The burgundy shrub is likely a cultivar of Japanese barberry. Quite invasive in many areas of the country. Where are you?

will cherry thrive in san fran???? i have often suggested.. peeps use pix of local things.. that inspire them ... it quickly answers what will grow in your area ... snap pix all summer long ... and get IDs here or in the name that plant forum ...

on some level ... you are trying to handle this like an interior remodel ... and that may be problematic ...

first... will you change the bed shape/design ... or will that remain static ...

second.. we should ID the 3 largest plants .. especially that green blob in the middle of the 3... we need to start with what we might call the backbones.. first with removal ... and second.. what to add back ... for the vertical aspect of the bed ... your multi level house is not going to look good with a flat garden ... and many of the larger potential backbone plants.... may have specific planting times .. rather than the ability to just slap them in anytime we want ...

also .. i see a purple plant on the left.. why would you want another???

will this be DIY ... will it be bigboxstore .. would you be willing to mail order???

is the other side of the driveway also yours.. and is there a duplicate large tree like shrub there .. meaning you might not want to remove one.. without the other ...

i am in MI ... i can not recommend plants for you ... you may as well be on the moon .. lol ... but i am addressing the base issues.. of how i would begin the process ...

one last look at the pic.. and that giant picture window ... i might come about half way out to the street.. and plant a tree .. so that in the future.. it would block the neighbors view .. directly thru what appears to be.. the whole house [or its a reflection of the peeps across the street ] ... i would not go any closer.. because i would want brightness in the house ... that might be a good spot.. for the cherry ...but also keep in mind.. sherry blooms for a few days ... maybe a week .. and then is otherwise a rather lackluster tree ...

well that ought to be enough to start defining your end product ..

ken

wisconsitom, I am in SF Bay Area in California.

ken, thanks for your reply! It's very helpful. I plan to hire a landscaping designer but I want to have a list of plants/trees that I want to make sure the landscape designer incorporates those in the design. Would this be an acceptable approach?

Here're some pictures of some flowering cherry in neighborhood, um...I think they are flowering cherry? But these are the ones that have those small fruits that drop all over the ground that I don't like. Are there ones that don't drop fruits?

These were taken last month, all flowers fell down and they now have burgundy leaves. I also like hydrangea and peony that my friend has.

I don't like the purple plant on the left, those have big shiny oval purple leaves which I don't like. So I will remove that. We plan to paint the house exterior after the rain season to a light to medium gray color, so I want to have some pink tree or purple shrubs to add some color. I want some green shrubs too but I am leaving that to the landscape designer for suggestion.

There are two identical large trees on the other side of the driveway, I own one of them and the other one is my neighbor. I plan to remove mine. The low shrubs on the other side of the driveway are mine, they are very coarse and I want to remove those as well. Thinking to have some hydrangea there.

I really like your idea of planting a tree halfway to the street from the windows. I will have curtains there (I have those temporary paper shades now) but would love to be look out to a beautiful tree. I would only open the curtains when I am home and I am at a very quiet neighborhood, very few cars and very few people walk by the community except the neighbors walking their dogs.

Thanks!

yy