Hello. What zone do you live in and do you have deer problems?

I'm in Honewood, IL. I'm not sure about zones. But no, there isn't a deer problem that I know of. There are too many people and cars.

Cute! I love to see hot pinks or reds w/ the color of your home. Depending on if you get shade or sun in that area, how much time you want to devote to mainteance, etc will decide what would work best for you. Your local garden center maybe able to help you with things that do well in your zone. (they will know about zones!)

While you're at it, I'd move the mailbox and address plaque to the other side of the door and add white shutters to all the windows. If you're a shutter kind of girl, that is. Years ago we hung white plastic shutters-didn't even paint them!--and they were great! Then paint that front door a brilliant red!!

There actually were white shutters but they were so old and worn I took them down. I love the idea of hot pinks and reds! I agree about the mailbox and address too. I want a smaller address and moving the mailbox lower or on the other wise. Thanks!!

i would get the door painted in red or Black ... and i would FOR sure put a nice shutters in there... a big vase near by the door with some beautiful flowers . clean up the front ,put some grass there 2 ! :)

Black is not a very welcoming colour..however red or a rich blue would look great. I can see you have a wide over hang at the front of the house.......I would plant beyond that so you are not always having to water regardless of if it is raining or not. Installing a nice patio area right to the left of the door...and hide it behind a low hedge...a bistro set and maybe a little fountain in there would be nice. This will create a secret garden for you to sit in to read or drink coffee/wine/tea. Beyond the hedge....plantings in pinks and whites would be nice. You have decided if you want a free kind of cottage garden look..or something formal. I would suggest you go through magazines on gardening and define what style you like the best. A archway over your path would really go a long way to soften the look of the house and to add a lot of charm......if you placed it at the hedge that marks the "secret garden"......it would create more privacy...and lead to the anticipation of "what is beyond this". Pots of plants on the patio would give you a nice bit of colour to enjoy when you are sitting out there.

Maisey your ideas are magical but this is the front of my house. You gave me great ideas for the back of the house.

Jonice....I know it was the front lol...I think a lot of people loose sight of how much private space you can claim from your front...with clever landscaping. I have done something very similar to what I described to you in my front.....and people are amazed when the find the secret garden...I have a koi pond and a topiary I pruned from a boxwood...and a little bistro set in there...It makes a gorgeous view from the living room all year round....and a nice place for me to sit in the summer and watch the world go by.

If I knew how to post pictures I would show you some :)

Jonice-I've had another thought based on ONE of my pet peeves-not being able to see someone's address! If you were thinking of moving that-had you thought of numbers over the garage? There are unique larger ones around. Then you could replace the mailbox w/ a nifty one!

I'm not helping you with your plantings at all, am I?

Shutters on tHe two smaller windows would be fine. I would not put them on the larger window. Shutters are meant to do just that....shutter the window. They should be sized so that when closed they could actually cover the window. When skinny shutters hang beside a wide window it looks silly imho. I know most of us use faux shutters but the sentiment should be the same. Consider doing a window box beneath the wide window. Also, paint the garage door white or a closer match to the siding color. The colors of thE flowers isnt going to matter as much as the crispness of the borders. Strive for clean edges and some type of natural dark mulch. Very cute house!

An urn beside the front door and garage door would be nice. You could also hang a basket, possibly a large fern, from the overhang to the left of the door. Good luck! One last thought, invest in perenials rather than annuals. Great return on investment.

I agree with adding shutters on the two small windows, but, I would put white up to match the garage door if you want to minimize work you do to it. I don't like alot of yard work, so, I would purchase weed block and some bricks for a planter area, lay 3 layers of weed block in the front of the house and then have large river rock put in there (about fist size) along the front of the house.. Then I would purchase some large pots and put peri-annuals in them for color. It would look nice if you had a statue or fountain in front of your large window too. You could also purchase a large wall hanging to hang up between your living room window and the garage door...maybe a large 'sun' metal hanging and update your front porch light. I would then have the sidewalk, driveway and your small pad powerwashed to 'clean it up' a bit. If you like sitting outside or want a 'comfortable look' you could also concrete between your front door and the garage driveway and purchase a small table (with a floral arrangement on top of it) and two chairs to put out front. You need grass too. Zoysia Grass is nice, but, it takes a long time to grow. Once it has filled in you would have a lawn that looks like a golf course lawn and it is SO comfortable walking on barefooted! Or buy seed that is compatable for your area, keep it watered and it would be beautiful. Best of luck in whatever you decide to do and please post photos of 'before' and 'after' for us to view. Thanks!

I love suggestions above. Paint door, add shutters, etc.

For planting - get a can of red spray paint and layout your bed. Do not plant things lined up and have horizontal flower beds - give the beds some movement and curves. Below are two pics. One showing the staggering of shrubs and varigated against evergreen shrub and also a pic of the bed by my front door with movement. This is early spring before flowers are in and plants start coming back.

Start with 3 gal. evergreen foundation shrubs and plant them staggered. (not sure of your zone but Holly's may do well in your area.) Maybe 3 and then two or 4 and then 3. Not really sure of your dimensions. If you do this, then you will always have greenery even in winter. Just using annuals or perennials will die off in winter and you will be back where you started. The annuals and perennials will go in front of foundation plants. Always look at size of the plants. You don't want to plant evergreens that are going to grow 10 foot high in front of windows. There are a lot of dwarf plants.
Plant the larger Shrub/Tree on the corners that can grow high but maintain with pruning -- this should flank each corner of the house. Maybe a podacarpus (not sure how they do in your area but I also love the dwarf podacarpus and they would look pretty instead of holly's under windows and then flank a big Burford Holly on each end of the house.

Last tip, plant in masses of color using two of three flowering plants.. Here is a picture of flower bed last summer with mass color for better show.

Yes shutters. Make a S curved snake like bed on both sides of the door. Start left corner of house with a 4 1/2 ft. Alberta Spruce angled from corner of house (green all year - no trimming ever needed) and moving towards front door plant a blue star juniper (1-2 ft H x 2-3' wide) with a Purple leaf plum bush in between the 2 small windows (keep trimmed to height you prefer) followed by another Blue Star juniper and then a double knock out bright pink rose bush on each side of the sidewalk. Will bloom early spring well into the fall (3 x 3 or trimmed smaller) No work with these roses at all - treat like any other plant in this bed-maintenance free. Under the large window plant a Globe Blue Spruce (3 1/2 to 4ft in 10 yrs). When all the plantings are in, scatter some Stella d'oro perennial yellow flowers. If there is room on either side of the Globe blue spruce, you could add LIttle Gem Norway spruce (18" x 18" growth). Now you will have wonderful color in your planting beds with red, blue, green and yellow and minimal maintenance if any. Mulch entire bed heavily.Want to avoid constant mulching- put down rubber landscape mulch (not the playground size) - expensive to start with but no more annual mulching to do.

Forgot to mention that all the recommended plants are good for your planting zone.

I think you are in zone 5b..If you are in Homewood, Il. I live in the same zone.

Be careful you don't plant tender annual flowers until at least after Mothers day. If there are frost warnings you will need to cover your planted beds . Plants in pots can be easily placed in your garage until thinks warm back up.
Perinneals are tougher and can handle cold much better.

Watch the mature sizes on your shurbs(read hang tags on them) , should you plant any. Some shrubs can get huge in a very short time and then you will have another problem with over growth and possible foundation problems.

Pansies give nice color and can be planted very early, as they are very hardy and can with stand low temps..but fizzle out when it really gets hot.

As someone mentioned earlier yellow Stella D'Oro daylillies are great, add lots of summer color and rather cheap. They come back year after year, are low maintenance and can be divided when crowded to add somewhere else in your yard.Lots of bang for the buck. Maybe someone you know has some extras they want to give away?

Spirea is a nice easy bush that flowers in the spring, can be trimmed to shape if you want and isn't really expensive. Try to make your plantings more eclectic, not so "matchy matchy" and try to use things in groups of threes. Large curvey planting beds give movement and interest.
Mulch is a better alternative around your plants when you are finished then stone. Its inexpensive, easy to place, and breaks down into a nice organic additive over a year or two. That enrichs the soil to help plant growth, keeps the ground cool and conserves moisture for the plantings.The downside of it is that it can be slightly messy and has to be replenished often.

I personally like the idea of black shudders with a bright red front door against the white trim, for a pop of color and to draw the eye to your entry way. Maybe a complimentary colored wreath to hang on it too.

Maybe in the future you might want to add some Ma

Garden centers are a great resource for ideas using plants that will thrive in your area. Just remember to leave room for plant growth. I think your house looks great as is. It looks a little bare because of lack of plantings, but you're on the right track.

What a pretty house Jonice. What about a new light fixture? One that is angular in shape instead of square in a nice verdigris, farmhouse bronze or nickecl color depending on the tone of your door fixtures like knobs etc. How about a free standing mail box, one that opens front and back? Place it on the side of the porch your mailperson will no which is the regulation side.
IL falls into zone 5b. I'd go to my local nursery or Home Deport and ask the nursery person to draw up a plan for you (it may be free if you buy your plants there. I'm zone 5 too and these plants do well for my amended, clay soil:Dianthus, Day Lilies, Herbs, Hostas, Lamium, Lambs Ears, viola, violets, Iris, tomatoe, peppers and beans.
Why not level the bed under the pic. window with compost soil, reblooming dwarf hydrangeas in a blue would be lovely in the middle, a white ground cover like snow in summer or creeping thyme underfoot, and a very tall pot to match the door color in a deep blue or varigated colors with trailing sweet potato vine in chartreuse, hot pink petunias, and a tall zebra grass.
Have fun Jonice. Play with color in your plants. There is no reason you can't plant more than three colors or even mix vegetable plants with flowers. Pepper plants are beautiful when grown in pots.
Stay away from impatiens they are water hogs.

Here's a picture of my house, very similar to yours. I live in Michigan in the Detroit area, which is about the same zone as you. We have a flowering cherry tree that has beautiful pink flowers in early spring. Underneath I planted pink tulips that bloom just after the cherry is done blooming. Also under the tree are evening primrose that bloom in the summer. The bushes to the right of the tree are burning bushes that turn bright red in the fall. In front of them are mop cyprus that are a nice lime green and there's a hot pink peony next to those. In the very front are dianthus that I picked up for $1 a flat at the farmers market. They looked like amazing pink bushes every year for a few years until a really hard frost in the spring killed most of them off. Boxwood bushes flank the porch.

I have more mop cyprus in front of them and shasta daises in-between. The space in front is saved for flowering annuals. I picked gerber daisies the year this picture was taken. In the picture is a purple butterfly bush that we later moved to the back yard and some other bushes that died and I can't remember what they were. I replaced them with pink knockout roses. They continuously flower, are very hardy and practically no maintenance. We also have mums in other parts of the yard that look great in the fall.

I think the key is to pick a color theme that you like and find different flowers and bushes that will bloom at various times throughout the year so you get continuous color all year long.

Some other good choices for bushes are spirea and rhododendrons. Red twigged dogwoods look nice in the wintertime as well as different grasses. Check out the local nurseries for ideas. They typically will stock plants that are appropriate to your zone and have nice displays to give you ideas.

I also replaced the front light and address sign to give the house more character. My husband installed the garden wall. There's a lot that goes into getting the wall level and making su

I think red and yellow flowers would look great with your siding color. I am not a very talented gardener so I love geraniums and begonias. They always look beautiful.

White shutters are goint to wash out your façade. For a TRADITIONAL but chic look, leave the trim white, put up BLACK shutters and paint the front door your favorite color... pink, bright blue, yellow, green, make sure it's bright! then do some landscaping. For a more CONTEMPORARY/Modern look DO NOT put up shutters, paint door a cool color (yellow, bright green, greenish blues) build an entrance deck and keep landscaping symetrical and asian looking. The attached pic is a house I was remodeling (can't find an actual finished pic) but there are some more pointers

Line your front sidewalk with green and white hosta plants. They are very hardy perennials and will get bigger and better every year. Curve your flower bed so that it isn't straight across. Remove the three bushes that are currently there. Add a Japanese maple at the corner of your home to add height and a focal point. Add shutters to the two small windows and in front of them plant 3 oak leaf hydrangeas. Stagger some endless summer hydrangeas in front of them. They will bloom pink or blue according to the pH of your soil. They will bloom all summer long. Add some annuals, impatiens in hot pink and light pink. Over the front porch, build an entrance way similar to something found on a Craftsman style house. You can Google that style house & see what I am referencing. Change the front porch light,address & mailbox to a craftsman style. Pots of geraniums on the front porch will add more color.. Paint the front door to a complimentary color. Reference color charts for coordinating outdoor home colors at a home center. In front of your living room window add some variegated dogwoods and small viburnum or more endless summer hydrangeas. Mix in another variety of hosta and some impatiens. Everything but the impatiens are Perrenials. A little trimming is all you will need. Good luck, but most of all have fun creating. If you don't like the plants, pull them up and move them around. I m constantly moving things around in my yard.

What a sweet home. I agree with Leeza N who posted pictures of some beautiful shrubs and perrenials. Make it a very deep bedding area to get rid of the bald areas--it will add so much to the front of your house! Also to make the edge of the bedding area a nice curve--nothing straight. Someone once told me to take a pic of my house and colour the areas I am thinking of painting to see what it would look like. I think a burnt red would look beautiful on your front door! Good Luck

One last suggestion..I found this photo of a home the same color as yours. Hoep this will give you some ideas of what a little color can do to your neutral back ground.

vote lezza N & meezer 4 planting ! Great ideas ... NOW PLEASE tell me more about this """Black is not a very welcoming color """ Is she right or i am the only one who thinks black is a great option for a door after dark stain wood and red ...

????!!!!

Sanyusa: I love black as an accent color.Doors, shutters, etc. I have seen black walls used in a home as well as a black ceiling in another that I really loved. Jonice the three lonely plants. I don't know what they are but don't throw them away. If you don't use them in the front, use them somewhere else in yard. They just need to be trimmed down to be the same size and cleaned up a bit. Remember a couple times of year (at appropriate time) to give your all your shrubs a pruning to maintain a nice shape. Save these and plant in a grouping with some other things and not so far apart. Maybe on side of house or out by driveway.

Leeza, the three plants (shrubs) look like Yews. If so, trimming will help to make them less leggy and fill out. I'm with you, I wouldn't throw them away either. Try transplanting in the spring to another permanent location. ;-)

I agree with the person who said red trim on the doors and window frames...as well as a curved garden space with some red flowers.

hi jonice, you certainly have received some great ideas...lots to think about...first of all your front door. yes it needs a pop of color,,dinner party or pomegrante from ben moore would ground your front well. then to go with a red color, a spirea perennial would surprise you with its beauty of colored leaves all year...you need some boulders for strength, not too many but a few to make a statement. red or brick colored cedar chips would waken up your flower beds as welll and rocks would look great on it.the spot to the right of your living room window would be a nice home for a red cedar box or plater with a high topiary in...good luck jonice. it is going to look great..low maintenance is a good thing. :)

also remember to think in layers when putting in bushes, flowers & shrubs...lower to higher :)

@lindakhughes I liked how you told her exactly what to buy and where to place them in the landscape. I've been wishing for someone to do the same for me. I've already removed the sod but want to plant trees/shrubs that have big impact and give some color all year. As you can see the other side shows I have not design ability. I will need to re-do that as well. Would the same plan that you described above work for me as well? I live in zone 6 (Sullivan County, NY) I have attached 2 photos of my home.

If not, can you give me a plan for my zone? Thank you for your response, Melissa

If you want you can email me directly at mkinsler@hvc.rr.com

I hope you can remove the black concrete or whatever it is so you can do some planting on the entire left side of the porch. If so then I would plant an Alberta Spruce under each window with a semi-circle around each spruce with 3 or 5 Stella d'oro yellow plants.
In front of the screening on each sides of the steps, you can plant a globe blue spruce with a red "dwarf red barberry bush on each side of it. I like picking up the red in this bush to go with your wonderful red front door.
If the Globe blue spruce is too expensive for you, replace that idea with a regular size red barberry with Little Gem Norway spruce on each side of it.
If the side of the porch is exposed to the driveway, I would plant several "Double knock out roses" which are trouble free and bloom probably 5 months.
Good Luck,
Linda

@lindakhughes lol, the black you see is just landscape fabric. Thanks again for taking the time to respond to my post. I'm going to look up your plant suggestions and start my landscape planning.

hmmmm...thought this was Jonice's cry for help.....looks like she was overwhelmed weeks ago!

Jansgirl - you are right - I don't think any of us have heard from her. Maybe she is going to surprise us with after pics.