The turret needs to be matched and softened by a normal habit tree of adequate eventual size rather than emphasized by a fastigiate exclamation mark (think shade or even park tree, far enough out into the lawn that it does not become crowding later).

I also wouldn't put small ball shaped shrubs around the base of it that will again serve merely to worsen the overbearing aspect of the turret by producing a visual contrast bordering on silly. Rather a mix of more normal looking shrubs that again have a softening effect visually. Including kinds that grow large enough to be closer in scale to the size of the house.

Finally with one dominating tree out in the lawn several subordinate accent points (trees) sharing the same physical and visual space would not be needed or even desirable.

You don't want a tree that close to the turret. It will get big and be in the way. Balls of box are boring, non-native and unattractive. Put in a mix of native shrubs. Viburnum, Clethra, mountain laurel, ninebark, itea, etc. For the flowering tree, how about a redbud? Check, as I can't grow them in Maine. You could do a Calycanthus or amelanchier.

If you want to use youryard fgor something that requires it to be flat, put in a retaining wall, otherwise, the slope isn't that big.

If the trees are dead, they were probably inadequately watered after planting.

If you must have box, let them border something more lush.

Gamble Garden Spring Tour 2014: 334 Lincoln · More Info

no matter what you decide on. use IMAGEs in a search engine to understand future potential of whatever you think about planting ... trust me on this.. that cute little babe often turnds into a monster.. 5 or 10 years down the line ...

so then your next thought would be.. what about a shrub pruned into tree form ... but then again.. you would need to be 5 to 10 feet out from the house ... minimum ....

i also agree on a retaining wall.. to make the front bed horizontal to the house .... pretty easy dyi job.. but there are a few tricks to doing it right ... the most important is the base below the lowest bricks ... you have to insure they dont settle ... no wall is better than a squiggly one ...

do understand.. that foundation plantings are planted to HIDE THE FOUNDATION .... NOT ON THE FOUNDATION ...

no matter what you decide on. use IMAGEs in a serach engine to understand future potential of whatever you think about planting ... trust me on this.. that cute little babe often turnds into a monster.. 5 or 10 years down the line ...

e.g. look at these pix for a kwanzan.. and look how big they can get ...

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=Kwanzan&iax=images&ia=images

also ... know that in my z5 .... the flowering cherries are not reliable to bloom every year.. its all about how bad winter was ... but most years.. they are truly worth it ... and i dont really now why you think they are any more messy than any other tree ... so what if you have to rake once or twice a year ... if you want a carefree scape.. remove it all and sod it .. but you will still have to mow the lawn ... unless you are think they actually make fruit .. which mine never have ...

agree on skipping the arrow tree near the house ... as an architectural statement ....

ken

You don't have nearly enough of a slope for a retaining wall to be needed. And retaining walls always introduce a visually jarring element to a scene the way they cut across the land, should therefore only be resorted to where the site would otherwise be effectively unusable without one.

The first thing I notice about your house is that the view is dominated by the turret and the garage. So little attention to the entrance. Second thing I notice is you have a nice path to the door. I like the path and would try to keep that area free of distractions. I would remove the bed near the path. What works in a wide lawn tends to look crowded in a narrower area.

You do not have an unobstructed wall for any nice large shrubs. Windows mean you will be keeping plants lower. If you do not love trimming shrubs then you should aim to use plants that do not grow fast or will stay small. It looks like you have decent shrubs now. Do you not like them? I have to say, they were planted much too close to the house.

I would only plant one tree, where I show. Learn all you can about any tree you consider. I'd probably choose deciduous because you might like the sun in winter.

Landscaping styles can be regional. Is the style you suggested common in your area?

I am not a professional and these are just my personal tastes.

Everything in your representation is too small to be in scale with the house. Or do any softening of its angles. With planting straight lines of short plants along the bases of the house and garage merely emphasizing the angularity of these elements rather than toning it down - the answer to the problem of shrubs growing up in front of windows is merely to plant the kinds that might do this in the places like corners where there are no windows directly above.

I’m curious about the indent at the side of the paving (Outlined in black in pic 2.) What was it’s purpose?

I'm not keen on the separate bed in the foreground with the tree. I think it would look better with the two beds joined with a sweeping curve or to remove the small one altogether.

Speaking of the entry path that should be made to be either all curving or all rectilinear. And not a mix of the two.

Thanks everyone for the comments. So agreed that I shouldnt put the tree too close to the turret, but I figure 5-6 ft away is good enough for a columnar? The reason I want a tree there is because the neighbor right beside me has a 20ft tree and it towers above my front yard.

As for why the walkway/interlocking is designed that way, not sure. We bought the house in the fall of 2019, and spent the money in the inside, on appliances, and a new roof. We also have a new entry door coming in April. Thought it was time to tackle the front yard this year!

The reason I wanted to put boxwoods (sprinter or green velvet) is because they dont grow too high and they're easy to maintain. But will look into those other shrub ideas!

Do put box under the windows, just not box only in the entire bed and not anything in straight rows of uniform height anywhere in any of the beds.

Again a columnar tree next to that turret will make it look worse. As in like this: !^. And anything that qualifies as being called a tree will be too large growing to be only 6 ft. from the house.