Can you tell us where you are located? Zone 8 is different if it's the s.e. US vs the west for example. If you're in the south a great book is Southern Living Landscape Guide (I think that's the name) or Tough Plants for Southern Gardens. The first thing I would do would be sort of have a grand plan for the front yard. Bigger beds are better, in my opinion, easier to plant and maintain, mulch, and weed. Pecan trees (I'm thinking you're in the south) get very big, and in my experience, are notorious for dropping big limbs in storms. So, yes, I might take that out. The little palm also might have to be moved, or perhaps put it inside a larger bed with several other plantings. My mom lives in south MS and has lots and lots of shrubs planted singly in her lawn. It is very hard for her to weed and keep the grass away from each plant and it is very hard for the guy who cuts her grass too. I just can't convince her to make a larger bed and put several plants in there together then make a trench around the large bed (a border bed or an island bed).
The easiest way to separate the edges of beds from the lawn would be to make a trench with a shovel around it. It's easy to do esp. after a rain. If you can give us some more info and maybe a couple other pics it would help. You also probably want low maintenance which I would suggest small trees, shrubs (there are plenty with 3 seasons of interest), and bulbs for the most part. The lawn looks good so tht's a plus.
Laurie