You will get better landscaping help if you give your general location or growing zone.

Cute pups! Mine jump into the bushes/plants when hunting geckos, so I plant pretty stuff outside their fenced area!

I’m in St. Louis, Mo which I think is zone 7

Here’s a couple more pics I took this morning. It definitely needs pruning which is our Saturday plans. But I also think that they’re too tall at the base so no way to make them shorter than the windows. We had them shorter last year but they just keep getting so large. And we didn’t plant any of it, we bought the house after it was all done so I can’t say what these all are.

Another pic from todag

Do they rub against the wall of the house?

I actually like them, at least they have color. I might even plant under growth plants to fill the space, so they look intentional. What direction/what side of the house is this front elevation?

If it gets morning light, you could plant Azaleas, but South and West is too hot and sunny for azaleas. Ever consider painting all the white out? It's so stark, a sage green would soften the overall look and compliment the greenery.

Ooh I love your green idea it looks really good with the orangey brick! And the front faces north. The left side gets almost no sun and the right gets good afternoon sun since the house sits on an angle. And back to the green if I did shutters and all the current white green what color would you paint the columns?

I suggest moving the purple trees and the small green trees (next to the foundation) to an area where they could spread and thrive. Trees near foundations often send invasive roots under and around the house, causing problems.

The current small shrubs that the dogs attack actually look pretty good. If you remove them, will the dogs attack something else? That's important to know before buying and installing new plants.

I don’t think they would attack anything else we have other plants and trees in the back they don’t mess with. I don’t know why those bushes but they also don’t grow the same and one or two die each year that we then replace. I don’t love them enough to deal with them.

I would paint the columns green too. Or whatever color you paint the trim. Everything not brick, green. even the soffit.

if you get mostly shade on one side, plant azaleas, they only need morning sun and indirect. Don't try symmetrical planting, do what works in each area. These are BM colors

The two trees flanking the door and the ball shrubs are a very formal look. Pruned, symmetrical, formal. The other plants aren't pruned, formal or symmetrical. So, the first question is, do you like the formal, pruned symmetrical look? If you want to keep that, then that would dictate your landscaping. If you want a more natural look, you want to do less pruning.

If you want to keep the formal look, I'd keep the trees on the right and the left between the two windows. I'd move the red trees and the other shrub. I'd add a hydrangea on the left corner. Then, I'd fill in the planting space with perennials. I'd let the ball shrubs grow into a hedge and plant perennials in the gravel.

It's harder to get a sense of how to move your landscape into a less formal look. Removing the balls would be a start. You might want to hire a landscape designer.

You can move trees, but the best way to do it is to dig halfway around the crown in the spring and the rest of the way in the fall and preferably move it the next spring or that fall. That said, I've had success with replanting trees I moved without all that, but it's not 100% success.

Since it looks like you might have planted all those trees and shrubs, it's worth pointing out that you should always look up the mature height and crown width of the exact cultivar of any plant you are thinking of buying. I look things up on my phone at the nursery. That way, you won't plant things that grow too big for the space in 5-10 years.

Sadly I didn’t plant or pick any of the plants growing. We bought the house when everything was newly planted by the previous homeowner. You gave me a lot to think on if we want formal or not. I know we like low maintenance and if we take trees out we probably won’t replant them anywhere. We don’t have a side yard. And our back is a pool with plants already there too.

Some option

I love Celery's front visualization except for trees blocking windows. If small trees were planted very recently, and you have an experienced gardener who can move them, relocate them to each corner of the house and on blank brick sections, leaving windows unblocked. Move the formal little shrubs near the driveway to a garden bed for foundation plantings.

Move remaining trees to lawn island on other side of driveway.

Front yard re design · More Info

Celery what are the trees in your picture?

I like the landscaping ideas, but unless you darken that white panel over the door, it will never look integrated. That would be my first task. Right now it's the focal point and should not be.

Any flowering trees in your zone, such as crepe myrtle or camelia. Check your local nurseries what they have for your area.

DH and I are not very knowledgeable about landscaping, so we did what is frequently recommended here, which is to engage a local garden center for a design. They have been in business for 50 years so are well aware of what does well in our area. Hopefully there is a company like this near you. Ask your neighbors for recommendations. It is not inexpensive to do it this way, but they quoted each side of the house separately so we could have opted to do parts at a time instead of all at once. If you have the ability to prune but don't know which plants to choose I think this is the way to go. A good design also considers three season color so the end result is attractive most of the year. It won't look grown in from day one, but should be able to grow in and not be overgrown within about five years unless you request something different.

If this isn't in the budget this year, work on the structure this year - I agree with the other commenters that the white roof part over the front door is distracting. The shutters are a traditional choice, but the front door looks contemporary. Think about what direction you want to go in and change the aspects that don't fit before you landscape. Deciding between a formal and informal with the plantings like Sigrid said is also a good idea.

Not a landscape idea but you mentioned painting the porch canopy sage green. Gray the same as the roof might also work.

I don't have software but trying to envision. Not paint colors just a guess.

Since you are zone 7 and northfacing, and wanting low maintenance, go to IzelNatives.com. Enter your zone and click part shade to shade. This is what I am using/doing for my landscaping with dogs. The backbone for me are various carex. They provide easy grasslike structure. You can add so many small trees for interest, such as Japanese maples (JM), Dogwoods, redbuds, etc but they need to be away from the windows. The JMs have so many colors options, size and form (upright, weeping, etc) but make sure, if you get JM you find the colors that take the amount of shade you have. IF you plant densely then you will have almost no maintenance after the initial installation. I no longer need to mulch and only pull occasional weed every few days. You do not need to till nor amend. That disrupts the soil. Look at Landscape architects Adam Woodruff, Kelly Norris, Benjamin Vogt, and Piet Oudolf (Piet Oudolf designed the NYC elevated walking paths there, among others). They have more of a prairie look, but they offer lots of shade garden ideas (especially Adam Woodruff's Redstone). Their designs tend to be "too busy" for my aesthetic. I love a dense but clean look, so my gardens have a more limited palette. I too am zone 7 but am in NC mountains so our climate zone may be a bit different. I planted masses of carex (1-2'), wavy hairgrass (gets 2-3' tall), then added in various flowering shade plants amongst my JM's for structure and color. I added Astilbe Shogun which has deep burgundy colored leaves, Some early meadow Rue 'black stockings' which are in glorious bloom right now and ferns (they do have evergreen ones) . The color palette is soothing, to me, and clean looking. I was excited to learn that EVERY neighbor has stopped and commented how much they love what I had done. My dogs do not destroy it, etc. Deer leave it alone. I personally will no longer plant invasives, nor anything aggressive, which I found so many nurseries promote. But that is my opinion. And now that it is installed I only pull a weed here and there. Also no cutting down until spring to allow pollinators, etc to overwinter. Birds galore.

In regards to the dying shrubs, they look like boxwoods which are prone to boxwood blight. If you have already replaced them and they keep dying I would try something else. I have replaced my boxwoods with Ilex crenata 'soft touch'. They look like boxwoods but do not get blight. I had wanted to plant inkberry which is fantastic but they are a suckering plant. IF you don't mind clipping those back they are terrific, but I don't want to have to be that vigilant.

And I think Lyn Nielson's inspiration photo is gorgeous. Good luck!

Landscaping is not what the house needs - The "Ugly" factor needs to be removed first. Lightest colors are where the eye goes - that white glob in front is where the eye goes first and should NOT be the main focus of the house. Get the house fixed first and then decide what style you want in garden/yard - and look at photos online. And consider the sun angle. Wondering is someone was drinking koolaid when the designed the house. . ..

I would get rid of thw white glob over the front door. … Paint it the same color as the roof to blend in. The shrubs in the ball shape are not attractive. The large shrubs/trees are too close to the house. i would find a local landscape designer to create a natural looking front yard.

This is my idea, that you may or may not like. I agree about painting the white overhang. It could be a sage green, or a french blue. The shutters need to be the same colour. All the planting along under the house eves I would rip out and plant drifts of Lacecap or moptop hydrangas. I prefer just white,flowers,as green and white are not competing with the house colours. The trees at the front door entry, keep the ball ones clipped. The small shrubs underneath should be a continuous hedge in a square or rectangular shape. They should be kept low. the white stones are nice in under the ball trees. Once this is established and youre ready for stage two. Think about some bulbs in spring, under the balls, inside the hedge. These could be blue/purple iris , or mabe just some daffadils, jonquils. Just to welcome spring and summe r to your garden.