I am exhausted just thinking about the idea of trying to create a garden that covers that whole area in one year. You might want to take it in stages, both because that will be a lot of work, and also because your priorities may change after a couple of years, so taking things in stages may save you redoing things. Figure out what you want the most this year and start with those areas. Trees take longest to grow, so you might want to do those this year also to give them time to get growing.

Starting with soil tests is a great idea. Does your soil seem fairly consistent across your property? If so, I'd take some small amounts from across the property and mix to create the sample, but if there seem to be major differences, have separate samples done.

Research where in your area you can get compost or other organic matter since most gardens benefit from added organics. Some towns have a compost program, or there are bulk suppliers that will deliver, or there may be a stable in a park or someone with backyard bunnies or chickens who may have manure to supply. Most manures need composting or aging before putting in a garden, so research any you get if it's fresh. Start your own composting area also, since you will always have uses for good compost. Plan space for several piles; I usually have 3, one for new stuff, and then the other two for progessively older material.

I probably wouldn't plant food crops in beds along structures like the house or garage since you are in an urban area and lead paint was used for years, so the soil may have quite a bit of lead in it. Ornamentals would be fine there. I guess you could have those samples tested separately for lead, though I don't know what the cost might be.

I don't bother to grow corn since I have never managed to get ears - the critters always get them, whether I am in a rural situation as I now am, or in a suburban situation. I would imagine that there are enough raccoons and possums in a more rural area to create the same kind of havoc.

Most veggies and fruits need at least a half day of good sun to do well and do best in all day sun. Are you planning to plant only veggies and food plants or also ornamentals?

Consider the water needs of your plants in deciding where you will put things. It would be inconvenient to haul a hose out to the stretch between the sidewalk and street (check with your town as to whether you may plant there legally) so anything there should be chosen from plants that are fine without supplemental water and perhaps don't mind being walked on if someone parks by the curb. Most vegetable and food plants need consistent water and so need to be within easy reach of a hose for when you have dry stretches.

Before doing any digging, check with Digsafe or your local equivalent to be sure where any buried utilites are. DH periodically gets calls as a firefighter when someone has dug through a gas line because they didn't check first, and I think a water or electrical line could also be a problem.

Good luck and enjoy the process.

Before you start planting:

think about the hard landscaping and your advancing years (whether you're thirty or ninety - they're advancing!)

Think about features you'd love to have - glasshouse or tunnel house, entertainment area, breeze-way, extra parking or a turn around, pergola or arches, decking, gazebo, pond, fountain, statuary or elegant pots, garden compartments and destinations.

Think about how you will get materials to those sites - and what paving or four season walks you need to install so they give you best value.

Think about clearing snow away and where you might need to pile it simply to get your vehicle to the road. If it makes a soggy patch, or an ephemeral wetland/rain garden, how would you like it to be? Or do you want to add a storm water drain?

Do you want to install water capture tanks to help ease out drought and water restrictions?

Where do your utility lines run? Do you have a septic tank? I don't know about your yard, but I do know that trees such as willows have these damp-finding roots and will be into places such as sewage pipes or leach fields leading to nasty bills Soon.

If you plan to fetch foodstuffs from a store shed, tunnel house, or root cellar over winter - very safe footing and garden lighting are such a pleasure. Are they already there - or will you have to excavate to lay those lines for power and water?

Look at the number of hose points in your yard. Do you need to increase them? Bring them up to working height?

Garden shed and potting bench - is what you have working? Have you enough storage for pots, flats, media, chemicals, and amendments - plus yard tools?

Plus, what every garden needs! - a nursery area and quarantine place for plants you need to check, or heel in while you prepare their sites, or grow on before transplanting. Or even a cutting garden, if you love to have flowers for the table or to give to others without disturbing the main garden displays.

And protection from hungry creatures for your veg garden, as well as from hungry tree roots. It's easy enough to provide spot shade over summer. Much harder to cope with increasing shade and diminishing crops because your garden is maturing into a woodland. (Keep your neighbours' hedges and trees in mind, too.)

Lastly: start keeping a daily journal, even over winter. Record the weather at your place, detailed, if you have the means whereby. What you planted. Where. Where you got it from. What happened to it, or the crop. Your running costs. Whatever else seems good to you to keep a record of. I absolutely guarantee you'll be very glad you did, several times a year.

Before you think of planting.

Because it is easier to map out those places and features in mind (and on paper) and then put them under grass or mulch, than it is to plant them in shrubs or treasured perennials, only to have to shift them or destroy them later.

The other part is to pause until at least spring/early summer is through so you can see what you've inherited. There could be yummy clumps of spring bulbs and hardy perennials out there among the neglected bits.

Then you can think about what style of garden you want, and how much work you want to do season by season.