Add a picture of the house straight on so we have a full perspective. Do you use the gravel driveway?

Where are you located? Climate information is necessary for plant suggestions.

Get undyed mulch. ID what you have in your gardens. I see a lot of small stuff. Are these shrubs that will grow to be a nice size in a few years? Are they weeds?

Where are you? What zone, nearest city and how much sun does it get? Are there any challenges, like dry/soggy soil, clay/sand?

Are you intending to put in a new driveway and path to the front foot? If so get that done before landscaping. The work will mess up anything done before. If you aren't going to redo the drive a first step in landscaping would be to weed the gravel and define the edges. Then define the edge of the lawn. You don't need to put in edging. A clean sharp cut edge will do it. Rocks are not necessary. Nor is mulch unless you really want it.

Im in north ohio half hour west of cleveland. mostly clay soil. Im working on aerating and overseeding and reviving the soil. only plants in mulch bed now are a few hostas and one hydrangea. im willing to rip it all out and startover for a new design. im also willing to put in new walkway of any style but will be keeping the gravel driveway

The gravel drive to front porch - is that where you park? Is that also your driveway on far side with white car in it? If yes, how does one enter house from that driveway? I’m trying to figure out what the walkway entry paths are. Does that downspout next to othe stairs create problems with mud & puddles when using that entry? Is there any way to reroute that downspout to another location? Your plan to have new gravel put in drive with defined edges is a great step. Be sure to kill the exiisting weeds before new gravel poured. About the AC - my understanding is it’s not good to block air flow so any shrubs to hide it need to be a good distance away so that would mean extending planting bed which would be a good thing for that side facing front yard. You have hosta & hydrangea - so that must be a shady side of the house? What direction does it face? Check out Paniculata Hydrangeas - they are much easier to prune & will take more sun than the mophead styles. Great flower colors too. A taller shrub in the long span of siding between the 2 windows to right of AC would look great & provide all summer flowering. Plant lower shrublets in front of that. Look at some low evergreens that work in your area of Ohio & in the clay soil I know you have. They will give your yard some structure year round but still be low maintenance.

Does the driveway have to go the full length of the porch or could it stop at the steps? If two cars need to park there, could the driveway be widened instead? That would allow you to plant along the front of the porch and make a real front yard.

The front yard is on the north side of the house and sees sun most of the day bu the overhang of the roof gives shade over the inner half of the mulch bed. the driveway going down the house we like because we have cookout and prefer the extra parking because people can ot park on our street. the driveway on the far side of the picture is where i typically park and enter through the gate that is right in front of the white car on that side of the yard and go in through the back door so we dont need to move cars around to get out. the edge of the long driveway cannot be widen because it is right against the property line and neighbors yard is to the left

Lots of good recommendations here already about considering water run off, doing driveway and hardscaping first and planting very last, and not planting look close to the house our foundation.

In deciding plants, I would first get the bones of the garden figured out with evergreen shrubs so you will still have some green and structure during the winter. Then add in other shrubs to the scheme, and finally add in perennials.

There are a lot of good sketches online if you google plans for small evergreen and perennial garden and add your zone in. Take ideas from those plans and start talking to people at good nurseries in your area to see what they find actually works well for your situation.

If your main concern is the view from the road, you could develop a garden at the street instead of along the house foundation. This would draw the eye away from the house and the lawn and soften the transition from lawn to street. You'd install a fence along the length of the lawn, a few feet from the road.

You can make a planting bed on either side of the fence or plant both sides. You'd use a mix of small shrubs and perennials, and perhaps even a small tree. You can still plant ho-hum foundation shrubs so the house isn't bare.

Either of these fence styles would be appropriate for your home.

Below the porch steps, I'd place some tree pavers. I would not invest much time and money on a side yard (even if it is facing the street). https://www.houzz.com/photos/recycled-tree-stump-pavers-wood-pavers-modern-landscape-houston-phvw-vp~1262068

The tree paver idea is ok for a pathway but I disagree with not spending time or money on this ”side” yard. It isn’t a side yard but it is the front, public facing view of the house that happens to be on the side of the house because of its orientation. It’s well worth spending both time & money on this yard.

Here are a few ideas:

Paint AC enclosure the same as house. Remove all grass. Foundtion area plant: Indian Hawthorne shrubs all along foundation or Pachysandra. Front area gravel for additional parking to help with parking crunch.https://www.houzz.com/photos/country-farm-house-farmhouse-landscape-boston-phvw-vp~3023736

You are young, you and your fiancé have your entire lives to change and rearrange. Take your time and try small things first. I think your mulch idea is nice. Why not get extra large decorative planters with flowers or small trees to try out a couple ideas. This way you could change it up or move them around if you two like. If you would like an idea on a fast showey grower for the a/c area--how about Rhododendron? The will get huge and basically over years cover the entire side. Like what you plant.

As for my personal experience and opinion is not to plant too close to the house. Plants need water, foundations do not!! Have fun, this is a wonderful project for you and your fiancé, so don't listen too much to others. Do what your heart feels, and what you both want.

Keep us updated on your progress, and send some pictures.

I think painting the wood around the porch to match the white of the house trim would help with "where is the front door". Maybe even the risers of the steps. A solar light that shines to the steps will help to locate the entrance, since you have 2 drives. I agree with painting your A/C box the color of the house. Then, the simplest ways to show where you enter to your property is to prominently display your house numbers by the steps (flat rock propped-up with numbers or a match-the-house-colors wood sign hanging over the steps) and/or flank the entry steps with small potted shrubs or tall potted grasses, and add a couple of little path lights (solar, path light rocks, nothing too expensive). Over time, you will be able to tell from living there what it is you really want to do, remove, add, etc. and haven't over committed to too many outdoor projects right as summer starts and haven't spent way too much in the process. Then, in the late winter/next early Spring, you can plan your front yard plants without feeling rushed.

What is the measurement from the street-facing side of the house to the road - 12’, 15’??

I agree with the comment to get the driveway and path to the porch stairs done first. Gravel can be messy especially if you shovel or plow snow off it in zone 6. So I like the idea of an edging (at least on the left property-line side). Is the space for the driveway wide enough to have edging on 1 or 2 sides? A common look in my area (not Ohio) is Belgian block edging with a 6’ apron of cemented Belgian block at the street to contain the gravel.

Regarding the street-facing side with the AC unit (agree with painting AC enclosure the same color as siding)…

- if you or party guests use this area, consider creating a courtyard with grass or a bluestone patio along the length of the house. Then install landscaping from the edge of the lawn/patio to the street. The right landscaping can make the patio/yard area seem private from the road.

- if you don’t use this area, consider removing all the grass and installing plantings here (with an access path from the driveway to the AC unit).

Please post ”after” photos!

Have you considered completely changing the gravel drive in front of the house? That's what is wrong with the whole look. The current layout turns the street-facing side of the house into a focal point, one that is bland and void now of good design elements. No matter how you define and edge it, the gravel drive along the entire front of the house is awkward.

Perhaps consider no gravel drive in front of house. You could make a patio there, or just put some planting beds.

The improvement change would be to make a half-circle drive, on the street-facing side of the house (parallel with road), from where gravel starts off the road, meeting the other drive (where white car parked). It will have a simple, natural appearance, with a walkway to front steps.

I don't have Celery's software to mock up a design, but you could have a single tall decorative lattice panel in front of the hvac unit with vine planted on it. Add at least one columnar evergreen tree, along with foundation plantings. You'd have plantings on the house side and a small bed along the road side, on either side of your new, continuous and accommodating short and sweet drive.

I gave it a shot. The image isn't super crisp, but maybe it will spur ideas for you. Clearly, I am not an artist or a Landscape Designer. In front of the AC unit, I was thinking 3-4 tall Cedar Pine Trees, but any tall bush/shrub/tree would work.

B. Lyons, I clearly see your vision. Have one of the replies transform your drawings/vision on their 3D CAD or AI design so it can inspire the home owner to get started. Great job on the vision and outline not only the yard but also adding a facelift to the side of the house. This will make it attractive and complete when people approach while driving by. All post had good ideas but they overlooked to enhance the house which is just as vital.

I would install bricks or pavers in that gravel driveway - it will be a lot of work digging up the gravel, but great exercise and Vitamin D with the sunlight. In the front, just start creating flower beds around the perimeter (front near house, sides and along the street) and plant what you like. Add a bed in the middle of the yard later if you want depending on space left. No matter what you plant, some will die and some will need to be moved later for balance and whatever, so just buy what you like and realize it will change every year for a while as you add some each year and move things around. Be sure to use a lot of perennials that come back every year. Read the labels about blooms early, mid and late summer and use some of each. Check with neighbors (and craisglist - free) - people are always splitting plants - a chance to get some free. If you make the gravel driveway like a patio with pavers think about putting cardboard down when visitors park there in case their car leaks oil. Sometimes people post free pavers look for those and if you find different kinds, get creative and use several styles.

Love Dig Doug’s design,the colors are beautiful. I agree with painting the box the same color as the house. The porch would look nice painted white too, and the downspout should be the same color as the post it attaches to. You are probably on a budget and changing the front driveway may not be in the budget for now, so just adding gravel and timbers to make it neater will be fine. It’s actually a very cute house, and some easy and inexpensive changes will have it shining soon!

The natural wood front porch railing and its design, give the home a unique and country appeal. Painting it white, puts the house into the everyday suburban category of look-alike houses, let alone, creates a maintenance headache.

I know you didn't ask about this, but every time I look at the picture I think shutters would help. If the porch is a trex-like product, of course you wouldn't paint it. Match shutters, downspout and AC cover to porch color. I think that would be more harmonious and make it look better even without landscaping. Re landscaping: many landscape outfits offer free design help. They'd be helpful with the right zone, sunlight requirements, care, etc.

Look at almanacplanting.com for zone 6. Azaleas double blooming, lilac bush, and drift roses are nice along with some greenery.

I know painting the porch railing is not what u want to do but matching it to the white trim would be a great first step. If not crazy about white, paint the fence and trim something complementary to the siding but keep the same. BTW, u have a cute house good luck.

Pavers in the gravel area would be nice, but if it's too labor intensive or expensive stamped concrete would look great too !! 😀 I agree with azaleas, lilac, or lavender Bushes, maybe crepe myrtle along the fence with solar uo lighting at night would be so pretty. Some lantern lights under the front porch would be welcoming and visually interesting not being so dark.