Thank you for the examples. I appreciate it. I was thinking of expanding it around the corner to the left, but wasn't sure because of the flower box on the casements. I think I'm going to however since that space isn't really used too much.

Reduce the lawn area by putting in a grand entrance 3 to 5 feet wide walkway, possibly create a curved walkway, with a large bed on both sides minimum 3 feet wide. The home desperately needs trees away from the house. You could do a trio of birch trees or a single tree that has beautiful structure.

The style of your home would look good with English style cottage gardens and herbacious borders. Wider beds with plants of different heights, textures and colours. Have fun exploring all the wonderful gardens in England. You can find loads of examples.

W Brown - The third picture you provided in your comment - What is that gorgeous flower with the hosta? I'd love to try that combination in my own garden.

Desperate need of some large trees and the planting beds should round the corner of the home to soften the hard edges. Hostas are a lovely choice in some of bedding, accented with some of your favorite colored ornamental plants, perhaps New Guinea Impatiens. Remembering that those are shade loving plants so dependent of the houses orientation to the sun.

The chimney and the two sides of your doorway need something flowering and climbing for the English cottage style: pink floribunda roses, or white evergreen clematis.

Plant the hostas on the shady side of the house. Also, what about some bushy hydrangeas? I would plant an oak or other big, deciduous tree on the sunny side for shade in the summer but light in the winter. You have a lovely house!

Big classic oak tree 20 - 30 ft. from the sunbaked wall. White oak, Scarlet oak, Willow oak...

And a carefully mixed shrub/perennial border to shield your garden from the streets. Not to obscure, just make it feel cozy.

I think you need some taller shrubs closer to the house and boarder your beds with some type of bright flowering annuals. I agree with widening and expanding your beds. The definitely need color. You can also try azaleas and hydrangeas shrub roses etc. Love your window box it is beautiful. Good luck.

You have small plants in small beds, with a huge home, they are dwarfed. Go big! Bigger plants and beds and do add edging to the beds.

Also, hostas require mostly shade, they would go well under a nice size tree, not out in the blazing sun.

Suggestions: research larger trees (keep away from foundations & major water/sewer pipes) and shrubs for height and color features (not only flowering but leaf color). Take for example a "Smoke Bush"--great deep burgundy color, would look great against the brick background. Add more plants and do try some English Ivy (excellent for climbing up a large brick wall--adds beautiful color in fall.

Thanks all for the comments. Very helpful! I have much to do for the start of next year.

what is the square of brick on the chimney? i think i would plant something that would cover that. it looks like a window or something used to be there. other than that, i agree with others to expand the beds to go around the house. keep the edging line flowing so that it is easy to mow - no sharp turns that would require a weed eater.

Love your beautiful house! I agree with the
other comments, you could make the existing beds bigger, this will give you
more room to add larger shrubs.

Looking at your existing plants, I get the
impression your garden is sunny and fairly hot, so I'd go with plants that love
the sun.

You could place some larger shrubs at the
rear of the bed near the house, for example, Green Mountain
boxwood which grows to about 3 feet tall. For variety, add some flowering
shrubs such as Potentilla which has pretty golden flowers and grows about 3
feet tall. If you love butterflies (and who doesn't?) plant a few buddleia
bushes. Some varieties are fairly small such as Buddleia 'Buzz Midnight'.

Once you have decided on your shrubs,
choose some plants to put in front of them. Coreopsis would be perfect. They
are perennial plants which means they come back every year, saving time and money.
Lots of different colors to choose from - 'Pink Sapphire' would blend nicely
with your existing pink flowers, or go for a bright contrast with
yellow-flowered 'Moonbeam'.

Hostas don't like a lot of sun, some
heat-tolerant varieties are 'Hosta Plantaginea' and 'Hosta Sun Power'. Try and
plant the hostas where they get morning sun, not afternoon sun because morning
sun is less hot. You could also add a 'soaker hose' to keep the soil moist
around them.

One thing to consider is maintaining the
beds. After planting, apply an organic fertilizer and add mulch (no more than 2
inches deep). You could also add an 'edger' around the edge of the beds to keep
the mulch in place and stop grass growing into the bed. For your beautiful
brick house you could use something like a stone edger for that classic look,
here's an example.

Happy gardening- I'm sure the flower beds
will look fabulous!

Old style but cool...

Good luck! Love your house.