If you keep the front (peanut shaped) bed, move the foundation plantings to the front bed and lighten up the area near the porch to almost nothing but those things that you would appreciate while sitting on the porch.

Patty

You have a nice house (and apparently porch, though it's hard to tell with the obscuring shrubbery), so it'd be good to show it off by removing/moving much of the offending greenery.

There are some (myself included) who do not like beds squatting in the middle of the front yard, unconnected to the home or remaining plantings. If you want to keep yours, you might enjoy a little more diversity out there, at least in terms of height (everything looks to be about six inches tall max).

Do people walk up to your front door? To me, the entryway onto the porch seems too crowded. I'd feel a bit claustraphobic walking through there. Therefore, I'd recommend opening it up and make it more obvious for new visitors that they are or aren't supposed to use that door.

-Stephanie

Heh, I commented on your other thread about the foundation plantings even though that wasn't the topic of conversation! They contrast nicely in color and texture, but I think there are way too many shrubs for that area, packed too closely together. Particularly bad to my eye are the barberry, which *should* have almost a fountain shape. Instead, in order to help them fit into the space, they're pruned into a block. Not good.

When you complete the front bed as you've planned (adding that tree on the left, breaking up the planting with varying heights and textures), I think you'll feel better about taking out some of the plantings. It'll help to show off your pretty front porch, too!

Jeez, I guess I'm the only one to like the foundation planting. It is though, a little too much of a technicolor chorus line right in front of the porch for my taste what with the line of red alternating with green but I like how the grasses in front of the porch help visually integrate the grasses off to the sides of the porch. I personally hate the look of seas of mulch so it's nice to see mature plantings fill the front beds. And while I understand it must be a lot of pruning to do, at least you save time on the corresponding weeding that must be done when the plantings more sparse!

My particular feeling is that the walk could stand to be broader in front of the house. It's hard to tell though exactly how wide it is now. If you broadened it, particularly into a softly curved "wide open arms" to the porch area rather than the right angle you have now you'd be able to move out some of the crowding plants nearest the door, maybe using those plants to create a bed on the street side of your walkway that could then be integrated into the "peanut" bed in the middle of the lawn that looks kind of out of place right now. I have trouble telling distance in photos though so maybe that bed is too far away to integrate comfortably.

I agree that the walk should ideally be wider. The shrubs that you have now look like they have been sheared rather than pruned by hand. You can reduce the size of those considerably with gradual removal of some of the older branches, which will restore a more natural shape and lighten up the look.

On the other hand, unless you want to prune annually to keep them in bounds, you might be better off replacing them with plants that will not outgrow the space like these have. It's not a huge job to take a snip here and there once they've been rejuvenated, but not everyone wants to fool with them on a regular basis.

Otherwise, I don't think they look bad. How about reducing the size of some, removing some, and replacing them with some different shrubs or massed perennials to give a less symmetrical planting? I'd start with the ones nearest the door to open that up a bit, as someone else suggested.

If I understand the above posts correctly, the front island bed isn't considered to be "integrated" with the rest of the plantings. Is this because the plants in the island appear to be different in style than those along the foundation and side? Therefore, if some of the same style plants in those beds were included in the island, it would then become integrated with the rest of landscape? Or is there a different design issue altogether with the island?

Looking at the property from the street, it seems that the island could do a good job of breaking up the large expanse of lawn (but still allow plenty of room for grassy activities). I think that what looks out of place is the plantings in the island, not the island itself. The island bed might also (depending on height of plantings) provide a bit of privacy for the house. If, in fact, the OPer views the above as goals for the island, does it then become "good design" even if the bed is smack dab in the middle of the lawn?

I'm not trying to hijack the thread... just learn from it!
-Stephanie