What do you like about the current landscape? What bothers you every time you look at it? Is there something about the maintenance of any of the plants that you dread? Are there parts that you enjoy tending to?

To me, the landscape lacks drama that would be appropriate for a house that size and that "grand". Ornamental trees would be the first thing I would think of. Also, the current plantings seem a little mish-mosh with no clear focal points.

Re. the climbing hydrangea. I adore climbing hydrangea but I think it has to be the slowest growing thing around. It takes a very long time to start going (in my experience). If you are patient and can wait several years, it would look very nice.

Thank you for your response, Barefootinct-
To be quite honest, there is not a whole lot I like about our front landscaping. I don't like the lack of symmetry and the "wildness" to the beds. I would like the landscape to blend well with the style of the house. I love gardening but am quite busy right now (who isn't??) with work, 2 kids, 2 dogs, etc...

I do want to plant a Royal Frost Birch as a focal point. I just was at a local nursery and they have beautiful ones right now. Also, I like the crabapples (to the right of the door as you are looking at it) and would like to incorporate some of the nicer shrubs into the plan (lilac, vibernum, spirea, bird's nest hemlock) in an attempt to keep our costs somewhat reasonable.

Thank you for the tip on the climbing hydrangea-after looking at them, I think my wall is too sunny. My house faces north, but the wall they would be on faces west and gets the hottest sun of the afternoon. Do you have any recommendations for a climbing shrub or evergreen that can be trained to climb? Something that might add some interest during our very long winters in Chicago?

Oh, and to clarify-we have only been in this home a year, so we inherited these gardens!

Thanks again-

The main thing that bothers me is the shearing of the shrubs. This spoils their natural beauty and produces a distraction by giving them geometric shapes. Instead of a softening fringe to your dominating house, you have little balls rolling along in front. The ideas you should go with are those of someone who talks about and plans plantings that frame and enhance the structure. Sometimes you have to talk to several people before something clicks. Anticipate that different designers will have different ideas, be prepared to digest diverse points of view.

A good one to look at to get some exposure beyond what designers present to you is Grant, Garden Design Illustrated. Unique classic reprinted many times, available from used book dealers.

I agree with bboy about the sheared shrubs. If the yews are not salvagable, I would yank them. Bboy, I love your description of the balls rolling around! So true!! I don't know what kind of shrub the balls are, but to salvagle them, you reach down inside and cut off selected branches to let the shrub grow in a more natural way. What about adding some pencil shrubs to add a little drama, maybe placed between the windows, or in a couple of places on the left in front of the garage?

I live in the Chicago suburbs too, and think your own instincts are great about what should stay and what should go.

I think you would like your Sea Green junipers more if they served as a background hedge for the KO roses, and if you used the roses on the other side of the bed in front of the bird's nest spruce, you would get that cohesiveness I think you're looking for. You'll have to remove some of the flat juniper; use it to fill in on the other side where it looks like there's ivy now, put some of it around the tree on the lawn, perhaps with a few hostas, similar to what's under the tree in the third picture.

I don't think you need boxwoods too, and the yews can definitely go. I think a hedge of dwarf Korean lilac in the corner nook would look lovely, and smell heavenly in bloom.

I notice you have a couple of nice sized mugo pines under the windows on the short side of the house, but honestly some of those shrubs are so sheared I can't ID them. I would keep the pines, and remove the rest. The large round one with white flowers is hiding the great brickwork on your house! I would love to see a mix of interesting deciduous shrubs, like a Harry Lauder's walking stick in between the pines, and a grouping of variegated red-twigged dogwoods on either side of them.

I think a Royal Frost birch would be too tall in the front bed, and that river birch or amur maple would be better choices. I would use Virgina creeper to soften the western wall. Hope this helps, and doesn't confuse you more! :)

If you're thinking of specific plants, whether they are in your head or in the ground, then you might be getting ahead of yourself. Sometimes it helps to decide on what shape of plant you want where, in what shape of bed, or where you want shade and how you're going to get it, etc.

Can you mentally clear the property and start from scratch?

KarinL

No one has discussed how to soften the imposing, cathedral-like two story glass entrance. Nor the concept of adding, not necessarily between the windows but someplace, tree hydrangeas. Shellfish, hope this thread keeps trotting forward.

I think we had same bad landscaper, even tho my house is in Indiana. Our builder premium landscaping package was very similar. Viburnums were salvageable, everything else had to go. I hated SeaGreen junipers. ( I consider those industrial landscaping).

My issues were:
The way landscaping setup when you waking towards front door feels like your eyes pulled to look at garage backwall instead of entrance.
When landscaper was taught to soften corners, he understood plan something big on every corner.
Switching textures - registered as yews on the left and viburnums on the right. I bet he is industrial landscaper.

Thank you everyone, for your input. It is much appreciated!

The sheared shrubs are viburnum and lilac (in front of the garage). They were sheared like that last year right when we moved in as part of a "clean-up". I thought they'd lose their roundness by now, but I see that I am wrong. I agree that they look bad. It has been suggested that we keep them since they are fairly healthy and large. Maybe I will get rid of them.

Prariegirl, the mugo pines are large and old (probably 20 years old). I originally was thinking of pulling those out and keeping the vibernum and lilac, but I LOVE the idea of a Harry Lauder's walking stick. I have been looking at those and trying to figure out where it might work in my garden. I also love the variegated red-twig dogwood idea-beautiful winter plant.

KarenL, I agree that I need to decide what shapes I need before choosing the plants. I've been having a hard time visualizing - I do need some height but other than adding a birch to the center of the bed, I am not sure where else to add this height. The tree hydrangea were suggested to add height by the door and between the windows for this reason. What are your thoughts on that?

Again, thank you all for your advice. Please keep it coming!

I think the tree hydrangeas are exactly what you need by the door, not merely for their height but because the white flowers would tie into and give softness and rhythm to all the angularity of your white trim.

The Mugo pine is nice because it has texture and gives you winter interest when your lilac and viburnum are just naked twigs. Just my opinion. Good luck.

I think another problem here is that one looks at the whole yard and yet speaks only of foundation planting. Problems such as the scaling of the entrance that Miss. L mentions are solved not right there on the ground, but out further in the yard by the embrace of the whole treescape.

I'm not sure this house even needs much foundation planting; it does, however, need lots of big greenery in the yard. I think if I were you I would remove the plants from the foundation that you hate, and either move them to the yard or plant new things out in the yard itself. Then look again at the foundation, and see what other needs you perceive.

I think the bed on the left is so narrow that anything with substantial height will look squished up against the house, which looks silly on a lot this size.

KarinL

KarinL-you make a good point and actually, you make me feel a bit better about what I will eventually put into the front beds. The picture is deceiving in that I have a large Sugar Maple in the front bed, which you can see, and then 3 (one is partially showing) very large (40 feet) pine trees in the front yard. Additionally, there is a honey locust in front of and off to the side of the maple. Also in front of the bed with the crabapples (which are closing in on 15 ft) I have a large pine tree as well.

I did find a beautiful Royal Frost birch, which I will plant in the bed to the left of the door (viewing head on).

Thank you all for your advice-I appreciate every word.