Beginner Gardening: Ideas please (this random fence...), 1 by kai55

kai55 wrote:
I bought my first house... and I'm a little over excited about possibilities for the yard. I've been growing veggies on my apartment balcony for years, though I have little experience with a garden that is ornamental vs edible. And I'm looking for some ideas and tips on what to plant... as well as some specific advice on dealing with this random fence that goes nowhere.

I'm in zone 5/6 (Great Lakes) and the front of the house faces south.

A few things. There is a scraggly "tree" on the west side of the house (shown in one of the pictures) that is going to go and I can't wait to rip it out. That side garden is mostly bare - and I have no idea what will pop up (if anything). The shrubbery around the front of the house is mostly mulched with wood chips. The small bed back by the garage (with the shrub in it) will be re-purposed into an herb garden since it's out the kitchen door. For some reason, there's also a giant rock in there. There is a street sign and fire hydrant in the SW corner, just to the right of where the side view picture was taken.

That fence though is driving me bonkers. Should I repurpose it? This is a corner lot, and I believe it's mostly there to deter people from cutting through the yard (I don't remember that portion ever being completely fenced in). My original thought was to pull it out and use a portion of it in the corner of the lot people would cut through, adding a flower bed in the process - maybe a hydrangea and a couple annuals. The thing is, there's a fire hydrant there that would necessitate it going father back into the yard than the one on the other front corner of the lot (not visible in the pictures). I'd really appreciate people's thoughts on that stupid fence. Is there a way I could make it less annoying to mow along? Something I could plant alongside it perhaps? Or just tear it out and call it a day?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.