i would probably.. remove all the old shrubs.. expend the foundation beds to 6 or 8 feet ... and would site plants to allow for future house maintenance ... leaving the entire lawn to traffic issues ...

to many peeps plant ON THE FOUNDATION ... with no real concept of future growth ... and then have problems when they need to paint.. wash windows.. clean gutters.. etc ...

and when driving.. nothing irritates me more ... than when peeps interfere with drivers sight lines.. by planting so i cant see around the corner... or whats coming at me.. from the cross street ... you really just dont want to be responsible for taking out a kid ...

i also dont know what the human attacking rose accomplishes either ...

then the only issue left .. for me.. would be the last maple ... its hard to tell from the pic.. but if gravity took over.. does it threaten your gorgeous house???

ken

ps: what are the descriptive words for your house ...its obviously not a east coast mid century suburban tract house ... lol .. i would use said term as in the link below.. to SEE how others may have attacked this issue ... as well as taking pix in your local area.. of any landscapes that strike your fancy .... and then maybe we can tell you why they are pleasing to the eye ....

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=east+coast+mid+century+suburban+tract+house&t=ffcm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

Can you submit additional pictures? Stand in line with the center of the house & back up to the curb or near it. From that location take a battery of slightly overlapping pictures that pan from left to right (180*) so we can see a full panoramic view of the house front, and the backgrounds. The street should show in the first and last pictures. Don't substitute a computer generated panorama as it will be too small. Deal with the house front first and after it is under control, deal with the side.

A fence would help a lot. Especially if you do not want to do a lot of gardening. And do want quick relief (woody plants take many years to develop). And deciduous trees like dogwoods are landscape accent points rather than things like evergreen shrubs that put meat on the bones of a garden, can provide fully effective screening.

Thank you the responses. I will take more pics when the rain stops. A few replies for you though....

Greek Revival built 1830’s but with multiple additions over the years. A true Money Pit but I love it.

Yes, that tree is a huge concern. A section fell on the house a few years ago but the town only trimmed it back (and paid for our damage as I had complained about the condition of it often). I suspect they will take it down this year. We have no A/C so the loss of this shade is sad but nothing will replace that in our lifetime.

There is a walkway on front of the junipers to the porch steps so we cannot move out that foundation bed but will replace it with smaller items.

The corner rose/fence thing was an early attempt to define the property. There is constant traffic across our yard to the park across the street.

We have a natural wood 6 foot stockade fence on the right of the porch and along the right side of our house. It is privacy for the back deck and separates us from neighbors driveway and we don’t want to remove that. Putting a different fence in front would be weird layers of fence- and we don’t want miles of painting or mildew covered white vinyl. Considered a natural split rail for front but it doesn’t go with architecture, neither does stockade...

Putting a different fence in front would be weird layers of fence- and we don’t want miles of painting or mildew covered white vinyl.

And yet you have a problem with people cutting across your lawn. And don't want to have a planted bed. So you may be stuck with continuing the fence in the back around to the front. And if you think unpainted fencing wouldn't go with the painted house in the front yard then maybe it doesn't really go with it in the back either - with any goal oriented undertaking there is a certain minimal level of inputs required before that goal can be reached.

Agreed. The fence doesn’t match but picking our budget battles. I am not opposed to planting at all I just don’t want a field of mulch with a few small items. Looking for advice on position in that front rectangle and what items would look good. 1 dogwood off center? 2 Small trees with something in the middle? The last pic I posted shows a maple that is now gone and a dogwood that lost a few limbs last night. Thank you.

The view that needs to be seen is where you line the camera up with the center of the house and move in to where not so much sky or grass is showing. In your picture, we're too far away. (The foundation planting area cannot be seen.)