The yard is beautiful with huge mature trees, no neighbors really close, on a funny road that has no traffic at night. We have black walnut trees (that are really messy), black locusts (with big horrible thorns), oaks, old apple trees, a weeping willow, and many others.
When we moved in, the grass was overgrown so that it looked more like a field than a yard. Beer bottles were strewn everywhere, and scattered broken toys, lumber, and old tires cluttered up the place. Also snakes: a fair few snakes, which Lisa hates. Much of this is dealt with.
We finally got ourselves a lawn tractor and a weed wacker, mowed down anything that was taller than lawn-height, unearthed the pretty flowers, garbaged a bunch of the garbage, and did lots of tree- and bush-trimming.
We've now mowed and weed-wacked the whole lawn, and it's being maintained now. We found horseshoe pits, a garden (complete with rhubarb), and untold bits of broken glass, garbage, barbell weights, bricks, and firepits. There are quite a few snakes around, but as you mow the grass down short and use the lawn, they seem to go away: apparently they feel unwelcome then.
We moved all the plants from our old house on Woolwich street in Kitchener (from three gardens!) here (into one not-full garden!), including our pride and joy: a Diablo Ninebark.