I agree with floral, plant blooming shrubs in front of the wall. Azaleas, spirea, hydrangeas, forsythia, even lavender.

I’d like to see a close up picture for better detail or in more dayight to see the detail for planting area available at top along walkway and along bottom edge of wall. But, the lights on the wall are great and I think the wall adds lots of interest and is a nice feature. I vote with your husband.

You’ve said you hate it, but tell us why you hate it, Michelle? If it’s because it looks so stark, start imagining it softened by plantings. If it’s something else that is bothering you, perhaps we can help if you could be a bit more descriptive.

Is it an actual retaining wall, or a kneewall? Does the walk butt up right next to it? The grade didn't look like much of an elevation change, so maybe you can remove part of it and have a compromise with your hubby. The lights don't do much, those are meant to light up a walkway not wash the wall, and they'll be hidden by future plantings anyway.

A pic from above and towards the door from the driveway would be helpful.

Thanks for everyone's comments. Here is a link to a video of the front yard that I just took - (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eg7w3rwxFTCpfz1IH10ED32Vza2aQCJ5/view?usp=sharing). There is a lot of sun today but hopefully you can get a feeling for what I am working with. You are already making me feel better knowing that it might be o.k. I have been in my house since 1994 and the front yard hasn't been modified much since we moved in. I think I am having anxiety about the change. My three kids grew up with the previous setup and there are memories tied to it. I am struggling with the size of the wall. It is not what I envisioned. I am also struggling with the color of the pavers. I am thinking that painting the shutters and front door will help.

@3onthetree Does the video I provided give you a better idea - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eg7w3rwxFTCpfz1IH10ED32Vza2aQCJ5/view?usp=sharing? I can take more pictures if you would still like to see them. I am not sure what kind of wall it is. In essence, they put the wall to allow the dirt to be the same level on both sides of the walkway. At this point, I think the wall is keeping the new dirt in place.

Wow. I don’t mean to offend, but I would love to have that wall. Not sure where you are but search for ’plants cascading over retaining walls’ with your zone for inspiration. And be careful about the height of whatever you plant in that raised bed, you don’t want to hide your beautiful house.

I'm sure that landscaping can improve the look. I would also consider changing out the lights as someone suggested above. However, to be honest, it is overpowering and imposing and I would remove it if it was my house.

Your home and neighborhood are beautiful! From the video (very helpful) it is clear that we are looking at a project that is unfinished; never a good time to condemn the plan, in my opinion. What was the plan for the terraced area closest to the house? Grass? Some other ground cover? And what about the space nearest the driveway, leading to the step? The plantings in front of the wall will determine the finished look, softening the wall, adding color, texture, and beauty. I think the lights will highlight the plantings. I am sure you will get people telling you to ditch the shutters as they are not large enough to cover the windows, and I would plant a tree or two on the left side of your house to ameliorate the large blank stucco(?) expanse. I'm sorry you hate your project, but since it is unfinished, of course it is too early to judge.Good luck!

IMO (after watching the video) that is one mighty overpowering wall, wrapping around the side too. It will be a challenge to have plantings in both the "upper level" and "lower level" that don't compete with each other nor hide the house. The amount of area in the "upper" to fill and the amount of plantings on the "lower" to soften the wall will also overpower. It will appear like a "moat" (barren front yard then boom, a continuous ring of dense population of plantings), not proportioned over the entire yard. I imagine this wall was not designed with a planting plan for the overall landscape. It sounds like a big design point going forward (that may have been lacking prior) is you and your husband need to get on the same page. If he doesn't already know, "happy wife happy life."

You might be able to remove portions of the wall and extend the slope out to minimize the grade change. Then have "spaces" of landscaping intertwined around the walk.

Your wall is fine. It's actually a very useful feature for a garden as it provides a change in level and an access point to the middle of the bed if you choose to plant on both sides. Essentially, it will allow you to have "foundation plantings" without the disadvantage-- no desert-dry area that plants hate, no potential for rotting window frames, no worry about shrubs growing too big and blocking the windows.

I'd be putting in the following plants if I had that wall. Depending on your zone, they may also work for you.

For the street side:

• Spirea 'Goldmound"
• Ninebark
• Weigela 'Black Prince'
• Deutzia
• daylilies of multiple types
• iris
• lots of spring bulbs
• tree peonies and regular peonies (choose non-flopping varieties)
• dwarf evergreens
• large and medium hostas
• miscanthus and other tall, clump-growing grasses

For the house side:

• dianthus
• creeping thyme
• juniper 'Blue rug'
• lots of short growing spring bulbs
• alyssum
• short clump-growing grasses and sedges
• astible pumila
• pavement roses, e.g. 'The Fairy'

As previous posters have said, landscaping will help break up the hard edges and make a big difference. But, do you have irrigation in the walled in area for new plants?

Also, uplighting some of the new plants would be softer and add interest, rather than the landing strip of lights that are on the outside edge now.

@Michele Kleinhomer - thanks for posting the video! And, may I say just WOW! I love your walkway, the wall, the lights, the whole thing! I agree with many suggestions already made on plantings so won’t repeat them, I do think that most shrubs should be between house & walkway & make sure they’re not so big they cover windows. I disagree on too many trailing plants over the wall as I don’t think the wall should be hidden - it’s a great feature to accent & the lights help that. Up lighting for shrubs against house would be nice and would help light the walkway. Don’t know your location so cannot suggest plants but I do lean towards a mix of evergreen since it‘s street side of house, along with flowering plants like daylily. I like many of the plants @Jennifer K suggests. Again, I stress, I wouldn’t plant anything along front of wall that would hide it. And, a plant layout for that entire area needed before you start. I’d love to see an after planting picture and to hear if you’ve had a change of heart on your impression of your new landscape. I do hope you fall in love with end result and I think your husband is right about the potential after landscaping done!

It looks stark right now, but it's not finished yet. Lots of possibilities for some beautiful plantings with this. If it were me, I would plant a row of densiformis yews, which are low-growing, the full length of the wall on the outside. That would provide a nice soft looking year-round green background for some low to medium height flowers, bulbs, and perennials of your choice. As for the inside, I think you could use some design help from a professional landscaper to get a balance of heights and types of plants.

To my eye, this calls out for juniper horizontalis cascading over the wall. They don't grow fast, but would soften the edge beautifully.

I would remove the shutters on the double windows instead of painting them. A more elegant look.

I agree with @Michele Kleinhomer on the wall. IMO it turned the house into a fortress, and disrupts the sight line to the house. It makes the yard seem smaller than it was.

What kind of tread did you put on the walkway that called for a wall?

Thought I was going to be odd man out until I tangerinedoor's comments. I agree it cuts up the house and the color is off to me. It could just be the light. Walls cost a small fortune, wondering how you got to this point with evaluating if it was what you wanted.

What are the lights on the wall about? They're not lighting the walkway, correct? They're lighting the wall?

.

I wanted to give an update on my front yard disaster. We had the landscaper come back today and I told him how unhappy I am with the wall. We came up with a plan where he is going to build up our dirt/grass in front of the wall and gently slope it down the front yard. The bottom three paver levels of the wall will be covered. I am hoping that this will make it look a lot better. If it doesn't, it sounds like removing the top layer (putting bullnose back on the next layer) would be the next step. My husband doesn't want to get rid of the wall. I suggested tearing it down. I am hoping that the compromise of building the land in front of it will work.

To answer how we got in this position...I told my husband and the landscaper that I wanted the walkway and front to look nice. I pointed to a few neighbor's houses that have somewhat flat yards with nice walkways and edging. I said that is what I wanted. My husband had a vision of wall being involved because our house is on a hill. He told me there would be a 2 1/2 foot wall. I said I just wanted it to look nice. I assumed that he/the landscaper would do whatever it took to make it look like what I pointed out. I did not pay attention to the details that they were rambling. I take complete blame for not understanding what they were saying. I just wanted it "to look nice." My husband is good at visualizing things in his mind & I am not. I am 53 and know better. I project manage all day every day in my job. I am so angry at myself because I let this happen. Hopefully this will look o.k. I also have a professional landscaper coming on Saturday to help us figure out what plants will look good with this setup in our climate, etc.

Thank you everyone for your help. I welcome other suggestions.

I'm sure glad I am not the landscaper involved in this.

Want to clarify here...

"We had the landscaper come back today and I told him how unhappy I am with the wall."

and

"I also have a professional landscaper coming on Saturday to help us figure out what plants will look good with this setup in our climate, etc."

are two different landscapers I'm assuming?

If you can, wait till after the Pro coming on Saturday to help you with plants comes out before you have the first landscaper with the wall start filling in and hilling down. The plant pro might be able to work with more palette if you leave it unfilled for now and let them know you want to do the hilling up. It can help them advise for plantings better.

@Christopher CNC I don't blame you. I feel bad for the landscaper. This really isn't how my husband and I normally are. We are typically very easy going. I keep apologizing to the landscaper.

@beesneeds We do have two landscapers. One for the hardscaping and one for the plants. After the current disaster, I want to see everything planned out on paper. That was a mistake we made with the hardscaping guy. He doesn't do that. The plant person is coming this weekend before the dirt/sloping is being added. We will listen to what he has to say to see if anything should be different. My husband is a saint!

Oh good... then you are just having mid-project freak out then. The hardscaping isn't what you thought it would be... and it is a shock compared to the before action. The softscaper is coming in this weekend and will help make that suddenly big and blank looking palette fill in beautifully :)

Can't blame ya for the freak out- but it's OK. As others have said... your hardscaper and hubby built some really good bones. Now you and the softscaper get to flesh out the bones :)

I think it will be stunning in a season or two as things fill and weather in.

IMO just building up the soil in front of the wall still leaves a wall that is too tall for the location, and creates more of a slope that will frankly be difficult to maintain and maintain plantings in - water will run off more, soil will migrate. And also you are having to choose plantings with the primary goal of disguising the wall. The wall as is also is hiding your front steps which looks odd. I would just have them take off that layer below the bullnose.

I also don't get the lights where they are. They should be lighting the walkway.

Shutters are perfectly appropriate for your home's style. Do some photoshopping before you take the advice to remove them.

@raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio

I really appreciate your comments. I can turn the lights to face the walkway instead of outside the wall. I guess they are supposed to be decorative.

I understand what you are saying about the sloping. I think I will mention that to the soft scaper who is coming on Saturday. I think I will be fine waiting until then. I am going to turn the lights toward the walkway right now. The bullnose on top of the lights hasn't been sealed in place.

Be very careful about piling up soil and suffocating the tree.

Chiming in to ask for an update after you've met with the soft-scaper, please? Looks like good bones you have there, but yeah, needs thoughtful attention to realize its good potential.

It looks as if there’s quite a bit of soil piled around the tree, possibly already too much.

I think I see what might be your husband's decisions: picked a color trying to match the house brick (would be better to not be "close but no cigar" when there is this much block). I see the black cap pulling from the shutter color (is that a detail to accentuate?). The lights as an airplane landing strip instead of highlighting or washing prominent features (do you have lights dotted along your gutter?). Sure, the wall is crisp and clean looking, but asking advice on Houzz means you have an appreciation for something more. So realize that the same design principles (proportion, heirarchy, rhythm, etc) commenters allude to when tearing apart floor plans, kitchen layouts, and front elevations still apply to landscaping.

Sorry about the quick MSPaint sketch, trying to get the idea across (you've deleted the video, so I am going from memory). I would be removing lots of the existing wall (MAROON), especially over on the side where the grade is level. Some parts of the wall to keep (BLUE) and reconfigure, but as part of the landscaping, not in spite of it. Using the wall for height layering, but keeping the flow of the entirety together. So not just a long, stark, protect-the-castle-from-the-peasants wall, but interspersed in proportion with the landscape plan your other guy comes up with.

@3onthetree Thank you for the feedback.

It's an architectural element that simply needs to be softened with some plantings.

I wanted to share some images of our softened wall. I really like the hardscaping/landscaping now. We have some more work to do, but it is much better.

@Michele Kleinhomer Beautiful! Thanks for coming back to share your update! Love the purple leafed tree in lower planting bed. is the very large tree in the lawn gone & replaced by the new narrow green tree with the uplight & that’s a twin to the narrow green trees in the upper planting bed by walkway? Very effective layout!