The pictures are not the ones needed to in order to evaluate your situation. We need to see the same view as in the first picture, but wider (more of what is beyond right and left sides of house) and less lawn and less sky. To get those pictures move in closer and try to line up with the front door. Because of the elevation change, you'll probably need to stand on a stepladder or in the bed of a pickup truck parked on the lawn. (The camera needs to be high enough that we can see the relationship of the plantings to the house ... the "gap.") You'll need to take a panning series of slightly overlapping pictures, all from a single camera position while the camera pivots, in order to get the complete view needed.

Instead of telling us what you have and what you can do ... show us and tell us your objectives.

Yes: the juniper points down the hill, emphasizing the sloping of the topography which is already shouted by the shape of the house - it would be better to have something like a tree there instead, to try and mitigate this somewhat jarring effect.

And yes: having the lawn come all the way to the edge of the space currently partly occupied by the juniper would be an enhancement as well. Plus if you only have a thousand or so here and a thousand or so there to spend on this aspect of the property, you may not be able to do much planting. At least until you get beyond the removal stage.

Let me say that your house and current landscape shows well. It is impressive, and crisp, and the colors complement. I wouldn't change anything until I could afford to install a replacement landscape design that meets with your approval.

I'm assuming that the juniper covers the triangular space between the lawn and the house ? If so, it is serving a very viable purpose as ground cover. It is a reliable green presence in your presentation. I don't see an easy way to replace it ... except by sodding with a very reliable grass ... and few grasses are that reliable.

Most bushes are brown on the insides. The need for greenery is on the outside, where the sun can induce necessary photosynthesis.

I would suggest spending this year's money on getting a good landscape analysis and plan from a good landscaper in your area. Your curb appeal is too successful right now ... to go ahead with a hodge-podge attempt at change.

@yaardvark--while i do really appreciate your willingness to give input, getting those needed photos is much more difficult than you'd guess. The below panoramic was taken from as high up as i could get (on top of my husbands truck) but its still not high enough to see the whole view. everything to the right of our driveway is not within our control as its HOA owned and maintained. To the left, we have maybe 25-30 ft to the neighbors house and the large tree you see on the far left is on their property.

this image if from the front door--demonstates the gap betwwen the house and shrubs. I think id like to move the closest row of plantings to close (but not touching) the house. any left epmty space between the current grass line could be mulched into a pernnial bed or just add more sod to meet the new plans.

my only objectives are to get rid of the hellacious prickly plants, add some color besides just green, and bring it out of the 1990's.

@embothrium- a tree in place of the juniper? so it would block the view of the front door?

do you have have any suggestions on the size/type of tree that may look good there?

I know we'd like to add some sod when we do take out the current plantings,

What are your thoghts on the general cost of new plantings? We are young and agile-so as much as i dont want to do the manual work of removing the current stuff, we could to save money.

we've priced out some options that are $25-35 per 1-3 gallon size plant.

@aegis1000-thank you i really appreciate your input. I've got some quotes that i've requested from local landscape companies, but no responses yet. curious to see what they come up with. Just thought id reach out to some of you lovely Houzzers who tell it like it is, and may be able to provide some guidance so i know if our quotes are within reason.

As I think might have been pointed out, the the juniper groundcover is serving a purpose other than sitting around looking good. It eliminates difficult mowing of a slope. And it gives a richer, cushioned look to all the plantings. It doesn't seem to be showing signs of deterioration, so I'm wondering why you're hellbent to get rid of it. ...?? It would be good if you justify and explain this.

The bulbous globes, on the other hand, are highly obstructive of the architecture and certainly give the impression of creating a fortress-like barrier, which is not exactly the message one wants to send at the front of the home. I think they need to be removed and a new foundation planting installed.

I wish your panorama has swung farther left as we cannot tell well enough how the neighbor's landscaping is playing your yours, or see how his property shows as part of the view of your house. I'm getting the impression your yard seems too open, and that a medium sized tree, at the left and forward, would help it seem better integrated into its surroundings. It's yet to be told. It looks like you have a giant monster bush at the right side of the house and the first thing I'd question is if it should be a tree instead of a shrub form. In the latter, it will consume a massive amount of ground space and that may not work well with yard function. We can't really see this as of yet.

"... We are young and agile ..." LUCKY!!!

@yardvaark- I responded to this earlier, but doesn't look like it posted!

I fully unstand that the juniper serves a purpose on the hillside, but i find it hideous(probably becasue it was at a childhood home and hated there as well) and im royally allergic to it. I've had awful hives from being around it the 2 times weve trimmed it back since moving here. I would be open to leaving it if my husband takes full responsibility for it in the future :) otherwise i'm open to other ground cover, or grass with some foundation shrubs to cover the concrete stairs.

That said, i 100% agree with you on the current foundation plantings! I think thats what bothers me the most about all of it. I really want something with a little color and not so overpowering in size. Would you reccomend new planting be close together to form a hedge appearnace or spaced to see some house inbetween plants? Any idea on how far things should be planted from the house? All i've ever heard is that you should still be able to walk between the house and plants.

Im out of state for the day assiting my dad after surgery, but ill try to take some additional photos tomorrow of the neighbors yard and common area(to the right of our house) to see if it gives any better perspective. there is a large cherry blossom tree at the front right corner (not pictured yet), that technically is on neighborhood property, but looks like its ours. Could be open to something else on the other side, like you mention, just not sure what...

Thanks again for the advice. its appreciated.

To add a bit more background- my frustration with the front yard is likely compounded by the work we've been doing out back. taking out some unhealthy trees took a lot of the budget we planned for out front. Additionally, my husband has slowly been working to remove english ivy that had taken over about 75% of the yard and boy has that been rough...but i do now have a BEAUTIFUL firepit and room for the dog to actually run/play.

Keep in mind that there are a lot of variables to different situations, so mostly what we can do here is generalize. For eons we've been used to seeing the vast bulk of homes with foundation planting beds that are entirely too shallow ... to the point of ridiculousness -- 2' or 3' depth, front to back. There are barely ANY plants that would fit within those confines! People who pay attention to these things -- professionals and avid gardeners -- recognize the need for more space. Someone recently said in another thread that 5' should be the minimum bed depth. I've mentioned in the past that for me it was 6' . Others have implied that there should be something like 3' width paths between the back of shrubs and the wall, which would imply a bed with a minimum depth in the 7', 8' or 9' range. That seems a bit of an overreaction to me for most properties, though it might fit some. If you place plant centers 4' away from the wall, that will allow the foliage to grow back 2-3' toward the wall and still leave a space through which one could sidestep. I think that will satisfy most people. With that planting layout, I try to maintain a 12" clear space between the foliage and wall and this generally works pretty well and does not create an eyesore gap. If greater space is needed for house maintenance, it does not freak me out to brutally lop another 2' off the back of the shrubs for a temporary operation.They have always grown back. (Though some species of plants -- Junipers, for example -- are going to be exceptions.)

I'm not making a particular plea for Juniper -- just for a groundcover, as opposed to sod-that-needs-to-be-mowed, on a hill. (The other place sod doesn't work well is in shade.)

With the grade change, it seems that hefty shrubs work at the right half of the house, but that the left side doesn't need any near as tall. We can't really see the left side well with the existing shrubs in place, but from what I can glean from the other pictures, it seems that architectural features that don't need to be hidden are not far above the ground.

Say why you despise Holly. This is a VAST plant genus and some are not remotely like many of the others. Some Hollies look enough like Boxwood that the average person cannot tell the difference.

"I fully unstand that the juniper serves a purpose on the hillside, but i find it hideous(probably becasue it was at a childhood home and hated there as well) and im royally allergic to it. I've had awful hives from being around it the 2 times weve trimmed it back since moving here. I would be open to leaving it if my husband takes full responsibility for it in the future :) otherwise i'm open to other ground cover, or grass with some foundation shrubs to cover the concrete stairs."

It would be easier to have someone come in and trim the juniper once a year, than to remove and replace it. That said, there are other effective ground-covers ... the downside is that it would take a few years for any of them to grow to cover the slope.

ok i was able to get some additional photos that may give more of the full picture. This gorgeous cherry tree and stone wall, up to that electical box are community property, not my lot. (BUT that tree does at a lot to our lot i think) I havent touched/thought about if or how to cover the electrical box since its half on communtiy property. The holly tree on the right corner of house is something i can take or leave. Im thinking for now to just trim it back, so its not so overwhelming.

this shows the property line.

this includes our neighbors yard situation. Ive covered some of their house, as i don't feel its my place to share an image of their house.

ok, so taking all of your advice into consideration so far--thoguhts on leaving the Juniper for now, since a replacement ground cover is not the easiest; pulling out and replacing all the foundation shrubs with something better sized and suited to the house; trimming the holly tree?

This leaves future opportuntiy to place another tree if needed to break up the "open" lawn as well as give time to consider alternatives (or keeping) juniper.

@yardvaark- thanks for that explanation! Yes- I am thinking about 4 feet from plant center would work well for our house. Additionally, the bottom of the window trim is about 4 feet above ground on the left side, so max plant height should be just below that? I know whatever we plant will be signifcantly smaller this year than its full size, so things may look a little whimpy until they fill in, but sometimes less is more.

Also--should i push the HOA on some solution to cover the electical box in front corner?

The right and left halves of the main house are not the same conditions and require either different shrubs, or, it's possible to use the same type but trim to different heights. (It is the top of all these shrubs that will be trimmed at a uniform height relative to the window bottoms.) I don't think we're to the point of calling for the right-hand shrubs to be removed, as we haven't seen good, face-on pictures of them with the windows in the background. I'm pretty confident that all the other shrubs should be removed based on their size and position.

"... the bottom of the window trim is about 4 feet above ground on the left side, so max plant height should be just below that?" That would be my goal. If new shrubs are treated well -- never going dry, but not being constantly we either, and given some fertilizer, they usually can get up to decent size within a couple of years. They only need to be 3 1/2' high.

",,, should i push the HOA on some solution to cover the electrical box in front corner?" You have to be careful what you wish for. Sometimes the "cover" is more offensive than the box being covered, as the overall "object" can grow exponentially in size. I don't think it's necessary to cover the entire box per se. If there was a judiciously planted, arching foliage grass or two that covered mainly the bottom half, that would take care of the main offense. For the top half, I don't know how much you'd be willing to apply paint, but if in my yard, I'd be considering a neutral/camouflaged/non-offensive color ... and asking permission after the fact. But then, I would never live in HOA place so you'd likely be up against forces I couldn't anticipate or predict.

I think you have the wrong idea about how to treat the holly tree. It is not the top of the tree that gets trimmed to keep it in check. It is the bottom of the canopy that gets limbed up so as to get out of the way of all ground activities, and so as to not "smother" the lower portion of the house. It is VASTLY easier to maintain this as a small tree than it is to maintain it as a giant shrub. The trunk(s) are retained while all the side branching is removed. One is visually safe to de-limb up to 50% of the total plant height (which would now be to the top of your garage windows. Next year, it will be a little more.) I'm sure you've noticed that whenever a plant has a lot of foliage removed, it turns around quickly and grows a bunch more somewhere else. Here, that somewhere else would be at what remains of the upper portion of the tree, especially the top. Consequently, after you remove limbs & branches to 50% of the height and the tree grows taller, it will automatically create a new ratio that has it appearing as though you only removed limbs & branches to 40% of the tree's total height. Keep it's back side trimmed about 12" away from the wall, which will never be noticed from the front. I'm sure this holly tree is planted too close to the house (as is the case wherever a builder installs a landscape.) You have the choice to accept its placement as long as you can, or get rid of it and start over with another tree better positioned. If you decide on the latter, it may be possible to start a new tree while the old one stands and then cut it down a bit later.

@yaardvark

the right hand bushes arent a bad height at all— in fact they areabout a foot below the window trim. They are however about 4 feet from the house, encroaching on the handrail/steps And have to regularly be cut back from the railings- making them Look sort of mangled up close.

I’ll go drive around the neighborhood to see how others have handled their electric boxes— but your idea sounds good to me. Our hoa is finicky, especially because of our proximity to the common area.

thanks for the knowledge on trimming the holly tree-very helpful! I would have certainly just taken a few feet off the top. Trimming from the bottom will be much easier though.

Sounds like right-hand bushes need to be replaced, too. OK.

well--thanks for all the input so far! Tomorrow is supposed to be nice out, so we are going to start removing bushes. will check back in with progress pics.

Good luck. If you don't have to plant in the exact spot, you can cut shrub trunks as close to ground as possible and leave roots in place. Eventually they will be covered with a groundcover.

just wanted to give an update on progress.. This has been a bigger undertaking time wise than we expected, and i'd say we are finally on the downhill side. So far, we tore out all 11 bushes on the left side. (Two of the stumps have given us a run for our money, so we will try again this week when we have more energy) We also got the new bushes planted yesterday-evenly spaced and closer to the house- the front row of bushes is now in line with what used to be the back row of bushes. We planted 5 encore azaleas to make an L shape along the house and iron railing, and 3 albelias along the front row.

we still have a lot to do to wrap this up, but it should all be MUCH easier than what we've done so far.

-get out the last two remaining stumps (or cut below ground level, if all else fails)

-lay a new edging for a mulch bed, and mulch the bed

-shape up the edge of juniper to better fit new mulch bed

-sod the 150 sq ft of blank space

-rip out and replace the two other bushes, opposite the front door

thanks again @yardvark for you time and advice. hope to have this wrapped up next weekend and will share an after photo then.

IN PROGRESS:

Still in progress, but getting closer:

The new shrub hedge looks pretty good. I would have let it go with one double row of just one type of shrub instead of two, but you can suit yourselves.

Can't really comment or give feedback on your bed lines as the photographs do not show totality of the bed or suggest where the proposed line is. Hopefully, you will place it to look graceful and sensible :-)

after:

havent had the heart/energy to rip out the bushes to the right of the front door, but they are tucked back enough that those can wait a couple weeks. Overall much happier with this, and looking forward to having some color out front when the azaleas bloom.

It's always nice to get to a stopping point. I'm not expecting you to make this change, but pointing that it would have "read" a little easier if the sod was not tucked so deeply between the lobes of shrubs/groundcover ... if there was an easier, smoother curve to the bed line.

Thanks yarkvark! That looks fantastic-and really wouldn’t be a very difficult change. We hadn’t planned to bring the mulch forward past that stair corner, but we ended up having to bury a stump from one of the old bushes that just wouldn’t come out. Maybe when we circle back to the other side we can do that. We re-used to existing rubber edging but something a little more substantial and rounded looks nice.