I don't see a way to post my actual photo. Here's links to the same two photos I put in my original message. Would much prefer to post the pics themselves ... hmmmm.

Here is a link that might be useful: house

It's too low size images to see anything, try photobucket.

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I can't tell from the photo, but I am assuming the beige area between the trees is your mulched planting bed?A convex bed shape focuses the attention on apex of the curve. In this case the apex is in front of the front door, so it helps to create a competing focal point. A concave bed shape would help to draw in the eye.

Okay. I like photobucket - thanks.

The area between the trees is mud. We had to work on a water line under there and now the sidewalk needs torn up and the area leveled more precisely. We're going to do that as soon as we have a garden plan.

Here's the before:
http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt30/regmoses/wholehousepanorama.jpg

Up close of the sidewalk ... it's a hideous area right now!
http://i594.photobucket.com/albums/tt30/regmoses/IMG_0247.jpg

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:31041}}

You need to use the {{gwi:31042}}

{{gwi:31041}}

I'd rather see the left side of the house bulked up than the middle of it. You are going to have the landing in front of the door already. Hardscapes are a landing place that your mind projects yourself into which work well to draw your attention to a certain space - the front door in this case. I think that is a good place to draw the attention.

You can support that by adding more depth to to the planting to the left which will contain that space (the landing). It alters the flatness of the house with a deep vegetated texture and quiet area to the left of the house and a flatter lighter area in the middle. Then you can vegetate more heavily again as you get closer to the driveway.

If you plant around the landing (refered to as the "pubic effect" by a certain Harvard GSD professor according to one of my friends) it screens it and bulks up the middle of the house making the ends seem weak.

I like to think of any view the same way I think a breeze will go. Something in the middle will split the breeze and make it dissipate in two directions. A funnel catches the breeze and directs it somewhere. When this is done in a subtle way it goes un-noticed, but effectively directs attention to areas you want to be noticed or away from areas you want to be less noticed.

Why keep so much lawn? It seems like a lot of wasted space which could be plant up into something that really makes a statement and raises the property value. Of course it would depend on how much you love gardening and your budget but bringing the planting area out to the street and leaving an open grassy area between it and the front door you could create and interesting space around the entryway. This way each time you went up the front walk you would look out across a small lawn area at a plant shrub in the background instead of the street. BE BOLD................chris

laag - thanks for posting the pictures. That seems to be difficult for many people.

regmoses - I would put a porch over the front landing and since you don't like the hedges, either replace them with several types of shrubs for a more informal feel, or plant in front of the hedge. If it were me, I would plant from the house on the right all the way to the walkway. I like your little 'fountain' area. With a porch in the middle, more plantings on the right, and the fountain area on the left side, I think it could be a beautiful and welcoming entry. I also like that you're curving the walkway.

laag - thanks for posting the pics. And your input is really interesting. I understand what you mean about bulking up in the middle. Your description of a breeze and funnelling are really helpful for this total amateur. Following your ideas, do you mean that we shouldn't plant in front of the landing area at all or plant in front and bring plantings that deep all the way over to the left side of the house? On the breeze/funnel idea then, should we be planting on the left of the driveway more than depicted or is that too obviously a funnel shape?

venezuela - I'd like to BE BOLD! The look of that would be so impressive, but also probably biting off more than I can chew. With four kids under age 10 (youngest at 14 months, especially), I'm afraid it would become a sea of unmanicured greenery and weeds. Maybe a future plan ...

holleygarden - A gabled porch is in our "down the road" plan. What color to make the gable is another question ... But back on topic, thanks for your input. You mean to plant from the house to the walkway all the way from the porch to the driveway, right?

Two more thoughts:
Considering our house size/shape, should the majority of plantings be kept low (6-12" below bottom of windows), with exceptions of higher growth at each end and with the focal point? Or does that matter so much?

Also, should the focal point (fountain or statue) be centered in front of the first window to the left or disregard the window and look at the house as a whole?

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You need to decide on what focal points you want to dominate and from which view. Typically the curb appeal focal point is usually a front door. The outside looking in focal point is your fountain/statue, but that could be hidden in some of the taller and be visible from inside or when approaching the front door from the driveway.

Ooh--oooh--ooh--as Gunther Tootie (sp?) used to say on that very old TV show--I am having an epiphany over the "pubic" entry effect--which is not the same as a pubic epiphany, I hope. Or, don't go there, but...

I created a short pathway between my driveway and sidewalk that parallels the front porch of my house to the left of the front door ( as you face the house). (Of course what I really need to do may be to jackhammer up the sidewalk, but anyways). It is very functional and improved getting from car to house, replacing some decomposed stepping stones that we hopped on for several years, though my choice of materials and installation method was perhaps not as aesthetically great as if done professionally.

I planted mostly on the inside area between the porch and the path, right now at least because that area was already partly developed, and I have several of my favorite shrubs and perennials there which I enjoy looking at when I come and go. But, to create some temporary bulk and and extra color, and screening, on the outside of the path, I also have 2 potted rosebushes on the outer part of the path. One of these is situated at the middle point of the path, and one is right where the path joins the short bit of sidewalk heading right up the front steps.

So now I can see that the one by the sidewalk tends to crowd the area right near the base of the steps up to the entryway, whereas if I moved it all the way back toward the driveway, I would leave more "flat" space spreading out right in front of my entryway, and bulk up the area to the left (as you face the entryway).

I have intended to try to plant the opposite side of the front, sort of mirroring the path but not exactly, and I can now also see something of the dimension of clear space I ought to leave so that the entry is more open and emphasized. Also if I decide to plant the outside of the path more heavily, I can see that I would keep it tapering toward a flat zone at the sidewalk juncture.

This could be fun!

rhodium - do you mean the inside looking out focal point is the statue/fountain? I was thinking that item should primarily be a point you see as you walk up the pathway to the porch. Not that concerned about the inside looking out view right there because it's just a kid's bedroom :)

My front door itself is plaine jane, so would it be wrong to plan that the whole porch area (i.e. the plantings around the porch)is the focal point from the curb?

We live at the front of a subdivision and get a lot of passers-by. Honestly, we just hoped to direct their attention away from "Man, that's one long rectangle house!" to having some place for their eyes to be drawn to. The front door area (porch?) is the only real alternative it seems to me.

Yes, I meant from the house to the sidewalk, from the driveway to the porch. Taller plants by the house and the driveway, going to shorter plantings by the sidewalk and by the porch. Then the bed seems to 'jump' over to your plantings with the fountain, and hook up to the plantings to the left. I would make the beds a little bigger on the left side, and big enough at the left end to hold a small tree/large shrub - maybe a Japanese maple? Make sure the plantings are short enough and not so heavy in front of your porch so you don't feel boxed in, and you have a clear view to your entrance. Anyway, as frankie pointed out, I think the fountain could be a focal point from inside, yes, as you pass by the windows you'll be able to see it outside and I think you'll really enjoy it.

"laag - thanks for posting the pics. And your input is really interesting. I understand what you mean about bulking up in the middle. Your description of a breeze and funnelling are really helpful for this total amateur. Following your ideas, do you mean that we shouldn't plant in front of the landing area at all or plant in front and bring plantings that deep all the way over to the left side of the house? On the breeze/funnel idea then, should we be planting on the left of the driveway more than depicted or is that too obviously a funnel shape?"

Don't interpret it too literally. Again, this is only one way to look at it. I'd start out keeping the planting light in the middle. I'd look at making a deeper, richer, but fairly basic foundation planting on the left. On the right, maybe bring out the driveway end of the planting far enough to have the walkway go through it which would act as a deterent to short-cutting the walk and to de-emphasize the driveway in the overall composition.

It's a bit difficult to judge distances in photos, but if there is enough room for at least 4' of grass I would not connect the mature tree to that bed near the driveway.

Depending on how far out the walk is from the house, I might start with a thinner planting bed on that side of the foundation and keep a grass strip between the walk and the bed (until it gets closer to the drive. I would not make a bed on lining the outside of the walk in that case.

I also think it's screaming for a porch. I think you'll have to be careful to avoid the "look at my old ranch with a porch tacked on" look by matching the pitch of the new porch's gable to the old roof, though.

I really, really like laag's idea but want to add a bit to it.

Overall, I think you should visualize the curve of the beds as a circle with a radius equal to the distance between the middle of the door and about 5-10' out from the left corner of the house (looking down from above). The circle should touch the door tangentially and should curve away equally in either direction. The foundation plantings should become higher at the plane of the house as the distance from the door and the depth of the bed increases. However, the front parts of the beds should stay low. The bed on the driveway side can "jump" the sidewalk just fine and give you a perfectly symmetrical bed shape. Since the plantings on the street side of the sidewalk would be very low, it would not feel crowded. Or you could make the sidewalk follow the sweep of the bed once it intersects the bed's edge. If you are going to replace the sidewalk and the porch landing, I'd recommend dyed/stamped concrete on a dark gray.

I also would not plant the street side of the sidewalk. The far enclosing sweep of the left side of the bed would give the person walking up the sidewalk a nice feeling of space without being claustrophobic. Doing more is unnecessary and would clutter it.

I would place the fountain, if you want one, in the "empty" wall space between the windows on the left. I'd keep it light and open looking, so it fills the space without adding bulk. I do not like the current design that you have at ALL for your house type. Writhing cherubs would be equally inappropriate *g*, but with a traditional house, such a modern design would look weird unless you're planning on ditching the divided lites in the windows and the shutters and stuccoing over the brick and painting the windows, say, burnt orange for a modern effect. But you're not going in that direction at all, so that style of fountain is really inappropriate. Choose a fountain that looks more like this bird bath: http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=190346-29597-C894-71&lpage=none It's traditional but not fussy, light yet with the black color in keeping with the trip of the house. In fact, you could replace the fountain idea completely with a bird bath, if you wished.

On both/either the left and right "empty" spots, I would put a light-looking black decorative metal trellis a few inches from the wall. Make it reasonably wide--something too narrow would look tacked on. White vinyl would be way too bulky for the space and would be very distracting to the eye. All you need is just a little something to break up the chunk of brick. You could grow something EXTREMELY well behaved up them for seasonal interest, like a clematis or an espaliered rose or dwarf tree. I'd be inclined to do either the tree/rose or leave it open so that it does NOT add bulk that distracts from the overall sweep of the bed.

The overall feel of the bed will be traditional because of the symmetry, but the overall feel of the house is already quite traditional and balanced, and it's much better to capitalize what you have than confuse the eye by fighting it. Not into a stiff lifestyle, you say? Don't have to be. You can have a kind of relaxed formality by choosing different bushes and not making them into a hedge. (If you were into formality, I'd say to edge the bed with a very short boxwood hedge--VERY different feel with the same general shape!) For a foundation planting like this, I'd recommend that 50%+ of the choices be evergreen. I'd combine loose, natural-shaped bushes with more contained bushes that can be clipped into a more formal ball-shape, and I'd fill in the front with perennials with long season interest and strong structure--hostas, for instance, with iris and daylilies. Work within the palate that foliage can give you for most of your impact. With your red brick, the barberries, sand cherries, photinias, smoke bushes, and other bronze-foliaged plants wouldn't have much punch, you I'd be inclined to go with a combo of green and gold. Varigated eunomyus with a clipped boxwood, a golden privet and a China Girl holly, any one of the golden hostas, etc. (Blue and green is also a possibility, but I don't think it'd have the same impact as chartreuse foliage here.) The purple foliage of the existing push tot he right does nothing for the house and even clashes with the brick! For flowers, I'd recommend whites/near-whites (especially with a yellow tint) for a really classy look that would play off your trim:

http://www.kvbwholesale.com/store/daylilies/dwarfreblooming/64800

http://www.kvbwholesale.com/store/iris/reblooming/14298
white azaleas

privets

white dogwood (for far left back!)

http://www.rose-gardening-made-easy.com/climbing-iceberg-rose.html

white rhodos (if you can grow them...)

http://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/28506-product.html (Because of the bloom size giving it a more elegant look, echinacea is suited for relaxed-formal gardens as well as cottage gardens.)

http://www.kvbwholesale.com/store/tulips/darwinhybrid/11038

http://www.kvbwholesale.com/store/daffodils/doubledaffodils/13274

http://www.waysidegardens.com/gardening/PD/41007/

http://www.bloomingbulb.com/cartProductDetail.asp?ProductKey=718

http://www.kvbwholesale.com/store/peonies/deluxepeonies/61496

Don't crowd a lot of blooming things all together--the emphasis needs to be on the foliage with a few seasonal blooms for accent. (That's why the white will work so well! It packs punch in limited quantities.) You absolutely do NOT want a cluttered cottagey look with this house.

I really, really like your idea of broadening the porch landing and painting the door black and changing the shutters to black panels instead of white louvers. I am not really feeling the front door, though--even with a porch, it will look a bit nekkid. ;-) I'm not usually a big fan of the flanking topiary look, BUT in this case, you have a small front door for the space with really, really high mirrored flanking porch lights, and I really feel the space could be best filled with a simple "turned" topiary in a BLACK planter. (You absolutely don't want cement/fake marble planters here! Black looks a lot less fussy and more modern.) Like this:

http://www.freshtopiary.com/cgi-bin/item/LI-SPI050/live-spiral-topiary/Juniper-Spiral-Topiary-Tree-50-inch

You could underplant it with Golden Creeping Jenny to relax it a bit--the creeping jenny would spill out look fabulous while tying in with the golden tones int he other foliage:

http://www.sustainable-gardening.com/images/creepingjennyFlickr.jpg

(It's the low plant!)

IF in the future you want to go for the money and do something more with your front yard, you could use the curve formed by the left side of the planting to create an eye-shaped elliptical front patio. You'd take the curve from the porch to the left edge of the bed and essentially mirror it.

Finally, for night lighting: I'd do accent downlights at the two windows on either side of the door. That'd give more path light and be architecturally interesting.

Wow, that's been a lot to think about.
I can't pretend I really visualize all these suggestions. That's so stinking hard for me.

First, what do accent downlights look like. Is that something you put on the house or on the ground?

Sorry--on the house. They'd go under the eaves and would accent your windows and landscaping without glaring into your eyes.

reyesuela - thanks for all of your input. I'm so design-challenged, like I said, I can't visualize things without drawing them out!

When you said this, "Overall, I think you should visualize the curve of the beds as a circle with a radius equal to the distance between the middle of the door and about 5-10' out from the left corner of the house (looking down from above). The circle should touch the door tangentially and should curve away equally in either direction." Are you describing something that would look like sort of like the letter B from an aerial view (with the front of the house being the big straight side?)? I'm not getting the "perfectly symmetrical" layout you're describing.

I thought I followed, but then you said, "curve away equally in either direction" and I don't get that part. It sounds like you're describing something really different from what I have drawn out on my photo, so I really would like to imagine that idea before we take the plunge and start plowing up the yard.

I'm sorry I've never submitted a map-out aerial view myself. I know that would probably help. Every time I draw one it ends up looking confusing and like one of my kids' preschool doodles. I'll work on it again, though.

Thanks again for your time!

Just a couple of quick thoughts:

I think one problem might be that you are trying to fight the shape of the house. That shape is not actually unattractive, and there might be a way of working with it rather than against it. The current hedges just accentuate it, which is not necessary, but perhaps if you rather frame it, the shape can be an asset.

Those trees bug me -partly perhaps because they obscure the shape of the house? I bet their shade is important though and they are in spots not likely to cause foundation or driveway problems with their roots. So replacing them with better-placed trees is maybe not an immediate option. BUT they need not prevent you from planting additional trees in places that would better flatter the house AND maybe you could consider raising the canopy just a tad? Depends on the trees and their structure whether that is practical.

Finally, you live on a corner. Is that an issue? My instinct would be to plant along the road boundary out there rather than only at the house itself. I think a bed shape that extends out from the house along that street would make far more sense than one that tapers to nothing on the left.

KarinL

KarinL - I know exactly what you mean about the trees. The one on the left side in the photo is actually quite huge. I need to look into paring it down (if possible) or what my options are. When you speak of "framing" the house, you don't mean to focus plantings mostly on each side, right? I'm not sure exactly what you had in mind.

Also, we do live on a corner, but the road is actually to the right in the photo (driveway side) rather than the left. There is a big bunch of flat yard (all grass) to the left until my neighbor's house. Our lot is a long rectangle with our house situated completely in the right side, in the middle of the right side. Does that make any sense?

I don't hate the shape of my house, I just get sick of seeing rectangles when I look at it. The yard, the shutters, those terrible hedges, the garage door, etc. Just seems to accentuate the fact that my house is VERY long. My husband joked that it looks like a brick mobile home with an attached garage! Ack!

What I meant by framing was to sidle up to the eternal question of whether a given house actually needs foundation planting or not. In my view, what foundation planting does here - especially the hedges - is to accentuate the rectangle because it removes the bottom end of it from view, thus flattening the shape. Your new design does not alter that fundamental aspect of the current design.

That's also where I was hoping the question about blocking the side street would go - and maybe it still could, depending on how much space you have to the right of the driveway.

If this were my house I would stay with pretty flat stuff (eg hostas or junipers depending on whether you have shade or sun) around the foundation and do bigger plantings further out on the property - along the side property boundaries, out near where you're taking the picture from, etc. Not necessarily but possibly beds incorporating the trees. You could also phrase the idea as being big deep sweeping beds with lots of the visual weight away from the house. I do agree that using round shrubs rather than a hedge will improve things.

For what it's worth (this being the landscaping forum), I think altering the shutter colour also accentuates the rectangle overload. With the shutters the same colour as the windows, the window/shutters present as one large rectangle. With the contrasting colour, they present as three rectangles.

KarinL

I've never been on this forum before, think 90% went to landscaping school!! Way I see it is the front door looks too small, It seems like a side of house door. So the area around it needs to be changed. The walkway would be great going from front door to the driveway on this side of that tree far enough so the roots of tree don't buckle the new sidewalk. Then between sidewalk & house you have a nice area to plant some shade plants near tree & others closer to house. Anyone parking in front of house can walk up the driveway to the new walk which would have a lovely curve to it. I think a nice birdbath (or fountain if you insist- most get turned off about as fast as they are installed as pump costs money to run, birds mess them up etc) Get a nice ornamental small tree later so that goes towards left of pic & off of the curve of walk a number of feet(between left tree & walk but towards street) You can go with a couple of plants with stands by front door until you get walk in & deceide what bushes to keep up by house. With 4 little ones you aren't going to get it done overnite. Walkway is most important & getting area around tree with some plants, hostas if you can grow them, impatiens for quick color, don't know where you live so don't know if Boston Fern by front door or some other large draping plants would soften & improve look. I can see the front stoop being covered with brick with half circle steps down to walkway but then you would need brick along path to driveway or you could make the 1/2 circle steps of imprinted cement or with whatever pattern you wish. I'm in So. Ca. & weather & all plays a big part in what you do in most of the states. You want to make that door not stick out but part of landscape. 2 plants on 1 side & 1 on shorter pillar. Could be cut logs, pillars taken down from Colonial style house, clay tiles. Lady just painted 1 on Garden Junk forum, I imagine they come in different sizes & you could paint them black or white etc. I think round would be good as you want the plants to be focal point. A cut up telephone pole 3 heights, 15 in, 20 in & 25 in. would add interest. Just be sure the poles can't tip over easy & hurt the kids. Oh, I don't think I will ever dare come back here when they get through trashing my "crazy' ideas!! I just have always looked for ways to get what I want without spending a fortune!! Good Luck!

Lowes has huge plain cement birdbaths for about $30. You could use one of them as a temporary standin for fountain as you work your way through this design.

Here's a strong opinion (it happens)
Yes, remove that tree on the side by the garage, at least.
Don't plant in front of the door - it seems like a barrier. Add an overhang over the porch (a simple gable would be fine) to break up the facade & increase the importance of the entryway. Work in on a nice wide sidewalk leading to it (the tree would be in the way.) Some design issues are not solved by plantings - the architecture seems to be the issue here.

It looks to me that there is a good 30' between the tree and the house. It should not be in the way of a walkway.

I think the mock-up with the plantings drawn in looks pretty good. So I'm not going to add to the general landscape plan. I do think you need less rectangles and geometrical shapes. So I think a rounded fountain or birdbath would be better than the pointy fountain. I also agree with KarinL who I think was making the point that painting the shutters and door focuses on just that many more rectangles. Have you considered removing the shutters (are they ornamental or functional?)and possibly accenting those lovely windows with some sort of trim or molding? What about a new front door with an oval glass inset or leaded glass? Doors can be pretty costly but make a nice focal point and can often find reasonable ones. I definitely think the rectangle hedge is adding to the long rectangle look of the house, and I would recommend removing it. Sorry I didn't say too much about the plantings, I agree with another poster who said it seems the strong architecture is what you are trying to modify. And I know you can't do a porch right away.
Laurie

Landscape design is all about dealing with things that you can't change and working within those perameters. The architecture is not inherently bad. We all see similar houses that don't make us dwell about how rectangular, flat, or long they are because the landscape mitigates those realities to the point that we do not notice them.

Sure, doing things to the architecture can be done, but sometimes you just are not given that ability for one reason or another. That is when you have to use your knowledge and experience to make the landscape affect the house.

You can't change the climate, you can't change what plants will live in what conditions, you can't change the perimeter of the property, you can't change where the sun is,..... You always have to adjust to the realities that are given. If you could change all of those, landscape design would be considerably easier. ... and a lot less fun and satisfying.

The question becomes "what can you do through landscape design to mitigate the negative and to enhance the positive?".

Yes, if you don't like dealing with a flat house, you can ask for a different house, but that is not implementing landscape design to enhance or mitigate. That is like a mechanic telling someone to buy a new car!

There is nothing wrong with the house. The landscape does not support the house. A landscape designer should be able to change the landscape to enhance the house.

There are ugly houses, sites with huge challenges, and other factors out there that can make landscape design pretty darn challenging. This is not one of them.

Your sketch has grown on me. If you are adding a new landing, perhaps at the same time add a low bench wall to the left of the door, no higher than the hedge. It can provide seating for admiring your fountain, or you can place a few potted plants on it. It should be the same material as the new landing. If the landing is concrete, perhaps you could top the wall with black tiles to match your shutters and other trim. This slightly modern touch should help integrate your modern fountain into an updated look for the house. Perhaps, if it doesn't feel crowded, add a very large pot to the right of the door, preferably in the same material and modern look as the fountain. Fill it with a trailing plant and an upright, compact plant.

It's going to look good, and you will enjoy your new garden. I hope you will post photos of your progress and finished product, I'd love to see how it goes.