Backyard views

The herb garden that the previous tenant planted. This has become quite overgrown in the past 2 months and I'm thinking of pulling them out. I wanted to replace them with some hardy, but pretty plants - any suggestions before I brave the nurseries?
Tomato plants
The manicured back lawn - the front lawn looks about the same. When I was signing the lease, I was under the impression that I would be responsible for maintaining the lawn and landscaping, but fortunately the sprinklers are on automatic timers and the management company, has a crew that comes in weekly and takes care of the lawns - phew!

I'd imagine that have to maintain this lawn year-round, I'll take a picture again in February, and we'll have to see if it's changed at all. The Central San Joaquin Valley of California is unique in it's sustained consistency in weather, since June 16th, I've woken up each morning to blue skies with sun. It's like the movie Groundhog Day, but luckily I go to different herd checks each day, so I know that time is moving forward. I asked my bosses when it was going to rain and they laughed. I'm thinking about using my vacation days to visit Seattle =-)

Cherry tomatoes from the backyard, very sweet, very tasty - thank-you former tenant for your forethought, I appreciate it. And for those vet girls, you'll recognize Tina's salad spinner, thanks Tina!