When people say the word "flowers" they are usually talking about annuals ... those plants that bloom all summer and die when it gets cold, and are then thrown away. Some annuals produce seed that is saved for year. Here, you are probably more talking about the whole foundation planting bed since it goes all around your house and there is now barely anything in it. Unimaginative builders usually make these beds to shallow (skinny) and plant the exclusively with shrubs which grow too fast and large. In a few years most people are dying to yank all the plants out and start over. It looks like that might be in process here. I would highly suggest though that before planting anything, you upgrade the beds from the builder's design. Make them the right depth for growing plants so your house can look its best. If you have any plans to paint, it would be good to do before you plant anything. If you are going to plant now and paint later, you'll especially want your beds deep enough so that there is some space behind the plants for accessing the house.

You'll either want to focus on one subject or one area at a time. If you're all over the yard doing everything at the same time, the conversation here will become confusing and hard to follow. I suggest the subject you start with is the creation of new beds and those would likely be all around the house. Unfortunately, there's no good way to describe a complete, all around bed system for the whole house. The best way to discuss it is by you providing a plan that includes the basic "footprint" of your house. You probably have such a document already in your papers from the closing. Or, it might be possible to create a base plan from Google Satellite View. Or, one could always measure and draw. The things that need to be included are house footprint, walks, drive, and any tree trunks (not canopy). If you wanted to extend this to larger parts of the yard (front yard/back yard) that would be fine, but then you'd need to include lot lines or fence, and the back of the curb or street edge. Here's a sample of a simple base plan. (It has a double line at some places to indicate a brick mowing strip and a small retaining wall.)

Thanks for the input! I thought I had mentioned annuals in my original post but I must have accidentally edited it?
We had a LOT of shrubs taken out and cut back when we moved in, which were so overgrown you couldn’t see out of the windows.

The ‘beds’ and edging behind everything we removed weren’t even visible to us. The house and landscaping are 30 years old.
Here’s some pictures from when we moved in:.

(this one is the front windows and walkway in front of my house. It was a complete mess)

I'm rather sad to see those before pictures compared with the naked after photos. It's too late now but did you get the existing shrubs identified before everything was ripped out? Some of it clearly had to go, like the Euonymus alatus, but imo you had a mature garden which needed editing, taming and care rather than complete destruction. Age is not necessarily a negative when you're dealing with trees and shrubs. We generally recommend living with a garden for a full year, doing only general maintenance and tidying, before making radical changes.

As it is now I'd remove all the edging. It is wonky and does nothing for the appearance of the beds.

We did consult with our landscaper who explained that many of the plantings were too far gone and had grown too much above the trunk to be saved. Sorry, I don’t know the term...
My house siding and windows were being affected by the overgrowth.
I have a cedar house and we were concerned with damage due to plants and pests.

z6 is rather diverse... how about a big city name ...

i was going to suggest that you spend a year just observing what might pop up ... lol ... then i saw those monster shrubs.. and i am sure there wasnt much under them ...

i like the idea of annuals for instant impact this summer ... but let me suggest its going to cost a very lot of money to cover all that ground ... so i would suggest you ID certain spaces for the most impact .. and go after those.. e.g. the view from the deck etc ... around the front door... etc ...

i would also suggest.. you cover all that bare earth with mulch [no landscape cloth].. else you are going to have a heck of a batch of weeds cover it all .. if you decide to redo the beds themselves you can always rake back the mulch and move it ... so it doesnt go to waste ... i already see plastic.. tear it out before you do anything else ...

in the meantime.. i think you need to come with with a unified long term plan for the whole landscape ... including conifers.. small trees like Japanese maples... etc .. plus perennials that return every year ... etc.. etc.. etc ... you can make a 5 year plan.. and spend 5 years doing it ... one area after another ....

and if you are going to do all that.. you may as well get rid of those shrubs you left out front ... no need to do it now.. but make removal part of the plan ...

posts are free ... and imo.. you are better off with a new post for each subject ...

there are conifer.. tree... and perennial forums...

also.. it looks like wood siding that will need cleaning and painting over the years ... if it were me... i would increase bed width.. so i could leave 2 or 3 feet of bare ground at the foundation for house work ... so that would mean.. beds 6 to 8 feet wide ....

and one last thing ...call miss dig.. and have all utilities marked.. and take pix ... be safe digging ....

ken

ps: i dont understand why the edging goes toward the house.. under the bump out window ... whats that all about ... you cant plant under the window ... whatever.. i agree with flora.. redesign the whole edging idea ...

Zone 6, just north of Newburgh, NY. 90 minutes above good ol’ NYC😉

I have no idea why the edging is like that. We’re scratching our heads over a LOT of things that we’re finding around here.

to my eye... the edging looks like the shrubs were already severely overgrown ... and instead of pruning them and making a nice edge... they just weaved around them .. lol ...

dont forget about fall planted bulbs ... which work well under annuals to fill in for the summer ...

ken

looking again at the siding... it looks like it needs work.. and it might be a lot easier.. to do it.. before you do any major permanent plantings ...

You said you'd like to "add some annuals," but that doesn't tell us if you're talking about limiting them to the places one would typically use annuals, or if you're talking about using them everywhere as a temporary solution in lieu of all other plant types.

So, you are interested in redefining the beds? ... or you will use the existing beds as they are? That seems like the first decision to make and share with readers of the thread.

I guess what I need advice about is what I can add to the existing beds to make my yard colorful and unified.

In my last house I couldn’t dig so I usually just had planters around but now that I have good soil, I’d really like to learn how to do this right.

I think the edging is fine, and will look better once you have some plants. I like the shape of it. I like the tree at the corner. You say you have good soil...that is a huge plus. If you think you'd like to dig, sounds like you are a gardener in the making. If you would enjoy that, I'd treat your yard as your bit of land that you get to experiment with and have fun with. Please yourself.

To avoid mistakes you can research specific plants here, and avoid invasive stuff and things that would get too big. Look around your area and notice plants that are doing well for neighbors.

If I were you I'd maybe get a few shrubs or plants that you'd want to get larger, and then maybe you could grow some flower seeds for color this summer or plant six packs. Or you could even plant some herbs and vegetables. Do you have favorite colors? To unify, you could plant more of one thing.

I'd consider roses. There are many kinds of them...they are not all equally fussy or thorny. Some are graceful, beautiful plants. See rose forums here especially antique roses.

Another thing to consider is not to put anything edible too close to the foundation in case someone treated it for termites.

the easy answer ... with annuals.. just go buy some.. dig holes.. put them in.. and water them ...

and then takes notes.. for next year.. what did well.. what didnt.. etc ...

thats how i learned pre WWW ...

one of the biggest problems with the WWW... is there is just TMI ... its just so overwhelming.. you end up paralyzed by it all ...

but the beauty of a one year plant ... is your only real goal.. is to get it thru that one year ...

so just do it ... whatever plants please you.. where ever you want them ...just get them in ...

and then relax and start thinking about the other stuff ...

ken

When I first looked at your photos, my mind went immediately to coleus. They come in an amazing array of colors, sizes and textures, can tolerate a variety of sun exposure, and can be started from seed (if you start ASAP). They could provide fillers for all those beds while you ponder next steps. And, you can take cuttings to overwinter, if you decide you really like a particular variety.

Martha

I would plant the annuals in the corner nearest the entrance. In front of the shrub if it is still there.

I suggest removing the edging and reshaping the beds. I see black plastic in the beds. Is it everywhere? If it is then you should remove it. Plants are expensive so you may not landscape all at once. If you mulch the bed area it will help keep weeds down.

Do you have any pictures of landscaping that you like? Do you enjoy garden work?

As stated earlier, it really is best if you start with an overall plan in mind that is cohesive for the entire yard so you don’t end up wasting a lot of money. I would suggest you really spend some time online looking at various pics to see what appeals to you. No matter what you do, the first step should be pulling out the black plastic , amending the soil and regrading the beds away from the house for drainage. If you don’t properly prepare your beds, it is very likely whatever you decide to plant won’t do well and you will have wasted a ton of money. In terms of what to plant, there are several major considerations—irrigation? Do you like color and if so, what palate or do you lean more towards green textures? Manicured appearance, English garden, natural habitat or prairie look? And here is the real biggie—do you plan to do the gardening yourself or have a garden service? If you plan to do it yourself, exactly how much time can you devote on an ongoing basis? Many, many times a landscaper will say “low maintenance “ which still means weeding and pruning at least a couple of times a season. That is completely different than “we want to throw mulch down in the spring and just rake leaves up in fall”—that means, in essence, no maintenance ,slow growing shrubs and perennials (like hostas) or groundcover. Annuals are beautiful but can be expensive and will need to be watered more frequently and may need deadheading/weeding every couple of weeks to look good.