I'm trying to gather some ideas to help "minimize" the post and bring out the actual flower bed portion more. I'm not great with plants. The only thing I've managed to salvage was succulents and lets face it, I'm not going to spend hundreds of dollars to plant succulents for the dogs to dig up (or the kids, haha).

I want to get some other opinions on dealing with this boxy flower bed and posts and how to tie it into the whole picture of our home. There are two on either side but I'm more concerned with the one near the door. There is a side walk running directly in front of these windows from the driveway all the way behind the posts & planter then down to the front door.

Top picture is recent. You can see the railing is gone now and the grass has grown back in in the "garden" area. The downspout pours onto a new pebble trail I made and the bay window is flanked by two hydrangeas (you cant see them, like I said...I'm a plant killer)

We live in the country and I'm crazy about old things and old homes. I want to bring some of that to this area. Ive thought of crowding the area with various heights of planters, but that still doesn't address the post. Id like to add some charm and detail to them. Make them stand out and be unique. Any help would be appreciated. I truly love repurposing old things, so if anyone has any ideas how to include that?

AJs New House · More Info

Second picture...you can see the sidewalk here.