Bump

For starters, you have some overgrown shrubs blocking windows. What is the red thing on the right? It looks like a Japanese maple or a ninebark. Can it be transplanted? I think a tree in the liddle of the front yard is a good look. Off to the left in your case, either to the left of the window or in front of it (but closer to the sidewslk than the house) depending on whether you want views or privacy.

IDing what you have is helpful for moving them. The tallest shrub on the left is blocking what's behind it. If you removed the taller one, would you have a nice shrub? Do they flower? Some look like they might be rhodos.

Next, what are you looking for? More shrubs that you plant and forget, or to widen the beds and have some perennials? What's the sun/shade? Face North or South?

Since I don't know what you're looking for, what I'd recommend is take a picture of your gardens. If you don't know what you have, number them. The rep can probably ID them, then you can look stuff up. That's what I'd do as a first step. Write down what the rep says about what you have. Be there with a clipboard, paper and your numbered pic.

If the rep didn't id the plants, take a pic of each one. But you have a full garden, you need to decide what to keep and what to remove. If the red tree is a Japanese maple, roots might be an issue.

Thanks. I will be removing everything and starting over. Please ignore the red maple. Not sure yet about that side at this point.

We get full sun.

I‘ve already sent the above picture, rep came to my house. I know the plants that are there, but want a whole new landscape for the front.

We will try to relocate them.

So, blank slate.

I like this

This seems to be what I see walking around

Not too many inspiration gardens in my neighborhood.

Thanks for your help.

One reason you are not getting a lot of answers is we need more info.

How long have you been in the house? If it hasn’t been at least a year you might want to go through an entire garden season to see how you feel about the various plants. Typically foundation plantings have at least half evergreens (though they can be evergreens that bloom) so that there is something besides bare sticks in the winter.

Why are you removing everything? Often having mature plants is a plus. It will take a fair amount of time for a new garden to be full and really pleasing unless you over-plant, and if you over-plant so that it looks full when planted, then there will need to be removal of plants or a lot of pruning in just a very few years.

What are your goals for the garden? Flowers or low maintenance or . . .

Where is your zone 7? What will grow in the PNW is different than what works in TX or Cape Cod or VA.

What is in the rest of the yard and what style is the house? That will matter to the landscape design. You have only shown us one small garden and a small piece of the house. While planting can be done in stages, in order for the final dsign to look really good, the design work on any face of the house all has to work together and so is best done all at once.

Thanks so much for responding. We have been in this home for 25 years. This will be the third time trying to get this right.

I am in the northeast zone 7a.

We have a large yard behind the house with nothing but trees and grass. Right now I am concerned with making the front look nice.

Side of house

The red maple

This was most definetly the wrong place for this. What to do will be addressed at some point.

Garden rep told me we could sell it! Ir, cut branches to open up the bottom.

Again priority is the left side front of home.

We will get to the backyard eventually. Not a priority.

So then you have to give us one or more photos that will show the whole house front, It can be a series of photos taken from a single spot such as in front of the main door or the center of the house. Just stand in the one spot and rotate your body from right to left and take a series of 3 or 4 slightly overlapping photos showing the whole front of the house. Or you can go stand by the curb or across the street for a single photo. we need to see the whole front of the property front one side boundary to the other because that is what someone sees when looking at the front of the house. A single bed with no consideration of how the house or the rest of the front yard looks is unlikely to ”get this right”. It all has to work together.

Also, I forgot to ask what direction the front side of the house faces and if there are trees farther out in the front yard. This will affect sun vs. shade and the amount of reflected heat off masonry areas. it will also affect how one sees the house from the street if there is a large tree in the middle of the front yard.

Our house faces south. Very sunny most of the day. No treess near our house.

Whatever you get needs to be low growing, not taller than the window sills when mature. At the sidewalk you need a ground cover type plant or use flowering seasonal annuals. This will open up the sidewalk area and make it not look like a plant is going to get you when you walk up.

I used Gardenia jasminoides 'Daisy" for the back row of foundation plantings under the windows of my house. They are only 2 1/2 ft tall, 3 ft wide, full evergreen leaves and flower in the spring. They need minor pruning in the spring after blooming--just shaping up the stray branches that grow out of bounds. I also have Tea olive at the corners of the house but they need constant trimming. I am willing to keep them under control because I love the smell of their flowers. I love flowers and want something in bloom all year.

I am more of a minimalist and just have a back row of evergreens with the trunks 3 feet from the house (this is in front of the eaves and allows walking (when it rains it is where the dog goes potty. She refuses to get rained on.) and work behind the plantings (This year they came to trench for termites and had no trouble working there.) with a weeping J Maple in the center and a tea olive at the corner of the house. The bed is 6 ft by 20 ft and there are 2 windows in this area. The rest is mulch.

Some questions for you and the nursery you are working with--

Do you want something evergreen?

Do you want flowers?

How often will the shrubs need trimming? The shrubs at my SIL have to be trimmed monthly--too much work for me.

What is the mature size? Do not overcrowd to look good now or you will be back in 5 yrs. Look this up yourself.

I am working with the rep who came to my house.

Yes I want evergreen for the foundation.

I would like two rows of shrubs, then add flowering small perennials for a third row.

I might or might not do annuals.

We have a gardener, but he is not really knowledgeable. I will have to learn the exact care of what we plant to take care of them.

Any thoughts?

Still kind of hoping for a line of photos that shows across the whole front from one boundary to the other. a single bed can’t be designed alone .

Based on what little I can see, I think that you need something largeish like a tree diagonally forward off the front left corner to help balance the large two story part of the building. Then low shrubs under the window and across to the door. if you are coastal you could put one of the smaller cultivars of long blooming hydrangeas and then behind a row of low evergreen shrubs. You have such a wider range of possibilities that I hesitate to make specific suggestions for you zone. upUnderplant with an evergreen groundcover such as Veronica ‘Georgia Blue’ and spring bulbs. Regardless, choose shrubs that are sized right for the area, like full sun, and that you find appealing together.

If you would prefer a mix such as you currently have, the choose several shrubs with long interest such as flowers and colorful foliage. Be sure size won’t grow taller than the window sill. Be sure that the bed is deep enough front to back for two rows of plants with the inner row outside the drip-line from the roof as frankielynnsie suggested, so that might be 10’ deep or more for smaller shrubs.

This is the entire front.

We haven’ t made a definite choice if what to do with the tree.

Would like to get ideas of what to do if we do.

Hello?

I have no specific plant suggestions but think a better look than what you have would be to have taller shrubs on outside corner with shorter ones close to door. Basically the oposite of what you have!

NH thanks for your help.Instarted a thread iver in shrubs.

moja, everything is overgrown, and there was a tree at the left that had to be removed.

Here are some ideas for your region: