Oh, and please excuse my dying mums. I tried.

I'd suggest that for now you just focus on the porch décor. Hang a holiday wreath or swag and fill containers with evergreen boughs or holly......or both. A holiday themed doormat would add to the appeal.

Wait for spring to do any serious landscaping. In the meantime, look for inspirational photos available here on Houzz or elsewhere online that appeal to you or offer some ideas you'd like to incorporate. As you have little to no gardening or landscaping experience, it might be best to look for simple, low maintenance ideas.

It will also help if you come back with a geographical location - zones don't help much. And photos taken from the street to see the entire front yard view and relationship to the other houses.

Cute house. Good luck with it. Go to a local nursery with your front lawn measurements and get their suggestions. They often have a landscaper on staff who will help you with a plan. You may have missed the opportunity to plant this fall. We here on the Southcoast of Massachusetts have had frost the last 2 nights. Is the walk theonly place to park your car?

we need to know where you are.. big city name... zone or 'midwest' is not enough ...

does you ground freeze.. like mine does in my corner of the midwest???

if nurseries carry nothing right now.. today.. then that me3ans its not gardening time where you are.. no use shipping stuff in from warmer areas.. if the local peeps are selling xmas stuff and getting ready to close for winter...

forget design.. and add forums for conifers.. shrubs.. perennials and maybe annuals ... lets learn what you like to grow.. before you worry about design..

ion spring.. add some beds of about 5 feet depth.. so you can leave at least2 feet at the foundation empty ...

learn how to grow the grass.. fertilizer and watering...

when you finish the beds.. presuming its not july/august of next year ... then start collecting plants and ideas ...

and finally.. for now.. thats a pic of the house.. how about stepping back... and giving us a pic of the whole yard ... most likely.. a small tree or shrub pruned int he shape of a tree would be the best fast investment.. they call it.. planting the backbones of the garden ..

ken

Landscape Design is absolutely the right forum to post in!! Otherwise you will get overwhelmed by possible plant choices, many of which may be problematic or require more maintenance than your experience level is programmed for. Without a good design in mind before you purchase any plants, you run the risk of a hodge podge of random plant choices that may or may not work well together and present an attractive, unified curb presentation.

Do your homework first and come back to us with more photos and a decent, well developed wish list.

Here are some plant suggestions :

Wow Doug that looks amazing. That’s exactly the inspo I was looking for. I appreciate your feedback greatly 🙏🏻

For those asking for a pic of the whole yard, that is the whole yard. I live at a dead end and everything to the right of the front door is my driveway/concrete. My driveway is right up on the front door, it’s not a walkway even though it looks like it in that photo.

You may want to keep some lawn or stepping stones along the driveway, so there's a clear path when getting out or walking up to the door when there's a car parked. Personally I would plant up the whole yard, but I understand other people might not appreciate stepping into a bed or having wet plants brushing against them when walking to the door...

Start where your budget allows and avoid the box stores for now. They're prob cheaper and easier, but a good nursery or local gardening friends can give you better advice on what will do best for your garden.

Wider view for those asking

I like the idea of the walkway next to the parked car.

You are likely to get suggestions to bring in 4 inches of topsoil for the landscaping. Don't fall for that. The soil you have is fine. If it is not fine, then get a good soil chemistry test and, in addition, add some organic fertilizer. You can do both of those any day of the year. Organic fertilizer can revitalize "tired soil" by feeding the soil microbes that make healthy soil.

When you want lawn advice, ask in the lawn forum before you do ANYTHING. Sometimes the obvious first step is dead wrong and will give you years of headaches.

When I got my first house, I knocked on the doors of neighbors who had beautiful gardens. That way I knew my plant investments would thrive in our climate. I also learned which bushes would stay green all year round.

Asking at the local nursery is always a good idea.

And posting on the landscaping area of Houzz. You will probably get more ideas than you have room for. The two you just got here are both beautiful!

Love your sweet little house.

There are a couple of things I would recommend. First park you car more in the middle of the drive way. This would negate the need for a walkway as recommended in other post. It would also not take space from you small front yard.

There is a swale that runs from the downspout on the side of your house down to the street. As you are working on your yard do not fill this area, as it will cause water problems that you will have to deal with.

I would plant a small bush or shrub near the front street easement and on the neighbor side of the swale. This will delineate your yard and provide some separation from the neighbor's yard. It would help to focus on your house. A real large bush would have a negative effect as it overpowered the yard.

I would the do some plantings in front of the porch, with a slightly large bush in the drive way corner.

Sorry not the it is not the fancy presentation of a previous poster, but I think it conveys the idea..