Have you tried the "find professionals" tab?

It seems like many expect for free services that true professionals charge for :-)

Our property line goes to the electrical pole & fireplug.

I'm not expecting FREE service. Only asking for ideas so i will know what I want to do when i do hire a professional landscaper. I'm 68 yrs old and can not do the work myself. I have no idea where to start with this. I haven't used the 'find professional' feature. Will check it out. I live in small town with just a few landscape companies that I will choose from.

If Houzz will let you edit your subject line, you may want to change it to something like "landscape ideas needed". If Houzz won't let you change it, try starting a new post. There's a small window of time (less than an hour) where you can change or delete things.

Thanks apple_pie_order....that makes much more sense.

A landscape designer will help you to formulate a plan for your garden and select plants appropriate to it and your location. And can see and evaluate conditions that are just not obvious to anyone online, even with good, detailed photos. And they may or may not work directly with landscape contractors that can do the actual work but will surely have some referrals for you.

If you want more help here, you need better photos.......generally taken from a single spot at the street or sidewalk and panning to overlap to show the entire garden. And we need a geographic location.....many plants are very specific in their regionality.

People contribute sketches and mockups when they get excited by your post. It’s best to let this happen naturally rather than popping in and asking for people’s time and effort quite so blatantly. : )

Nice house! I’d make your walkway more appealing as a start.

Wow

Of course people can, do, and should ask for ideas and pose questions. I'm sorry if my comment above sounded snarky. It was the "need" for people's "photos/sketches" that irritated me, I guess. It just seemed a little demanding.

Most people convey a bit more appreciation and recognition for the time it takes others to do that sort of groundwork for them when asking for that kind of help.

Perhaps I just hadn't had enough coffee yet. ; )

zippity1 I have no clue what i want so that is why I posted for help. Was sure hoping for ideas to help me make that decision. Not sure what zone I am in.....just north of Nashville in very small town. I have saved some photos on Houzz that I like which has been very helpful.

I think this would work very well. Also lined with stones that match the island of shrubbery that is already there. I would like to replace some of the shrubs in the island and the ones under the window.

I posted several photos of entire front yard. Not sure what else I could have shown but I am a bit confused on what kind of help I can get on this site. Guess I don't know the rules as well as others.

I also found this that would be pretty along the walk to the front door. Finding photos that are helping me decide what will make my house look better.

Are you interested in planting ideas only, or also considering work on your driveway or walk?

I would look around your neighbourhood and ask gardeners (or nursery staff if there's one in your area) about what does well in your area. Consider some evergreen "bones" for year round interest, mixed with other deciduous shrubs and maybe a small ornamental tree, filling in with low maintenance perennials and annuals or groundcover. How much time do you think you will want to spend working in the garden? That will affect suggestions.

If you want to create a bed along the walk and drive, you can use a garden hose or extension cord to try and figure out a shape that pleases you.

Plan to add some mulch to help suppress weeds as your new plants fill in.

It's also important to consider views and not only just from the outside ("curb appeal"). What do you want to see and/or block when looking out the windows at your garden?

If you have Netflix, Love Your Garden and Big Ideas, Small Spaces are fun shows to watch to get ideas.

Perhaps some of the confusion comes from a lack of understanding of what landscape design really is..........it is a whole lot more than just suggesting a few plants!! But that maybe all you want or need, in which case the Trees or Shrubs forums or even your regional gardening forum may be a better place to start. And the suggestion to view what's being grown in your area/neighborhood that you like is an excellent idea, as are visiting any parks or botanical gardens nearby.

If you DO want more than a just a few plant suggestions then reviewing this publication that summarizes the essence of landscape design may be helpful to understand the process and why it cannot be addressed very well online: Basic Principles of Landscape Design.

As to the photos, the first is cut off on both sides so we do not see the entire garden nor can we relate it to the surrounding area. And the follow up photos are not take from the same viewpoint so it is difficult to integrate those images with the primary one. They just do not provide a full picture :-)

btw, if the homeowner (and I do not mean to zero in on Lynn at all) cannot afford the services of a landscape designer or design consultant, then they really have NO budget to work with!! Design or consultation fees are really incidental to the cost of upgrading or improving the landscape....typically far less than the cost of the plants they would be suggesting!

Conceder adding a curvy stone walkway to your front entrance with some pretty flowering perennials and pots

replace bushes by fire hydrant with a nice evergreen tree and rocks and a few flowers

some ideas

Lynn, walk or drive around your neighborhood and see if there is a yard you love. Talk to those people. People with nice yards love to talk about them and give you ideas, or at the very least, if they don't garden, they can tell you who to call for a similar effect.

Lynn, Since you are in TN you will have a few different options in plants than other places due to weather patterns.

I may have missed it but which way does your front face?

You said you can’t do it yourself by I assumed you meant the work to get plants in, will you be fine tending plants? Such as prepping for seasons, trimming etc?

My front of house gets sun all day so I’ve had some trial and error with plants. I have five lovely rose bushes but I HATE dead heading them so I’m pulling two this year and planting annuals until I figure out what to plant with perennials.

We have box wood and holly bushes and the part that has shade I have hydrangeas because I love them. So I suggest you find some plants you like (home and garden’s website has lots to click through) then ask your designer if they will work and about maintenance.

Which direction does your house face? Will there be enough sunlight to support ‘full sun’ plants? I would dig up what ever is planted by the sidewalk next to the garage and use tall perineals to give some color.

On the right side by the bay window I would attach a trellis and plant a thornless climbing rose or other flowering vine.

Are you allowed small fences in your front yard to help support plants?

Or maybe use a mondo grass or monkey grass as a border around plants?

Wonderful ideas and the pictures help get my imagination going. My front door faces the west full sun so I’ll be very limits on what I can plant. No fended are allowed in our subdivision so that is out. Appreciate all the ideas and advice. Very talented people!

Oh my couchgolfer, I love the look of that picket fence covered with roses!

Lynn, I don't usually come here any more, but I think your question was just fine. If the house faces west, do you get mostly light shade most of the day? I notice you don't have much tree cover at all, so maybe you do get a fair amount of sun everywhere in your yard. I am a sucker for flowers which is exceedingly sad since I have a shaded yard front and back. I think I would add a smallish native flowering tree for the front, maybe slightly toward the house where that round bed is in the first photo.. It might be a prettier view from windows than the pole and hydrant and I do love some trees!

Congrats on the new house. It is darling! I can picture flowers and a shrub or two in place of your current foundation plantings. Enjoy your new adventure!

Oh, and I hope you post "after" photos and I hope I remember to come back to see them!

Thanks for the compliments and absolutely will post ‘after’ photos! There is no shade in the yard & not sure the photo I posted shows how very small the yard is. Because of the size & full sun I have to be careful about what I do decide to plant.