Go ahead and remove what you intend to remove and then show us your new pictures.

I won’t be removing anything without a plan ahead of me. Basically the 2 flower beds at the front can be completely redone. If I could photoshop it I would

I'd get a variety of evergreen shrubs, to use as bones, that are not taller than the wall and have varying texture and colors like short cherry laurels and lime green cedars and add a few shorter flowering perennials among them towards the front. (See the picture below for a short bed with varying greens and texture.)

I'd invest in more greenery on your porch too to soften the edges, add height, and relate to the beds in front of the wall. In your planters by the door I'd plant much taller hydrangeas and get similar planters one for on the patio against the garage and one to the right of your right window and plant tall flowering shrubs in them too. (Not sure how you would over winter them. In the garage?)

How old are the boxwoods and do you know why they died? I wonder if you need to do a soil exchange or if they were just duds. What zone are you in?

A Cottage Garden · More Info

Thanks for the pictures! The front of my house isn’t typical so I want to redo the flower beds then do the patio. The boxwoods are only a couple years old but something came through my area this year and killed almost all the boxwoods in my city

I live in 4 seasons weather.

==>> dont we all

we cant talk plants.. if we dont know where you are.. big city name ...

the only reason to NOT remove something.. would be that you want to move it.. and save it... otherwise.. the first step is always removing unwanted plants ...

i cant focus on your plants ..... to ID them.. so i can offer any opinion as to what is currently valuable...

there is a name that plant forum ....as well as forums for perennials.. shrubs.. etc...

its obvious to me.. that the two large shrubs not only need severe rejuvenation pruning.. but that they were planted 5 to 10 feet too close to the wall.. imo.. those need to be moved.. maybe you have room in the back yard???? ... if not.. remove them from the property ...

no comment on unknown ground cover...

it is easy to design a plan.. when you can verbalize what you want to accomplish.. just wanting to call a redo.. isnt a goal.. so you are having a hard time coming up with a plan..

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS...

ken

Gotcha on the boxwoods. You me tion redoing the patio. What are you having done to it? Any opportunity to add trees or beds in the patio area?

Kendrah- In redoing my front. I'd like to keep those flower beds simple, clean and with some color. As for the patio itself, I finally bought some furniture for it last summer (you can really see it at the moment because of that overgrown plant). I added 2 large planters by the entrance as well. The patio staging is still a work in progress but I figured I'd like to get those beds done first. But yes, the patio will be up for ideas and suggestions as well.

Are you not speaking with a landscape contractor to help you with this? Better to consult with an expert than try to do something yourself that a) won't be what you want and b) will die because you didn't choose the right plants.

cathi33 I did talk to a couple contractors but wasn't really blown away by their suggestions. I figured I've had such great luck with the wonderful contributors on Houzz that I would try again here.

Take out what you do not want to keep then take a pic and post here in a comment. IMO the best place to get help is your local garden center they know what grows where you are and also knowledge about up keep and growth habit in your area. I love ground coves but some can be quite invasive so maybe if low maintenance is the plan then mention that to the garden center . Kedrah 's pic is great way to have a nice backdrop for some color during the growing season I always thow bulbs in for a nice spalsh of color in the spring.

Those 'overgrown plant(s)' are healthy mature Hydrangeas. They may be in a less than optimal position but they are well worth relocating within your yard.

If you aren't willing to tell us where in the world you are, our choices are to recommend finding local help, or start guessing. Since guessing is a lot more fun for us, (but less useful for you) . . . my guess is Illinois. So the boxwoods succumbed to nothing more worrisome than harsher conditions than they were designed to withstand.

Like Floral said, the large plants are hydrangeas, though I wouldn't call them mature. They'll get bigger, and it isn't a bad idea to move them sooner rather than later. They are nice plants which would be an asset somewhere you don't have to look at them every day during the winter. The pictures aren't good enough to ID the groundcover, but almost by definition, groundcovers spread.

I'd start by removing the boxwoods, transplanting the hydrangeas, and see what you think. Bulbs and annuals can be planted with the groundcover. I'd want a picture from further back before talking about trees or large shrubs. A common mistake we see here is for small trees to be planted in the spots where larger trees should be.

floraluk2 thank you. I thought that they were overgrown Hydrangeas but I wasn't entirely sure. I have seen a lot of houses with them....but maybe it's just me but they seem out of place in that location. Thoughts?

DigDougDesigns- thanks for the picture! I was definitely hoping to get some input like that. Unfortunately I'm not too computer literate enough to photoshop the area so I do appreciate that

mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY) not sure exactly when or where I said I was unwilling to share where in the world i'm located? Easily enough to answer as I reside in southern Ontario Canada

View from the road

I really appreciate how Doug's design extended the footprint of the left bed much farther in to the yard. It really helps off set the top heavy feel of your house.

I'm learning that there are soooo many different types of hydrangea. Our apartment building has a landscaper doing a redesign and she included six different types! I concur that the placement of them isn't great. And, if you don't love them, then take them out and put them up for grabs on Craigslist or some such other upcycling site.

It is so disappointing to consult with local experts and not find excitement in their ideas. Perhaps you could solidify suggestions here and at least find a designer you like who can help implement the ideas you have gathered here.

Landscape designer is what I use for ideas….

Kendrah- thank you again. Yes unforunately what you see there was the result of hiring a landscaper a few years ago. I basically just let them design the front but a year or so later there are certain things I learned. Firstly....i'd like to have something with color that lasts longer. The ground coverage is a lovely purple for about 3 weeks and then disappears. Also it is brutal to trim back.

The boxwood bushes were fine....but unfortunately something ravaged all of these bushes in my city. The hydrangeas started off ok and are very popular in my area but you can see how monstrous they became and I just feel their placement is off? Do they look off to you?

Unfortunately in consulting with a few more landscapers they tend to really overcomplicate what I'm looking to acheive here so I figured i'd come to my great helpers here on Houzz.

K Laurence- never heard of Landscape designer. Is that an app or program? Any chance you'd be able to come up with some ideas for my front flower beds?

There are a variety of plants you can combine so that you will have something in bloom and colorful most of the year. However, it seems a sort of small space to jam that many plants in to. That is why I like Doug's idea of expanding the footprint, so you always have something in bloom or with colorful berries or green in the winter. It is possible that your designer just didn't have a good eye, good taste, or didn't realize how big those hydrangea would get. We just planted some that are called pee-wee hydrangea! I adore hydrangea, but they aren't much to look at in the winter.

Yes the hydrangeas were nice at first but this year they really took off !

Thanks all!

Looking outside today i definitely think I’ll be staying away from expanding the garden forward with flowers and trees and such. Soo many leaves are already on my property and I’m not looking to add more work.
If anyone can do a mock up or give specific flower suggestions for the front 2 flower beds that wood great

Is there ant particular reason why the hydrangeas grew so big?

You need a dwarf hydrangea like Bobo or Tiny Tuff Stuff. Scallywag dwarf holly could be a replacement for the boxwood. Your groundcover sounds like creeping phlox. For continuous color there I'd fill the space with annuals each spring.

I’ll look into those. I’m a bit of a dead end with help

I'm in Toronto so probably the same general area as you? Even the smallest hydrangea may be too large for your space. Bobo gets 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall and is considered a dwarf. Pruning hydrangea down to a smaller size is a big pain.

As far as hiring a pro to design it, my landscape designer way overplanted both in number and size. Looked great the first 2 years. My sister recently got an established landscape architect firm to do a plan. It was really bad. For example, they put 4 Bobo hydrangea in a 2 ft x 8 ft bed. Also lots of boxwood which, as you know, were essentially all killed off here this year by disease and insects in our area. So why would a pro recommend them?? Sorry to be a downer but I am jaded on the landscape pros.

If you want easy care, put in a few evergreens and clip them twice a year to keep them the size and shape you want. It's not hard or time consuming. Yews take to clipping very well and grow in sun or shade. Put in annuals for colour. Done.

If you want colour during the warm months, you'll need a pretty large bed if you want colour from perennials or shrubs, because none of these will bloom all summer. That's the reason why some people have recommended that you enlarge your beds. But if gardening is a chore and not a pleasure for you, remember that plants grow and need to be trimmed or dug back if they get too large for their space, as you have seen with your perennial alyssum ground cover. If you want colour during the warm months with little work and small spaces, annuals are the answer.

Thank you so much for your valued advice. Unfortunately so many things you said hit the nail on the head. A lot of landscapers wanted to really expand and over plant which is the exact opposite of what I want done. I just want something simple to maintain and a bit of color. I find more and more people/experts listen more to the voice in their own heads than the clients unfortunately. Thanks for listening!!

For now, I suggest you remove the 4 dead boxwoods. No matter what, this needs to be done and your lovely home will look better without them.

In the spring, before the leaves come out, you can move the 2 hydrangeas to a better spot. Do you have a tag to know what variety they are? It's possible that they are really big ones. If you don't know what kind, assume they will get big. What colour are the flowers when they first come out?

My landscape designer gave me 3 Limelight hydrangeas in a triangle near my front door, about 2 feet from each other. I didn't know (although she should have) that they will grow 8 feet tall and 8 wide, each.

Another option to replace the boxwoods is to use a clump of ornamental grass in each spot. Choose a shorter one. We recently went to Toronto Botanical Gardens and the movement and sound of the grasses swaying in the wind was so beautiful. The stems and seed heads look nice all winter too. https://www.inournature.ca/native-grasses-for-ontario-gardens

Thanks again for the wonderful suggestions! The 4 dead boxwoods definitely have to go and likely will be replaced with a bush of some sort like you suggested.

I will try to see what variety the 2 hydrangeas are. I believe when they first bloom they are white. They are currently orange….perfect for Halloween ha.
It’s great ti hear your feedback as it sounds so similar to my own experiences

This nursery may have a location close to you. A huge selection and a good "plant finder" for plants that do well in our area. https://connon.ca/home-gardeners/

I am far, far from Toronto but here are my suggestions:

1. remove the boxwoods this fall and don’t replace them with anything just yet.

2. after Halloween, trim back the hydrangeas. They are a woody plant and do best with a fairly strong trim. (You can find a YouTube or Google for instructions).

3. make a plan to move your hydrangeas in the spring. First, figure out what kind of hydrangea it is. (It sounds like it might be one of the Snowball variety). Hydrangeas are often used on the side of the yard as foundation plants if the location gets enough sun. They should be planted at least 3 feet from the side of the house because of their size, but they take very little maintenance. But the flowers are lovely and can be cut and brought into the home to be used for live arrangements or dried. The pink and blue ones change colors depending on the alkaline in the soil.

If you don’t want them, I feel certain someone else would. Sell them or donate them in the spring. List them as “you dig for free.”

At this point, you should have a better idea of what a more minimal garden would look like. If it still feels too overgrown to enjoy for fall and winter, then dig up some of the ground cover before things freeze. (If you know someone with a post hole digger, you could simply dig up holes to thin in. Or you can shovel up patches to make thinner paths.)

If you want a big of spring time color, then use that post hole digger and plant some bulbs before the freeze. Daffodils will bloom in March-April, tulips in May, lillies and irises in June. Bulbs take a lot of work the first time, and can be a tad expensive, but if you are digging things up already, and already have holes in the yard, then add some compost and dropping the bulbs in is a super way to have lovely color for the next year and every year after with almost no work.

If they are still available in your area, you could also consider planting hostas and/or daylillies on top of the bulbs. (Or plant them in the spring). Hostas have shallow roots and also divide quickly, as do daylillies. Daylillies give but one day of color but typically bloom for months, beginning in June-August.

Planting bulbs and perennials require minimal effort (and limited expenditure), while bringing color and surprises each month.

As others have suggested, annuals also bring color to one’s garden. But don’t forget to plant some herbs. Lavender and rosemary are perennial and there are many types of basil (one of my favorites is chocolate basil).

Finally, avail yourself of the botanical information and experts at the Toronto Botanical Garden. They are in the educational business, not landscaping business, so they don’t care how many plants you buy.

I would plant some beautiful, colorful azalea bushes like these I saw on Pinterest in front of the stone partition.

A word of caution about the advice above re pruning Hydrangeas. "after Halloween, trim back the hydrangeas. They are a woody plant and do best with a fairly strong trim. " It depends on the type of Hydrangea you have. Yours are not H macrophylla, but if they were, pruning them hard at this time of year would pretty much guarantee few or no blooms next year, since they flower on old wood. H arborescens types flower on new wood so you can prune them now. So ... the advice to ascertain what sort of Hydrangeas you have should come before the advice to prune in the autumn.

Wow thank you all for all the feedback today! I had figured this thread might have dried up deader than my boxwoods. All wonderful suggestions. I will try to see what kind of hydrangeas I have today and also I might see if I can measure those flower beds to give everyone an idea of what i'm working with. Again thank you so much to all!

Would suggest hiring a landscape architect or at least a landscaping company with a landscape architect on staff.

I can see from the pictures that your Hydrangeas are NOT macrophyllas. So they could be pruned now. I was just making a general point about Hydrangea pruning. Close ups might allow someone to identify the cultivar of H arborescens your have. They would look better at the outer end of each bed rather than bang in the middle, framing the house rather than blocking it.

What floral said about blocking your house entry. You have a lovely home with excellent brickwork. Don’t plant tall stuff. The hydrangea growing taller than that masonry wall looks overgrown and ill-planned.

And yes, many landscapers overplant - the more they plant, the more money they make of course. You just need a handful of under-3-feet-tall shrubs and maybe a few annuals scattered in for color.

Close up my hydrangea. More and more I like the consensus here of removing the hydrangeas. Too big, not looking to prune. Boxwoods will go to
My bed are 3 feet deep and roughly 13 feet long

Do you sit on the patio there? Do you want privacy or are you ok with the patio being open to the road?

Your hydrangea is some variety of Hydrangea paniculata, a panicle hydrangea. They bloom on new wood, however if you try to keep them small by cutting them down, they shoot out spindly branches that droop unattractively when the flower heads weigh them down. I wouldn't prune them.

The best time to transplant them in Ontario is in early spring before the leaf buds open up. The next best time is now, since the plants are going dormant for winter. They really are nice plants and I'm sure weren't inexpensive. Pretty fall colour too. Maybe somewhere in your back yard where you need some large plants.

partim thanks for the update on those hydrangea. The first 2 years they didn't seem bad. Again they were planted by a landscaping group and I had no idea they'd get this big. My best option will be to move them.

callirhoe123 my patio has pretty well always been open. I finally put some furniture out there this summer just to dress it up a bit and make it more cozy but honestly I rarely sit out there so privacy isnt' an issue. Plus i live in a quiet crescent.

Thank you again everyone for the numerous replies today and suggestions. I always feel a bit more confident when I get a bit of a consensus going. Over the years I’ve really come to value the input given on here