Tracy, here's what we covered

Solarize the grass between the flagstone, then replant with something better

Right now there's grass growing in the gaps between the flagstone under the awnings, and we don't want that there. The plan is to solarize it, essentially using clear plastic and our summer heat to cook the grass and its roots to death over several weeks, rather than digging it all out by hand or spraying it.

The University of Arizona's Maricopa County Cooperative Extension has a publication that covers this well. The short version: solarizing works by trapping heat under clear plastic to kill grass, weed seeds, and some soil-borne pests down several inches into the soil, but it takes a real commitment, several weeks of hot, sunny weather with the plastic sealed down tight, and even then tough grasses can leave some roots behind that need a follow-up round. Since this area has trees and other plants nearby, we'll also need to be careful the solarizing doesn't overheat their roots in the process. You can read the full guide here: UA Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County: Kurapia, A Low-Water Use Groundcover and Turfgrass Alternative.

Once the grass is gone, I'd replant the gaps with Kurapia, frogfruit, clover, or dichondra. Kurapia and frogfruit are actually closely related plants, Kurapia is a selectively bred version of the same plant frogfruit is, so both give you a similar low, tidy look. Clover and dichondra are great too, though heads up, both can look a little rough in the peak of summer heat, they'll bounce back and look great the rest of the year.

It's already thriving here, so let's add more

You've already got Ruellia growing in this awning and flagstone area, and it clearly likes it here. Easy call, let's just add more of it. You like it, it's already proven it does well in this spot, no reason to look for anything else here.

Move the mulberry to where the pluot is now

The mulberry currently in the southeast part of the yard wants more sun than it's getting there, and it'll take off quickly once it has it. I'd move it to where the pluot currently is. The pluot, on the other hand, will actually be happier with more shade than it's getting now, so this move benefits both trees.

Once relocated and given more light, this mulberry will likely start to outgrow and overtake the sissoo nearby over time. Once the mulberry reaches somewhere around ten feet tall or more, that's the point where the sissoo can come out, it'll have served its purpose and the mulberry will be ready to take over that space.

A Desert Willow here, with Ruellia along the base

Against the garage wall on this side of the pool deck, Desert Willow is a great fit, it stays smaller than a lot of shade trees, has no invasive root concerns this close to the garage, and gives you great color all summer with its orchid-like blooms. I'd run more Ruellia along the base of the wall here too, same as the rest of this area.

Swap the pencil cactus for Milkweed and Gregg's Mistflower

These front containers currently have pencil cactus in them, I'd replace that with Milkweed and Gregg's Mistflower instead, both bring in pollinators and give you a lot more color and life in these pots than the pencil cactus does.

Yellow Dot for the strip on the other side of the sidewalk

For that strip of ground on the far side of the sidewalk from the house, Yellow Dot (Wedelia) is what I'd suggest. It's a fast spreading groundcover with bright yellow flowers that will fill in nicely and hold up well out there.