm thinking palms may not go with our house especially the brick. I like the big green leaves of the autograph tree. Something with flowers would be a bonus! We could always stick with the palms in the back yard.

Jenni232323 - I really like your cut and paste pic, even in its cartoon-like state. Very nicely done.

I love certain palms. To my eye, the palm seems lost in the front yard. Maybe that's because it needs a variety of other tropical plants with it; I'm not sure. Ricky (fawnridge) is really the one who needs to chime in here.

The painted brick idea is cute, but combined with the ranch style, the house seems very dated. You can do a lot with paint, even when faced with a ranch style house. I would suggest a rich, vibrant color, in anything other than flat finish, painted all the way up to the soffit. Meaning: don't highlight the "ranch" style by painting the siding on the gable a different color than the body of the house.

Other ideas:

1. Install a more modern square-edged facade over the rounded columns on the front porch.

2. That front porch is just SCREAMING for a swing (search the internet for hammock chair) and a side table for your adult beverage, of course.

3. You mentioned that the lawn seemed simple to maintain, but it's not. Chinch bugs, grubs, moles, sod web worms, excessive irrigation requirements, excessive chemical treatments to maintain the lawn...these all come with a big front lawn and get expensive. The easy part is that you don't have to rip out the lawn, just cover it up with newspaper, cardboard, compost and mulch, and you can immediately plant directly in the compost.

You have a lovely clean slate, which you can transform into just about anything. If you really are not keen on keeping the bricks, I would figure out a house paint color and then decide what flowering plants you want to use. You might not like those same plants once the brick look is gone.

Thanks all for your suggestions. We've started the work. So far, we've changed the shape of the hedge flower bed so it's not taking over the yard. It's just straight now in front of the porch and then circles out a bit towards the right side of the house to make a nice size bed for something. That circle-ish bed on the right side is about 12 ft x 12 ft and there's no window there.
The ixora were pretty bad looking after the last of our freezes here in Daytona, so we uprooted them all and put 7 Lavender Formosa Azalea's in their place. (the original photo still shows the ixora) So far so good on those. Now, we bought a 4-trunk robellini / pigmy date palm and will pick it up this weekend.
I just have to decide where to put it! I had pictured it on the right side of the house, but do we need something taller there instead of the robellini or in addition to the robellini?
In the photos below, the only thing that's actually in our ground are the azeleas closest to the house. All else is my mockup to get opinions. That center bed isn't even there yet - just an idea.
I like the Christmas palm because of it's multiple trunks, and we've got so much coquina in our area, it's not expensive to get a decorative rock for the center bed. That center bed isn't even there yet - just an idea. So, please help with suggestions for where to put our robellini that's coming in this weekend. It's about 7 ft tall from base of trunk to top frond, so it's pretty nice.
Side note, we're extending the right fence so it's flush with the house and need access to the gate, so nothing can be planted in front of it, we've got 2 ft. of stationary fence right next to the house on the right, but no further than that.

So, bottom line, I've got a robellini coming in and I've got to decide where to put it!

Original - how our yard looks now
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My fav, the robellini in the back and a christmas up front, maybe a queen in the back for height? I'm not sure if we've got the room for the queen though.
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But it doesn't look bad without the queen
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Or the robellini in the front?
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I tried 2 queens in the photo in the front bed and it was too busy and 1 queen looked lonely. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Hi. I'm so glad you posted more pictures. Since I commented before, I thought I'd check this thread and comment again.

I like the robellini in the back, however, I would have moved it further to the right. Closer to where you showed the queen palm. It has the effect of making your house look smaller (less wide) if you place it directly in front of the no-window brick wall.

How about a gumbo-limbo. They are very easy to propagate. All you do is stick a 3 foot branch in the ground and water it every day or so until established. The roots grow straight from the branch, no hormones needed!
Gumbo limbo is also native to Florida.

Or, how about an Australian pine in the middle of your lawn, or on the right side. Australian pines are pretty much native now, you see them growing on the beaches all the time.

I, personally would suggest a Paulownia Elongata tree in the middle front of the empty green lawn area. They can grow up to 15 feet a year, but have been known to grow more than they in a year, also! The Paulownia Elongata tree is very easy to propagate by cutting between new leaf buds. Propagation should take place inside your home in a pot with damp potting soil to achieve maximum results. Flowers in about a year, if propagated from cuttings. Flowers in 3-5 years from seed. I prefer propagating by cuttings, as said earlier, because upward growth starts immediately after roots form. From seed, upward growth can take over a year to form, barely hanging on.

Or, how about a couple of weeping willows, right smack dab in the middle of your lawn? Propagation is very easy, all you need to do is take a cutting a foot long or so, plow it in the ground, water it often, and watch it grow.Willows are known to have massive roots, do don't plant it too close to your house! If you fertilize and water it away from your house or close, near the plant itself, the roots will decide to go there instead of under your house, etc..

Never plant Austrailian pine trees. They are not native, they are an invasive exotic. It has a very aggressive growth rate and is harmful to our native plants. There are many native trees that proivide shade and do not harm the environment. It is also illegal to plant in Florida.

thank you scottrell - took the words right out of my mouth !
anything that is easy to propagate and grows SO quickly should be a warning sign in Florida
beware of trees that send their roots out hundreds of feet and can destroy the foundation of the house
some palms did not fare well with our recent freezes
have you considered hurricane friendly trees or trees that bear fruit ?
crape myrtles ? loquat ?

Here is a link that might be useful: Trees for Central Florida

I agree with scottrell and gatormom
I would love to see more people get rid of the turfgrass which uses one third of our drinking water yearly. What we should be doing is planting more natives. Providing habitats for wildlife food, shelter, nesting places etc. You can still achieve a tropical look but get the benefit of low maint. and watching wildlife flock to your yard. National Wildlife Fed. is a good place to start. Gatormom you mentioned the H word!

Katie

My bad . No more H words . I'll take a drought or freeze any day .

If we are going to go to all the time , effort and money to plant things - why not choose plants - trees especially - that are Florida friendly , drought tolerant , cold hardy , no maintenance , need little if any fertilizer , are pretty to view and beneficial to wildlife as well as bend well in high winds - OH wait ! I just described Crape Myrtles !

There are other choices that also fit these criteria .

No way did you just mention the "D" word lol
come to think of it isn't DH like darling husband dearest husband hummm what are you trying to say here?????

Thanks all for your suggestions! We're going for tropical in the front yard, so will probably settle on queens for the center bed since they're one of the only ones that held up to this past winter.
Below is the bed from a side angle, I'll get a better photo this weekend.
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And below is a doodle for plants I'm thinking about. Ignore the orphaned yucca on the bottom, he should be up with the other 2. Any suggestions for this bed? The robellini is planted and doing fine, now we just need to add some plants around it before we get the edging and gravel (pea gravel the shade of sand). I LOVE the daisy bush (Gamolepis chrysanthemoides) and have wanted to plant one for a while, and they stay green throughout the year when they're not flowering. The yucca is ok, it's hardy and green (maybe look for soft leaf yucca). I'm open to suggestions!
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I think we need more color. I was looking for the name of the plant I know as Thai Plant, it's thin stalks aboud 3 ft high to start and has reddish pinkish broad leaves. Anyone? I think we'll add a small coquina or two to this bed too.
So suggestions are appreciated, also, has anyone dealt with pea gravel instead of mulch? We're just tired of the fading and replacing the mulch several times a year, so we're really leaning toward gravel. I know it's more expensive up front, but less work in the long run?
Remember, I'm a newbie to gardening! :)

Hate to say this but when you live in florida you have to take into consideration (H word) Queens palms are the worst in high winds. A better one would be Canary Is. date palm or even a Coconut planted at an angle roots will grow from the trunk giving it a better root structure. Your Ty plant is a Cordyline the most common being "red sisters". If your using gravel put a landscape cloth underneath or after our first heavy rainfall your gravel will be 6 ft. under.

Thanks for your comment. I've found out that Ti plant isn't cold hardy, so we're skipping it for now. And great suggestion about the landscape cloth - I'm still up in the air about gravel.

I went out this weekend and went a little crazy. So far, this is what we've got - I counted, I planted about 21 plants last weekend (that's not including the multiple transplants of canna from my neighbor's yard!)! We went with yucca cane on the right corner, agapanthus, aztec grass, society garlic, flax lily, golden dew and canna - but many many of each. Flax lily, golden dew and canna are all in the back, not very visable in this pic. Most of the grasses aren't supposed to fill more than 2x2ft, so in a year or 2, I think it'll look full enough to be tropical, but not too full.

Last addition to come soon will be a Mandevilla (Dipladenia) 'Sun Parasol Crimson' aka Red Riding Hood that I'm going to try to train to climb the small part of the fence shown at the left, it's about 6ft high and 3 ft wide before the swing gate.

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Your yard is looking good! Thai plants aren't cold hardy but if you get them nice and established they usually grown back just fine. As far as gravel goes I would say that for one I think it can get quite hot, and two if you do end up replanting it is kind fo a pain to dig up and around, but if you like the look give it a whirl. Try anything in gardening at least once!