Your house is beautiful. My advice would be to get rid of those plant balls in the front and then hire a local landscape designer on a consultant basis to develop a planting plan which you can execute as budget permits.

Beautiful house!

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Clay soiul always tricky I usually dig away at least 12" of clay and dispose of it then I did dow another 6 inches take that out beak it up and then repalce it after you have added some topsoil and some compost to the clay amd mixed well. I do this for each plant I plant if it is not possible to do a large bed at one time . If I can I add some earthworms to that hole too. If you have places where you can plant potapoes for a year that aslo helps break up the soild just leave the potatoes in the ground and curt off the tops next spring just dig in more top soil and compost along with the broken down potatoes. You could just start on the bed infornyt of the big window it is a decent size to work with at this time of year. Make sure whatever you plant when the soil is ready is something suited to that spot

Celery, can you tweak your design to replace the foundation meatballs with something softer and conceal the utility box in the center? Can anything be trained to grow against the wall?

Take out the ball shrubs. Move the ornamental tree out from the house another 6 or so feet.

Plant a mix of evergreen and flowing shubs with perennials and annuals in the bed between the walkway and the house. Make sure the shrubs are placed so athat they are at least a foot from the side of the house when they're mature.

Plant a row of varigated boxwood to line the walkway up to the entry.