Can you take a picture farther back? Do you have any islands or trees in the yard? Initially I would suggest a small tree on the far left side to bring the landscaping away from the house a bit. We lived in southern NH and a Kousa dogwood worked well for us (it only grows about 20' tall.

I'm at work right now, but I'll take pics from further back when I get home later :) Nothing else in the lawn. But there are large trees on the left side of the house. Now you've got me thinking....

Beautiful house. Look at shrubs that get only four feet high at maturity. The cypress will get huge. The hydrangeas will get pretty big. The roses will be good if they get full sun at least half a day in summer.

If you are interested in a showy drop-dead flowering border, talk to your local nursery about what does well in your area. If you prefer native plants, there are many that will do well, consult local nursery for advice. Your planting bed will need a lot of soil amendments such as compost to get a good start after the stumps are removed. Ask the stump grinder pros to loosen up the soil along the whole bed for you with the appropriate machines. Their machines save backbreaking labor.

Does your garage tuck-under? You always want to plant in odd-number groupings. Will you be keeping the walkway or replacing at some point? You can really set yourself up for success knowing the plan up front, even if you can't implement it right away.

How deep are those beds (width from foundation to walkway)? They look a bit skimpy to be able to accommodate your intended plant choices.

Both roses and hydrangeas are very appealing to deer and the deutzia only slightly less so. What was wrong with the rhodies? Personally, I'd prefer more evergreen material in a front foundation planting........that area is going to look pretty sparse and dead in winter.

I would get the beds in shape, let them overwinter, and spend the winter dreaming up a plan. Your plan can be realized in several steps, depending on scope and budget. I would actually get the hardscape in place before planting anything. Get some pro help with your plan if you get stumped. Many of our local nurseries will draw up a tentative plan with little to no investment up front. Spend the winter doing research on plants that will thrive in your region, etc.

I salute you for wanting to enlarge the light fixtures. Also - since your house is so symmetrical I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to make the planting symmetrical.

So, I went online and found the listing pictures from like 6 years ago, when we bought the house. Those evergreens in front grew so much since then! Here's a better angle showing where the garage is in relation to the house. To answer the question about the walkway, yes, I would love to move it further out from the house, so I could have a bigger bed for more flowers, but it's one of those things... if I had a million dollars. There's nothing really "wrong" with it, but it is just basic asphalt. =D

The rhododendrons have not bloomed for years, and weren’t really growing anymore... hmm. I suppose I just don’t love them either, but I do hear the point about needing some evergreens so it’s not so bare in the winter.

Now That I am thinking more long term, it in fact might be a good point not to rush into planting now, and really think about the walkway thing first.

The beds are not very deep, only about 5 feet in depth from the foundation, if I am able to estimate. I’m not at home to measure.

People often experiment with flowering annuals while they are considering what to do long term. You could also plant a couple big bags of $50-for-75 daffodil bulbs this fall before frost. They can be dug up and replanted when you get around to it next year after they bloom.

Terrible pic, but I would keep it simple on the right side & do a more extensive bed on the left with a tree on the corner.

Don't try to make the right and left sides identical. The plants will not grow identically, and then it won't look good. Make the bed on the right side deeper as shown in the post just above mine.

To Yaardvark, thank you, it is helpful to know which pictures I need to take!

Partim, you raise an excellent point for us to consider. I did notice that there was a significant size difference in the previous shrubs on the left vs. the right, due to differing amounts on sun and shade.

I think patim was trying to say make the LEFT side (looking at the pic) deeper since he referenced my post. Which makes sense because you have limited space on the right. Make sure you look for dwarf shubs that do not get very big so you are not trimming them back every couple of weeks.

@mark_rachel you are correct. I meant the left side.

All shrubs have a tag that shows how big they will be at maturity. Both height and width. Be sure you leave enough room between shrubs. Also leave enough space between the shrubs and the house, so that there will be a foot of space at maturity. It will look a bit sparse at first, so just plant annuals in between, until the shrubs mature. It will save you a lot of trimming and pruning later on, or even having to remove too-close shrubs (waste of time and money).

I would begin with the house itself. It is crying for something substantial to give it dimension and character - a portico. Pull the landing out from the house. The exposed foundation offers a ripe opportunity to have raised planting beds with perhaps a rustic stone wall with coping. That radius where the walkway turns into the house is a visual distraction. Straighten the lines out! Incorporate some intentional pathway lighting to draw people to the front door. The steps can have a special plinth for those 2 pots (rather then have them sitting on the steps proper).