James,

Blue Spruce get HUGE! It will eventually be bigger than your house. Try to think to scale a little bit, small house, smaller trees and shrubs. It'll look like a big tree, with a little house.

Look online at different landscaping ideas before you actually buy your shrubs and trees.

How much time do you want to spend on taking care of the front? Do you want a nice evergreen front with mabey seasonal annuals for the summer every year? Are you really into gardening?

Google smaller home landscaping in your zone, mabey in your area and see what you like.

Do you want a walkway in addition to the driveway?

Don't plant an evergreen that is going to get bigger than your house, think smaller.

Yeah I was worried about the size the spruce would grow I was debating about getting the "dwarf" one which grow about 10 ft tall. But I am not super into gardening, just getting started. I prefer perennials which I will keep groomed to a certain size or shape. I am not too much into planting flowers everything spring

Also I wasn't thinking too much about a side walk but if you have a suggestions I wouldn't mind going that route. Cement work is easier to me than landscaping

James, You know I looked at that, and it didn't really stick out. I see what you are talking about now, but it's not that obvious. That is your living room window, right? You want natural light coming through it, I wouldn't worry all that much about that. Seriously, it bothers you, and if it bothers you that bad, just hang some baskets with plants in them for now, til you decide what you want to do with the landscaping in the future. You could hang pretty hanging baskets all along your porch for now, they sell them everywhere.

Agreed. Don't use a blue spruce - it would be out of proportion to your home.
I'd use two Emerald Cedars instead (keep them very very well watered).
I would put a small ornamental tree such as a Pee Gee Hydrangea (or if
you want slightly bigger, a Japanese Lilac) to the right of the house.
Looks like you might be in Canada, so these might work for you.

If
you aren't a gardener, make a simple bed to enclose them and soften the
house. Don't use a lot of shrubs, just keep it simple, maybe one shrub
to the left of the Emerald Cedars, such as an "Annabelle" or "Endless Summer" Hydrangea. (Or
you could put a nice ornamental grass such as "Hameln".) A
curve of perennials such as echinacea "Tomato Soup" along the curve in front of the
cedars. Then you
could put another set of perenials along the bed at the right side along the curve such
as daylilies "Stella D'oro". Or you could put three "Green Velvet"
Boxwood but keep them trimmed. All of these depend on how much sun you
get at the front of your house. If it is shade, then you could use
small hostas instead of the echinacea, you could use japanese forest
grass or brunnera "jack frost" in place of the daylilies. Lots of
options. Mulch well once bed is in place.

This drawing might give you some ideas to get you started.

I think an ordinary deciduous tree would help the most. In time the canopy will be a big distraction. What is the purpose of the wire fence around the porch?

Sorry everyone my area is in Canada zone 6B if that helps

Butteryfly - Yes that is my livingroom window but there is no direct sunlight entering that area due to the path of the sun. It almost goes directly over the middle of my house.

Emmarene - That wire fence is just part of the metal structure that is supporting the porch overhang. I would be tempted to cut it out the railing/wire but I am worried it may cause the structure to shift if I do. I was debating about cutting out the spindles and making a wooden cap for over the metal rail so it would look more natural/softer to help blend in more.

Daylily - Hmm I see what your idea with the 2 emeralds. I am guessing they would get about 4 hours of direct sunlight in that area. Would that be enough for them? Also the ornamental tree, what about planting a Japanese Emperor 1 with maybe a carpet juniper for ground coverage (or would it clash with your placement of area 3 too much?) do you think a burning bush would look okay in number 2 location? Thanks for the drawing also it helps with the visual

Sorry for all the questions everyone but this is being a big help

Were this mine, I'd seriously consider renovating the porch so it coordinated with the roof. You'd only need to do a little concrete work to extend the stoop. The support columns could be respaced and you could obtain a new section of railing (unless you are removing railings.) If you don't do this, I would not hide the defect with a woody shrub that will need its height trimmed. Instead, consider growing vines supported by cords that run from the porch ceiling.

I'm in zone 4, so the plants I suggested are what are commonly used where I live. For zone 6b, you probably have a much better selection of plants in which case, with some research you may be able to find something that works better in the particular spot that you are concerned about. Emerald Cedars prefer full sun, but I do have some that have only 4 hours, and they are fine as well. They just need water. Basically you need to find something that isn't huge for that particular spot, and it sounds like you want evergreens.

I definitely love the Japanese Emperor 1 that you suggested over anything that I suggested. We have some difficulty with that plant in my zone, but I think it is perfect where you are.

I don't like the Burning Bush because it gets too big in my opinion and would obscure your entranceway and porch. Maybe the Dwarf Burning Bush would work for you, but where I live, I still find the dwarf variety to be too big. You would know better how they perform in your area though.

I'm not sure that I would put carpet juniper on the ground around the Japanese Emperor 1 because the maple is such a beautiful tree - I might just simply mulch along that side and leave no plants. But either way, I'd probably make that decision after I installed the Japanese Emperor 1 - I'd decide then whether or not I needed something.

1st choice would be to re-do the porch. If that is not possible at this time can you remove the railing from the unfinished end and have some sort of focal point there? Put some big 16" pavers out fro the end of the porch and have a little sitting area, a big pot pond, a container garden? Something like that. It could extend out from under the roof a bit and have plantings around it.

Why did they do that?????

I am sure that in my location that building would be in some code violation. I am curious what is underground off the porch which made it impossible to pour the porch the whole length of the portico. You do mention you are comfortable with concrete so maybe you can find a way to correct that side. I like the wrought iron.