Did you move into my house? I have the same basic layout (garage out front, covered porch, narrow front walk with a narrow planting bed between the walk and the garage). I don't know. What you have there looks pretty attractive to me. You could easily enlarge the area between the junipers and the birch to create a planting area for perennials. You could also stick in annuals for more color or maybe a bird bath.

Are those 'Sea Green' Junipers? Those junipers can get pretty big and you don't really want 5' tall shrubs blocking your front door. Make sure you keep things trimmed back from your front walk. I can't see the walk in the picture. Do you really have room for the barberries (?) planted along the garage?

I am throwing in the link below for a front walk project. I have it bookmarked because I would love to create something similar at my place, but it might give you some ideas if you were walking to improve your front walk.

- Brent

Here is a link that might be useful: Building a Stone Sidewalk

i agree with brent - those junipers really aren't the right scale for that space. Besides, they are too stiff next to those soft Japanese maples. Please consider removing them altogether. The peninsula-like space with the birch should certainly be wider - consider carving out the grass between the birch and the junipers to create a smoother, more natural curve. You might consider some low growing evergreen and deciduous shrubs and perennials in place of the junipers. You don't want to block the view to your front door, rather, to enhance it. Perhaps even some containers which you can change out with the seasons to add another interest to the entrance.

Which Japanese maple is that? I don't have a problem with it in that location if it is a dwarf form (it looks like there may be two of them there)or if it is a tree form you can limb it up in time as it grows. It could be a very nice focal point to the left of your entry - I wouldn't worry too much about blocking the bay window a bit - most people keep the shades down in the front of their house for privacy - it looks like you have shutters there anyway.

Try walking around your neighborhood for ideas and inspiration. You don't have to be cookie cutter in style to fit in but often you'll get a sense of what does well in your area.

I'm a big fan of conifers, and even of junipers, but the repetition of four identical plants looks a little industrial. On the other hand, they anchor the landscape quite nicely. I like them spiky, though, not sheared as you likely have to do to keep them in check, so I might be inclined to replace them with a nicer selection of conifers, some gold, some blue, some spreading, some arching, and so on.

I agree that the bed next to the garage looks a little overstuffed.

I love the rock, I might do more of that sort of thing.

Thank you for the suggestions. Brent, I love the stone walk idea (we've also considered a brick paver walk), it's such an improvement over the straight cement walk!

I'm pretty sure those are Sea Green junipers. I trim them at least twice a year because I'm afraid they might take over. Maybe it would look better with only 3? I liked the idea of something green during the long winter months, can you suggest another low evergreen?

The japanese maple is a 'Bloodgood' - I'm pretty sure it's a dwarf. It's something attractive to look at as you are walking up the crummy cement walk...

I would also consider expanding the curve between the birch and the japanese maple, but last year my husband replaced the cedar mulch with horrid, pink little pebbles. Bad, bad idea - nothing grows in rock, especially annuals. I used to fill that area with tons of flowers every spring, but between the rabbits that live under our house and the rock, I've given up. I tried planting rose bushes around the birch thinking the rabbits wouldn't touch those, but I was wrong. Now I've planted some type of red sedum, hoping for some color.

Thanks again for the suggestions - any other tips you may have are greatly appreciated.

The unclipped junipers look great. The upward thrusts contrast nicely with the horizontal JM. The rock is too much of a focal point to have competing with your front door. Nice mixture of leaf textures and colors... do your really need anything like impatients or red geraniums to distract any further? Think about some yellow foliage conifers.

Bury the rock about one third, so it doesn't look like it is perched on the ground. I think Bloodgood is one of the jap maples that gets full size, but takes a long long time. Like decades.

'Bloodgood' is most certainly not a dwarf - it is one of the largest growing of the Japanese maples. There are many in my area that are 25-30' tall with an equal spread. With my aging eyesight and from that distance in the photo, that doesn't look much like a Bloodgood to me - the habit looks a bit too cascading and the foliage too dissected. I'd guess some form of more common red laceleaf. If so, growth will be slow compared to Bloodgood and height much less of a factor than canopy spread and thickness. Some judicial thinning may create a lighter, more airy appearance that would be less blocky for an entry way.

There are scores of dwarf conifers that could be used in place of the junipers. A visit to a local garden center should provide ideas for several alternate choices that would be hardy for you and create additional interest.

You have a lot of beautiful things in this landscape. And the lawn is beautiful. What I would do would be to prune the japanese maple a bit to open it up so that it doesn't obstruct the bay window so much. I would maybe move the juniper that's in front of the stairs over to the left of the birch tree, so you'd have one, then two, then one juniper and it would sort of unify this whole bed. Put something low where that juniper was removed, so you can see the steps like maybe a large pebble dish for butterflies. I definitely would not shear the juniper but let them be spikey, prune judiciously if they get too tall. Burying the rock about 1/3 is a great idea and maybe move the rock a little forward. I think a beautiful birdbath would look great maybe in front of the left side column. I think moving the 2 shrubs that are next to the vinyl wall of the garage, move them over by the birch or around where the rock is. Then I would put some lovely large container on the porch in the corner near the garage to mark the entry and make it inviting, or maybe a sort of shepherd's hook where you would take out the garage shrubs with 2 beautiful hanging baskets. Well I just had a blast with this. Hope you find some of it to be a useful suggestion.

I really don't have any of my own wisdom to add since I'm a lurker and learner, but here's an old thread that might give you some food for thought.

Here is a link that might be useful: Front walkway project

Thanks for posting that link. It was a very interesting project but it was before I moved and I had not realized that the plan was for a house with a front garage. There are definitely some ideas in Maureen's design that I could use for my home.

- Brent