Ideas to reduce property maintenance:
Grass can be a lower-maintenance option because theoretically you just zip your riding mower over it and you're done and it looks nice.
However, if it's a constant struggle to keep your lawn looking nice (sprinklers ARE constant maintenance) or if the mowing itself is just a chore you'd rather reduce, then start reducing the amount of lawn. One idea: pick an area of grass that is the most trouble to you, i.e., won't grow well, hard to mow, etc., and create a large planted bed. A roundish but slightly irregular shape is best because you won't have to try to maintain straight lines, or a perfect circle. Plant it thickly with native plants. A nice arrangement is a native tree or two (depending on the size of the bed) that doesn't get too large, surrounded by native shrubs or tall ornamental grasses, surrounded by some lower ground-cover type plants. This will give you a classic "three level design" that will be lovely and balanced. Mulch it thickly. Once things grow in you won't have trouble with weeds (they need sun) and you can just mow around the edge.
In the pic below, the clump of trees & bushes in the center, I never have to touch. Mother Nature landscapes it to her liking and I think it's lovely. We call that a "parklike setting."
Edging. The downside of lawn grass is edging, one of the worst chores, and it also looks bad when neglected. Without any pics of your property, a couple of general comments. Consider planting rows of liriope or short native grasses that will flop over the edge. You can just mow around this edge and once it grows in a bit, this "living border" will keep your grass from creeping into your beds. I'm attaching a pic of one example. Any kind of *raised* border (like stones or curbs) will always require edging. So make your edging almost flush with the lawn, perhaps just an inch higher, and you can just mow over it.
For pastures that aren't being eaten by stock, a few shade trees sprinkled throughout will really reduce the growth rate of grass, eventually. Better still, and quicker, why not let some revert to natural meadow full of wildflowers and butterflies and birds? You can mow nice curved paths around it, and it looks very nice.
EDIT: Industrial Toys posted a very nice pic of having a meadow next to a mowed area. As long as you mow a neat edge around it, it looks quite nice!
And as for the pond, this is just my taste, but I think almost nothing is so unlovely than a bare pond that's just a dimple in the ground. Why not let grasses, bushes and trees grow up around part of it? Then you can just mow one part for your view of the pond from the house.
Fencing. Whole lotta edging work on a fence. Ideas: again, plant some shrubs or ground cover or even trees all along the fence line. Or locate your fence in a wooded or shady area.
Maybe herbicide is "once and done" in Texas and CA. Here, stuff grows back pretty quickly. There's a now a big lawsuit against Monsanto by a whole bunch of cancer patients.....we'll see what happens. But that stuff never leaves your body. Maybe if it actually *worked*, I'd consider carefully applying it during a dry period while wearing a respirator and consider it worth it. YMMV
Sounds like you're trying to maintain a smooth, green, groomed perfection. That will always be a lot of work. So as a general comment, why not incorporate a little imperfection into your overall scheme and just sort of "groom it around the edges"? Also, anything that needs watering is *out* as far as I'm concerned. Stick with natives that can fend for themselves.
This could all be wildly off base for YOUR property (pics would help) but the principles I think are sound.
