Yardvaark didn't say it, but I'll bet he would agree with me that increasing the size of walk would be big improvement. Or perhaps just increasing to a larger pad one step down from front stoop? Also consider a tall flat espalier or vine at left front corner, perhaps curving around corner? Me, I like climbing hydrangea but it's slow to start and latter gets so big you'll need to trim annually. And my insurance company ignorantly whines about fact that it holds itself onto the brick work.

Samarnn, I absolutely agree with you about the walk being widened and the landing enlarged. I didn't say anything about it, but I drew the landing a little larger. Since the subject came up, am wishing I had drawn the walk a little wider ... was being lazy. 95%+ of homes need this improvement.

Get someone local who knows their stuff to help you with plant selection when you get to that point. Several of the plants you express an interest in - burning bush, Japanese barberry - are on your state's invasive species list. You really need to reconsider planting these. And while Fine Line is supposed to not self-seed, Rhamnus frangula is a targeted invasive species. And the actual sterility of Fine Line has yet to be verified - you may not be able to purchase it locally.

Thanks for the mock up Yardvaark!

I agree, the sidewalk should be bigger there but we are not wanting to invest in new concrete as we are selling within the next year. Just looking to add a little more curb appeal without putting too much into it. I would reseed next to the walk but the window for planting KBG this year has closed. I really do like this idea however and if I can find sod, I may go that route.

Gardengal, I appreciate the info as well. All of the mentioned plants are pretty common around here and are available at all nursery's and greenhouses. I may avoid these however.

Any thoughts on the left side of my garage? Something more in the expanded bed near the ninebark?

Thanks all!

Typically, I would want a tree at the left side of house (garage,) similar to how it is at right side. However, you have the arborvitae bed quite close so it would probably require connecting the beds or doing away with the AV bed and a complete reconfiguring .... probably not something you'd do if selling in a year's time.

It's my opinion that the "too small" walkways that adorn most houses seriously cheapen the overall look of the house. If I was selling in a year, I wouldn't want to re-do a walk, but I would look for a way to patch onto or widen a walk so as to upgrade the whole appearance of the house. One simple way that works in many situations is to surround the walk with a strip of brick, sailor course, thus adding 16" in overall width to the walk. Adding onto a landing might require patching in a small amount of concrete, pressure washing the old so there was not too much contrast, and then adding on the brick strip surround. These are some not-too-difficult-to-do ideas if one believes the overall look needs upgrading.

I do like that idea.

I wanted to use pavers to widen our driveway but opted against it since it is asphalt opposed to cement.

Your suggestion would be to do something similar to the below on the yard side of the sidewalk? Maybe even doing an area to match the porch width?

An approach you might consider.

Doug that is some nice work, a bit more than we would want to do given our desire to sell in the next year.

To circle back to the sidewalk, here is a closeup of the porch

Lining the edge of walk with brick/pavers is a fairly easy way to add width without the "added on" look. In this case the porch is not wide so enlarging walk to its width would be a plus. It may require a patch but if you clean the pressure wash the existing walk, it will not be as noticeable. A better looking way would be to remove (sawcut) and redo one section.