2.5/12

The house is beautiful. If it were mine I would want to show it off more so I would give it a sense of stage presence by keeping the front planting area low so that it never grows over the height of the veranda flooring. If this were my home I be doing several things different. First, I would remove those clumpy hedges and soft frilly looking grass. I'd plant some low box woods that I would maintain so that they never grew above the floor line of the veranda and I would carry them out to the corner edge of the walkway entrance. I would replace the softening effect by adding a low growing and manicured flowering plant that would add color. I would get rid of the vases by either removing them all together with or moving them out into the grassy centers of the yard. If moving them I would set them on a small square stepping stone angled so that it makes a diamond in the yard. The points of the diamond would act as arrow tips moving the eye to the house. I would replant them in plants that hang over the edge and, again, low growing flowering or colorful leaf plants. Finally I would rearrange the furniture on the veranda. Perhaps placing a table on the opposite side from the swing to balance the room. I would paint the swing white so that it doesn't oppose the white doors and the same with the table if it is in front of the door. I would also carry the color up from the yard in potted plants on the end ledges behind the swing and table, carry it up with a pair of potted plants placed on either side of the entrance, so low that they would not grow over two or three inches above the lower window line.

To my eye, the current yard looks unfinished, and it competes with the lines of the architecture. As I said, the house is beautiful. I would let it perform on a stage.

what great ideas - I see it!

I agree with our landscaping ideas. I was so focused on the house that I didn't pay much attention to landscaping.