Get a bunch of perennials and plant up the gravel. Put a small, flowering tree in the front yard. To hide the gray box might be good.

That’s for the advise! Which gravel are you referring to?

A nice wide bed of perennials along the driveway for sure the gravel bed with all the little matchy shrubs is boring , why did you remove the tree, now you need to put one back.

Ash tree was dead. We tried to save it with treatment but could not.

We initially thought of extending the rock bed around the front sidewalk and throwing a tree in the front yard. What are the thoughts on this as an option?

And adding something with some height next to the front right post.

The current bushes are too small and bare looking for the scale of house. Let them grow a while before trimming so they are bigger. Maybe even swap them out for more interesting bushes. I do agree planting along the front sidewalk is a great idea and adding other plants around those tight bushes. I would definitely add another tree to your front yard.

Unless you have children who play soccer on the front lawn you definitely need to add a shade tree and a smaller ornamental tree. Please give us a hint at your location (nearest city & state) for useful advice. Thanks.

Sure we are in Minneapolis MN. Any good suggestions for trees or bushes for rock bed

Put some color into the landscaping around the house. layered Perennials by height using mixed media and prime numbers 2, 3, 5, 7 and 11 for the quantity of each in one area. Never 4 or six, and maybe change the door color to something more inviting than black.

Ditch the rock color you have and darken it up. The yard is long so needs to be broken up. I'd suggest from the street view a mixed media perennial garden in front of the gray box two lawn mower distances from the road, and from the blue line on the curb to two lawn mower distances from the property line.

behind the the garden from the spot where the ash was a trio of Low height flowering trees like crape myrtles, flowering crabapples, dogwoods, redbuds, or magnolias would look good but don't block the view of the front door from the street,

Up the driveway a line of shrubs to another colorful perennial garden from the start of just before the start of the driveway all the way to the corner of the house. Variety should be incorporated to keep it interesting and inviting that is pleasing to the eye and what guests will explore on their journey to the front door.

Could you please post a close-up of the little bushes in the rock bed? I'm wondering if they're dwarfs, young or over pruned. Since their roots are established it would be a shame to remove them if they just need time to grow.

For your shade tree take a look at oaks (visit a local nursery and pick the best specimen). Go to a real nursery, not a big box store.

For your small ornamental tree, look at crabapples.

They have been in for about 5 years

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They have been in for about 5 years so I won’t be able to move them easily

Love the serpentine idea. What would you plant in there

I'd consider planning to move those bushes during November when dormant Cover over the winter..

Identify the Zone where you live.

Take advantage of your County Extension Service which should provide you with list of native plants suited to your location.

Use PERRINIALS, NOT ANNUALS to get established and come back year after year.

Some option

Those 5 year old shrubs are not large at all and can be moved easily. If it is spring where you live - then you can move them.

Head over to Bachmans or Gertens. They will direct you better than anyone, they know your zone and probably soil type. Your interest in maintenance/gardening needs to be factored in. If those front evergreens have been in for five years...I think there's an issue. Unless they were single sticks when you purchased them they ought to be much larger by now. My guess is the roots are getting strangled by the product you put between the rock and the soil. I bet one shovel will pop them right out. It doesn't appear they have much root structure. I see you have chairs under a tree near the driveway. Perhaps you want to look into putting a porch across the front, extend the walkway to the curb in a nice gentle curving manner which would create a planting bed between walkway and the driveway. You will want to think of snow removal and the piles that will be on top of any beds along the driveway.

We a Beautiful bloodgoobloodgood japanese maple front house. Don't contrast against green .

Your lawn looks to be not level. Does the mower bounce into holes or roll over hills as you push it along? It could be an optical effect from different colors of turf, but if the lawn is uneven, and if you are going to have some professional landscaping done, you might consider having it leveled and reseeded at the same time. The best time to do this is late August or September after the summer heat breaks. When you talk to the landscapers, ask them how they plan to level it. If they mention rototilling or bringing in new soil, send them away. You don't need new soil. Whatever issues you might think you have with the soil, a couple of applications of organic fertilizer will fix it...that is unless you have a chemical imbalance, but it looks, basically, fine as it sits. And rototilling is not the way to level it. Here is a picture of the tool used to level a lawn for new sod or seed.

The tractor with the box blade on the back is what the pros use. Without digging it scrapes the surface to cut off the high spots and fill in the low spots. Follow that with a roller and it should be good to go.