The house came with front yard landscaping but we don't think it was right for our house. The plants planted by the landscaper were mostly plants for dry areas.
While it does get hot in the summer, there is also a fair bit of shade provided by our house's shadow. We do get cold for a morning frost in the winter, so the week after we moved in we experienced the last frost and we are pretty sure the unknown trees in the front are now kaput.
Trees
We actually now have 6 Japanese Maple varieties and 2 Japanese Weeping Cherry Trees in the backyard. The last to be planted is the Waterfall Japanese Maple and it's my favorite tree so far...
We also saw a BLACK WIDOW in our garage, so we'll have to find it and smash it. The dangers of owning a home.