I'm in agreement with the retaining wall if it is placed not so as to RAISE the area at front but to EXTEND the existing grade and make it level.

The trees off the corners of the building seem fine given that they are smallish trees.

Rather than a big bushy shrub off of the left garage corner, I'd rather see an espalier set in front of the left garage wall, as the wall is blank.

The smaller shrub arrangement seems haphazard, almost messy, to me. (I know this is commonplace, but it does not appeal to me.)

I prefer singular shrubs that correlate with windows as it's a lot less "smothery" than shrubs plastered all along the foundation walls. You've got a lot of hedges there, too. I prefer groundcover to fill in vacancies and connect all the loose ends. Here we have mass shrubs (eventual height trimming though some are low) and seemingly, bare spots. Hmmmm ... are we putting down gravel/stone mulch? In the long run ... yuck. It makes changes so difficult. I'd rather have living, green groundcover.

Thanks Yardvaark...I was thinking some of that but more from a laymen / aesthetics. So what would you put in place of some of the bushes? Would you still do the Boxwoods along the front of garage and side? Also if you move the Espalier to the side, what would you put in replace it with between the boxwoods?

Start with realizing how much of this landscaping is going to disappear over winter. Almost the entire left side will be gone.

It is going to take a while for me to digest the design because the plant choices are a topic all to themselves. Boxwood does not do well around here on the south side of buildings. They require winter shade or they burn. Apple espaliers are about as maintenance intensive as gardening gets. Stone mulch is a pain, and I would only use specimen boulders if they came out of the ground when digging the house foundation. They are hard to get to look right. While there are rhododendrons that stay small, Nova Zembla isn't one of them, and like the box, they would appreciate winter shade.

I would not use the boxwoods but a singular shrub below each window (I cannot tell you what kind.) I don't have quick answers for all what-to-use-instead-of, as it takes time and study. It is basically creating a plan and selecting plant material. instead of espalier, maybe an ornamental grass or something like that ... an "accent" plant with some seasonal interest. And some groundcover instead of all the separate little shrubs.

Has the sidewalk already been poured?

If not, it looks like from the overhead plan that it starts wide at the front door and then narrows in the first curve. Is that correct? How wide is the walkway? How far is the walk from the garage in the space where it parallels the front of the garage? You don't normally want a planting bed that is much narrower than 6 feet wide if it can be avoided. My final comment on the walk would be to consider pulling it out toward the main driveway instead of turning it back toward the garage.

It'll be much easier to adjust the sidewalk by moving forms now than later on if it hasn't been poured yet.

What is it about hydrangeas that your spouse doesn't like? There may be a hydrangea type that avoids that issue or another plant that could be substituted but we need to know what to avoid.

Is the use of boulders and stone for right of the front door intended to create a dry creekbed? I think that would look odd in that location that is fairly flat. Dry creek beds require more maintenance than you would initially think. Weeding between rocks is time consuming and in flat areas in particular, stone and rock tend to become buried in sediment over time.

Sidewalk poured.

67" from house to sidewalk

The large corner is 32' x 17'

I think she doesn't like them because they're so cliche and everywhere. Pause a flowers start to die they look messy. ;)

How wide is the sidewalk?

I think the sidewalk is 48" at least

Are deer present? Many of the plants listed will be highly attractive to deer--Hydrangeas, Coral bells, Japanese Maple, cherry, apple. And an espaliered anything requires regular, skilled pruning.

Could I do mostly evergreen type trees / shrubs and the Asian maple as the base and then some flowers for color? Really like idea of have good coverage year round.

Yes we have deer.

The sidewalk may be 36...I need to measure but no less.

At some point we plan on pulling out the concrete and putting in a wider paved sidewalk.

Right now we're trying to get last remaining pieces done to close. But I would lie to have a good base.

We can always build upon.

Here's the front/top elevation drawing of home wth measurements.

I know for sure there is...

5' 7" from the garage to walkway.

17' from side of garage to walkway.

32' from dining room window to furthest stretch of sidewalk.

Hope this helps.

Getting ready to go meet with the landscaper / nursery to change this up.

Again we want to simplify and have a good base that will look good throughout winter...we can always add on going forward.

Some things we like:

* The Blue Dwarf Sister (which we have one in the island drawing by the driveway. Was maybe thinking about doing a few of them...not sure where.

* Definitely love the idea of the bloodwood Japanese maple. I know its not evergreen but we just love the red color.

* Love the globe blue spruces (not the grafted). As they can be shaped.

* Will the green mountain boxwoods stay green throughout winter? If so we like those.

* Other ideas for our zone?

Thanks everyone for the amazing help!

Just measured sidewalk width...42"

Joe one thing I have noticed in professional landscape designs is that plants are repeated throughout the design so the whole will feel cohesive.

In your front and left of the door beds only one plant is repeated, a Picea variety. That is one of the plants that people often use alone as a specimen.

I think an improvement would be less variety and more repetition on plants on each side of the house.

That is a personal preference and may just be a regional inclination on my part. I see that the anarchist sort of planting bed is becoming popular for reasons yet to be named.

In most cases I do not like tall plants next to a walk or next to an entrance of a house. Standing at the door of a home I feel like a sentry is looming next to me waiting to ask to see my papers. It also makes the entrance feel smaller.

I only like black mulch in the areas of the country that have black soil. Yours is not one of them. I would never mix wood mulch with stone. In fact, I would not use stone at all.

Most of the plants used will outgrow their space without constant maintenance.

I made a little doodle of your right bed.

I think it looks like a jumbled mess.

Hope you don't mind my playing around with your image. A somewhat minimalist design. Seems to lack something, an accent object in the foreground maybe. A lantern perhaps as you round the bend to the entrance? A treasured object of some kind? A start to which some vertical accents could be added.

Regards, Stanton