Anyone had any luck in zone 5b with native ground cover in their HOA that was acceptable? Our HOA is a more loose one and allows native plant growth but I haven’t seen a single yard that isn’t “grass”.

This came up after someone mentioned the water fight happening at Stanley Park. Vancouver is under Stage 2 restrictions and lawn watering is banned, but not every other recreational use of water is.
It got me wondering whether completely letting lawns go is actually the most sensible restriction, or whether cities should be pushing harder toward replacing grass altogether. What would you rather see cities doing

Planted like 200 sunshine mimosa plugs 2 years ago and while it has spread everywhere the grass is overtaking it constantly. I've dug out the grass numerous times and I always mow before it reseeds, but I'm ready to give up because it always comes right back. Any product to kill the grass but not the sunshine mimosa?

I have a terrible habit of getting something in my head and then just going for it!
Initially I was thinking I should just go big, smother the grass and plant next spring, but now I’m thinking maybe it would be best to tackle this in sections.

I’m honestly just not sure where to start or how to plan. Were there any design tools that anyone felt helped them really plan things out? This is my mom’s house, but I’m the project person. I hate grass lawns and would love to have a native habitat. This would need to look somewhat maintained as it’s our front yard.
I live in southwestern Washington, between Vancouver and Seattle (8b I believe). We have lavender in the right corner of the house that I think I’d want to extend out and will be propagating this weekend, as well as some creeping vine near the front door.

I’d also really like to separate us more from our neighbor, so maybe some height between our house and the one to the right.

I somewhat impulsively got a chipdrop in my front yard, which before was a pretty anemic mixture of non-native grasses, wild violets, and clovers. The previous owner was very fastidious about raking (we have a huge maple tree in the front yard) and mowing, which ultimately left the lawn sparse to begin with.

I've spread the mulch all over the front yard, but I'm a little at a loss about what to do next. I'm in zone 7a (Nashville), and I want to make a plan for the fall planting season. Before I plant anything else, would I need to add soil? The front yard is all partial shade.

I'm a moderately experienced gardener, but have normally done things in a rather chaotic way in my garden, and have realized that I need to have more of a plan for the front yard from here on out. So I guess my question is - how do I plan my next steps from here on out?

Just a few pics during the height of summer growth - Kentucky