Beginner Gardening: Help this bachelor landscape his first house, please!, 0 by ocelot_ark

ocelot_ark wrote:
Hello everyone! Hope this finds you well. I'm new to all of this landscaping/decorating business and it's not my forte, to say the least. I was hoping some people here might give me some fresh ideas for my front yard.

When I bought the house last May, there was hardly in grass in the front yard. So last summer I spent most of my time trying to repair the yard and getting some desperately needed water to the Texas soil which had been neglected by the previous owners who preferred to PARK on the area directly in front of the right picture window. Additionally, I had a MASSIVE pine tree removed about 3 months ago which still needs to be fully repaired (pictures below).

The property itself is fairly level for a bit but then begins to slope pretty badly when approaching the street, making it hard to properly irrigate. My initial thought was to create a massive rock garden along that slope, limiting maintenance for me, as I travel pretty frequently. Does this seem like a good idea or would that look bad?

Main thing I'm here for is a few fresh ideas - maybe even links to some other yards that might act as inspiration for my modest place. I want to do as much of this as possible on my own, so please keep that in mind. Now here are some pictures:

Here are some pictures for reference: