This isn't a 'shady' area. It is an area that gets decent sun. Shade plants can often handle an eastern exposure, but not always. Start by deciding what you would like it to look like *in the winter*. Deciduous shrubs look like dead sticks. So it is usual to plant shrubs that have some sort of color during the winter. Instead of the hydrangea, a blue colored conifer like a blue juniper would provide that color all year, then a shorter, flowering shrub could be planted in front. There are also gold conifers. BTW, the shrubs on the left are probably some sort of flowering shrub. I'd get them ID'ed before yanking them out. A lot of things are looking unusually ratty after this winter, and they may just need a bit of time and some pruning to look decent.

Sorry, forgot to consider the question about the tree. The bed may be meant for a tree, but that doesn't mean that whoever made the bed had a good idea. It is really a highly overrated idea to put plants, especially big ones, right against the house, especially in climates that have a lot of critter/insect issues. If you need trees for cooling, the foundation is rarely the best place for them. I don't think I've ever seen a tree planted near a house that looked like it should not have been planted somewhere else. And this is a nice house - no hiding necessary. Just because you have a bed there doesn't require you to fill it up. You can remove it too. But since it's tough to remove, putting in smaller flowering plants is probably your best option. KarinL

The first question..."has the tree outlived its usefulness?" begs another, HOW is the tree useful? Like a giant parasol, it provides protection from strong summer sun. It even provides a little protection from beginning rains. Visually, it adds interest as a sculptural object. And it frames and enhances (or obliterates depending on how it's controlled) the view of the house/property. I cannot see that it has outlived these functions. But I can see that it could be controlled a little differently so it does a better job of framing the view. Here's a little sketch that illustrates my point. I offer it not to convince you, but in order to let you know what to look for as you observe trees in others' front yards. As you travel about during the day, notice the difference in effect between trees that have been limbed up and those with low-hanging limbs. In general, large older trees that are limbed up present a cleaner, more stately appearance. If they have been limbed up properly (with balance and without protruding stubs) the character of the trunk may be much more impressive than one which has the competition of low limbs and foliage. The tree on the left competes and obstructs; the one on the right frames and shelters. Take this suggestion with a grain of salt as it's based solely on the view shown in the next photo. I've marked red Xs to show which limbs I'd probably remove, but this is something that would really depend on what the tree looks like from all angles of view. The goal would be to have the tree be balanced from all views and get the limbs high enough to visually clear the house. Remember that limbs left on the tree will get LOWER in the future as they grow longer and heavier. (It is hardly ideal to "organize" the branching structure of a tree after trees have grown for many years without guidance. It's far preferable to prune frequently along the way. But we're working with what we have.) Keep in mind that limbing up the tree also has the benefit of allowing more light to enter below while still retaining the tree's ability to shade from the high sun. This means that one's ability to grow other landscape plants below it is improved. "Is the tree too big for the house?" Imagine a little log cabin at the base of giant redwoods. Could there not be a more charming picture? In my view there's no problem whatsoever with a tree towering over a house. But they need to work together, not be in competition. The tree should shelter the house, not obliterate it visually. The tree roots should not interfere with the house foundation. One must desire the shade. When those requirements are met, a tree can be welcome. Though big old trees sometimes do fall over in severe storms, the likelihood of this happening is small enough that one can find thousands of danger-causing conditions that can be worried about before it. I just measured the trunk diameter of an oak tree that stands 14' from my house. It's 62". But before I would cut it down (It's benefits to me are tremendous even though it can also be a PITA,) I'd quit driving or riding with others as that's far more dangerous and likely to cause me injury. Keep the new walkway WELL clear of the tree trunk. I think you must pay much more attention to the geometry (shape and layout) of the new path than what is shown in either of the proposed schemes. It is a built object that is an extension of the architecture. It should demonstrate this. Because of the tree, it would almost certainly have a curving component to it. You might need professional assistance here to come up with the right scheme. (Though it MIGHT work out that way, in my mind, it is not a "given" that best location for the porch steps is at the center of the porch. Design is often a balancing act and you'd be considering more than just the porch and the steps.) Regarding "what to plant in front of the house"...the first thing to do here is work out the shape & form of the plant masses before thinking about the species of anything. You have to do this before you can figure out what plants are capable of making these forms. Consider that a very attractive custom built section of decorative fence could be the basis of screening the AC unit. It could be an opportunity to further enhance the architecture of the house and work in unison with plants. For some brainstorming ideas, Google images for: air conditioner screen.

If you're going to own a car it requires that you know something about car maintenance: periodically, the oil and tires must be changed; it must be washed and fluids filled, etc. These are things one learns to do in order to have the pleasure and convenience of owning their own vehicle. Similarly, if you're going to own a lawn, you learn to mow it weekly, edge it periodically, and keep the weeds out, etc. Groundcover is no different. Depending on what plant you make it of, you must learn how to prepare for it, what maintenance that plant requires, and how to control it. Groundcover requires a bit different approach than grass, but it is not necessarily harder or more time consuming. It is just different. I find it to be easier so my yard is 100% groundcover. The number one difference is that weeds must be kept out. This is not harder than weekly mowing. It's just different and there are methods one can employ to make the job easier. In the long run, groundcover can be considerably less work after it's established (which depends on the plant used) than a lawn. Your example of "battling an ivy plant for years" has me thinking that no one is employing any effective methods of controlling it. It is a bit like never mowing, edging or weeding the lawn and then blaming the grass for being out of control. One thing is for sure, only weeds will be happy if you try to grow grass where there not sufficient light to do it. It boils down to the fact that you must have something growing to cover the ground, or you must cover the ground with mulch (and replenish it ongoing). The something growing can be a sad attempt at a lawn (which is what is there now); it can be groundcover; or it can be a mixed variety of plants (like in that picture above). What else is there other than solid hardscaping which is not the least practical? Of those solutions you can already see exactly what one of them looks like because you have it now. You can probably envision the mixed variety of plants covering the ground. Is there any question that it would not be the highest maintenance of any solution? If you take another look at the left side of the photo I submitted of the houses with sloping fronts, you'll notice that it is solid groundcover. It doesn't look like there's a weed in it. You can see at its left side a sharp division where it abuts its neighbor's grass lawn. Each planting is distinctly separate. The groundcover is neither running into the grass, nor is it rampaging over the edges of the walk or steps. How is this even possible? The fact is, it happens in millions of places all over the country. It's obvious that one can learn how to employ plants in such a way. Or they can refuse to do that.