Try to find "Front Yard Gardens: Growing More Than Grass" by Liz Primeau. It's a very interesting book which details how the garden in her front yard expanded until there was no grass at all. There's lot of examples of other front yards as well. Good luck

I might be all wet, but it is possible that if you plant taller shrubs under the high windows, you migh simply accentuate the imbalance between the 2 sides. If you could play with either a computer format, or some sketches/photos, you might try to see how to bring the appearance of the high windows DOWN. It would almost be like putting some wall art below the windows, and then having somewhat lower plantings a bit more symmetrically on both sides of the front stoop. Or something.

Then, you would think about planting a larger shrub or small ornamental tree somewhat out from the front L corner of the house, to blend the house with the yard.

At any rate, look at the growth habit of a mature Silver King and see if it will be bushy enough--it could be--as you do not want to have tall narrow things against the wall pointing up at the windows, but something more blurry and mass-like, if you rely on the foundation plantings to hide the wall.

Also it might help to have the garage door NOT light cream.

Thanks for the advice! I've been playing a little with a computer program to change both the color of the house and add landscaping, but I'll try some of the things you suggest.

I'm certainly not opposed to painting the garage and siding a completely different color from cream. The only problem is that the previous owners put in cream/light beige vinyl windows and those we can't paint. Would it look strange to have the windows an entirely different color from everything else? Are there any colors that would look better? The windows are also brand new (replaced within the last two years), so those aren't going away any time soon.

Most of the other houses on the street are brick with white siding or brick with gray siding, but the brick is also a lot darker on the other houses. Our house really sticks out in the neighborhood - the only thing that makes it look better is the lemon yellow house next to us!

Any foundation plantings should be placed outside the drip line. A bed of mulch or pebbles would keep water from splashing up and muddying the brick.

Without even thinking in terms of plants, what I think unbalances the house - more than the height of the left side brick - is the light colored garage door. My eye goes right to that. I'm hard pressed to suggest colors. But if you've got a program to tinker around with, try some of the darker tans or rich browns or one of the darker grays with some blue in it. You've got several elements to consider and coordinate - the siding, the shutters, the storm and front doors, the railing, and the garage door. I wouldn't worry about the new windows that can't be painted.

And you've got a lot of straight lines; softer, natural plantings might be more appealing to you including a dwarf pyramid shaped conifer or two in the mix. Crepe Myrtle or a lacey dogwood to the left would be a good choice. How about something like a Kolkwitzia Amabilis (Beauty Bush) with a weeping, fountain-like habit? Is the existing row of bushes worth saving? Letting them grow out naturally, they could be fillers for your proposed planting layers.

Let's do a bit of housekeeping before discussing the landscape. Prior to buying your house did someone go into the crawl space under the house checking for moisture and mildew build-up on the wooden understructures? The picture posted indicates the house is built on moisture retaining/non-porous red clay which is splashing up on the brick walls when it rains due to lack of gutters and could indicate an unhealthy situation lurking under the house. A common southern problem to which home buyers should be alert.

Spend your first landscaping dollars on gutters and downspouts...especially if there is a mildew problem under the house.

Thanks, duluthinbloomz4. Originally we had planned to paint everything a blue gray; in fact, there's a house down the street that has similar elements to ours and the gray/brick/squareness does well together. I just wasn't sure that would work with the cream windows. One thing, though: the house doesn't actually have shutters. We've thought about putting them in, but the long windows on the left are so close together that we weren't sure how they would look. I think in any case that I'm going to spend a good bit of time in Photoshop with plants and and color options today.

You're right, though: there are way too many straight lines. And if anyone's wondering why we bought a house with this much trouble, it's because it's less than half a mile from where we both work and it's beautiful inside. =0) The backyard is also a disaster, but that's for next year!

Also, nandina, we had a full mildew/mold inspection before we bought the house and none was found. Also, my husband regularly checks under there for any moisture. We both have severe allergies to mold and mildew, so making sure there was none was at the top of our list. One of our first plans for the spring is to install a vaper barrier to help avoid any possible moisture problems.

Thanks so much for the advice so far and for taking the time to help a newbie! I appreciate all of the help that you've given me.

Just wanted to add that you can get the book mentioned above, "Front Yard Gardens: Growing More than Grass" at Amazon for a little bit of nothing. I bought a used copy for about $3! Great book!

I took the excellent advice that was offered and spent some time playing with different paint colors. I tried many different colors and shades, but the one that I found to be best was a dark blue-gray. I also like how the windows are framed with a different color. Getting rid of the cream on the garage makes a huge difference; that balances it more than landscaping could have.

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You'll also notice that I edited out the little bushes that were in the front; they'll be going away soon anyway. Please let me know what you think!

So far so good. Always take lots of pictures, at least every couple of years. You will be amazed at the changes, the longer you live there. I would use some shrubs that will not "blend in" with the color of the bricks. Look around the neighborhood and make notes of the things you like and dislike, such as the arrangements, colors, textures and mature heights.

There are so many opportunities for creating a pleasant living environment for you and your family. I've come across a site that might help in your landscape ideas

Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape ideas

That dark color is nice! I'm not a big fan of yellow flowers, but this seems like a good place to have some. How about laburnum? And bluish conifers?

it is always easy to spend other people's money ;) but have you considered redoing the porch & stairs? the current porch seems out of scale with the rest of the house. also if you were to redo that you could add steps that come from the front of the porch and not the side. then you could do a meandering path of stone or concrete from the porch to the front sidewalk. that would break up the expanse of the front yeard and give your entry more of a pronounced feel. then you could do some beds/plantings along the walk.

right now the front door just kind of blends in to the rest of the house. i'd recommend changing the color of the front door so it stands out rather than blending in to the background. i'm always a fan of a nice red door. that way your family, friends, and chi can easily find their way into your house. then you could repeat the red color in some of the plants in the front garden to help tie it all together.

re: the darker garage door and the cream window trim, you could alway add a little cream to the garage door to tie the colors together.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! We finally got the front of the house all painted - we actually had neighbors stopping to thank us for moving in and improving the house. We still need to add glass to the storm door (right now it's a screen), but we're going to take care of that soon.

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re: changing the front porch, we've talked about expanding it to match the front of the house, but it just isn't in the budget right now. There is enough inside and in the backyard that needs to be taken care of that we just can't take on a project that big. I think that if were were going to redo the porch, we'd completely rework the sidewalk as well; I hate that it goes all the way to the house.

Now that it's painted, we can really start thinking about plants - and it's the right time of the year for it, too. We're going to take some of the advice that I've gotten here; I think that we're going to flank the front door with some bushes and add maybe some azaleas to the left. I also want to get some small annuals for lower to the ground (maybe yellow as suggested!), and a nice dogwood off to the side. Since we're going to extend the flower bed, we're also going to add a stepping stone to get to the crawl space.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I hope that you like the colors that we chose; my husband and the guy at the paint store were skeptical because the colors are so dark, but now that it's finished my husband likes it. Also, now that the paint has had more time to dry and cure, the main color is more gray then in the photo (which is what we were going for). It will also look much better once we get some plants to replace those awful bushes!

Love that blue-gray color!

Here's an idea that's a little "off the wall," -- off the brick wall, that is. You have a horizontal blue-gray line given by the porch railing. How about extending that railing along a deck all along the front of the brick wall, so that you end up with a long, narrow, elevated container garden. The container garden would give you lots of flexibility for plantings above ground level and interrupting that large brick expanse while unifying the front of the house with the blue railing. That way you don't end up with the appearance of a screen of shrubs all in one plane in front of the brick wall.

Good luck -- looks like a great canvas!

Looking at your current plantings of the burning bushes near the foundation it appears that they are too close to the wall. I'm not a big fan of shrubs planted in a row like that, plus the red fall color just blends in with your red brick.

If I were designing your frontyard I would go with the plan you mentioned of curving a bed from the left to the front entrance. I would narrow the curve down to the driveway and have it end at the curb. This bed along the driveway could be used for colorful annuals.

You need one outstanding small ornamental specimen tree ( something with interesting leaf color and bloom to contrast the red brick, such as Cercis canadensis ( redbud ) 'Hearts of Gold' ) or one of the chartruese leaf colored Japanese maples. This of course depends on your exposure ( a very important factor not mentioned ) and how much sun/shade you get . Place it to the left, not too close to the foundation.

Next would come the bones -evergreens that will look good year round. Just one or two nice ones will do ( globe arborvitae ( dwarf ), Densi japanese yew, holly or boxwood are good choices. Don't line them up like soldiers. I'd take the burning bushes out and mix them here and there in the design or use them for the back if you have too many. Always allow room for the tree/shrub to reach it's full size. This is a common mistake that new gardeners make.

Once the background is in then comes the fun of selecting some favorite long blooming perennials for punches of color. Remember placement of plants are like a photo : tall in back, middle, front, so on.

I hope this is helpful. Good luck with your first landscape.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sweet Home and Garden Chicago

Thanks for the great advice! Woodsfairy, we would love to extend the front porch, but it just isn't possible for us right now money-wise. If we were to do it, we'd need to tear down the existing one (it's a bit worn anyway) and start over. Glad that you like the color, though! We're very pleased (and proud) of how our first house painting job turned out!

Thanks Carolyngail! The front of the house gets full exposure to the morning sun, and there isn't much shade except in the late afternoon. Concerning the current bushes, we actually ripped them out last night. I've hated them since I saw them, so we took them out and put them by the driveway (someone will pick them up for their own garden within a day). We were thinking about doing white azaleas - we found some beautiful, healthy ones, so we were planning to put those in today. What if we staggered those along the brick with maybe some other bushes or high flowers? We're also going to get a dogwood or crape myrtle - not sure which yet - and put it to the front and left of the house. We've also decided to replace the tiny little tree that isn't doing well at all with something a little more mature - leaning towards a River Bark (they seem to do well in the neighborhood).

Glad that it sounds like my idea for the general layout is sound! I think that we're going to have to take it a chunk at a time but of course have a view for what it will finally look like at the end. Thank you for all of the great advice - we really appreciate it!

Hi Jenwh,

You're more than welcome for the advice.

I see you're two to three zones warmer than us here in Chicago. Lucky you :) I just realized it when you mentioned Crape Myrtle, a favorite from my childhood.

Dogwoods don't actually like a lot of sun, being an understory tree in its natural habitat, so a Crape Myrtle would probably be more logical, given the exposure to full sun. You could also do a Dwarf Magnolia that gets only 6 feet or so.

Azaleas don't like a lot of sun either so I'm doubtful they'll make it in full all-day sun. Do you like roses at all? I'm speaking of shrub roses like the ever-blooming , carefree, disease-resistant Knockouts ( 3-4' tall ) that bloom all season long here. That would give you spectacular color over a long period. They can be mixed with evergreens such as boxwood or holly.

I think it's wise to do the garden in sections as you have the time and money. Getting the major "bones " ( trees and shrubs ) in place is the most important step.

I once designed a tiny island garden for a client that wanted "maintenance free " ( there's no such thing actually )but color and texture all season long. Quite a challenge. I used tall ornamental grasses for the background, knockout roses in front of it, Stella d'Oro daylilies and ornamental strawberries as a low growing groundcover. Even though these are perennials they gave an amazing display for a long time !

Here is a link that might be useful: Sweet Home and Garden Chicago

Thanks Carolyngail! You've made our decision between a Dogwood and Crape Myrtle much easier.

One of the reasons we chose azaleas is that our neighbors have a beautiful azalea that gets the same amount of sun that ours will. We took the advice of those here and looked around the neighborhood to see what we liked and what worked well.

Tonight we planted three azaleas and a couple of Japanese Skypencil Hollies to flank the door - I'll look more into roses, though. I'm also thinking about planting some lilies or irises; those seem to do well in the area. We're taking Monday off from work, so we're going to spend the day working more - hopefully we can get some trees in the ground!