Well, I don't know your hardiness zone, and it isn't clear how much sun that area gets (I see shadow on the house...). If not too much hot sun, maybe some hostas? If more sun than they'd be happy with, how about daylillies? I am more of a perennial than annual person, myself. Another thought might be sarcacocca between the rhodies (wonderful winter fragrance) and then something with summer color in front of what would then be a row of different textured, low green shrubs. But then, I am strictly a rookie at this!

zz

Oh I always forget the zone...talk about a rookie. I am by the looks of the map bordeline 5a/6a I thinl. CLose to NE ohio, but a bit further south.
I will look up what you suggested and see if it appeals to me. I also get morning sun up there. :)
Thanks!

With this arrangement the blue dots look like food particles stuck in teeth. Add more of same rhododendron or group rhododendrons together, then have additional kind of plant all together in adjacent, cohesive group of its own--not alternated with (one of this, one of that, one of this...) rhododendrons through entire planting. Good companions are heathers and dwarf conifers.

First I would wonder what size your rhododendrons will eventually achieve. How long have these been there? I searched around and I saw "dwarf" rhododendrons with max sizes that varied from 2' x 2' to 6' x 6'. Even if yours are on the low end, there will not be much room between each plant. I do not use many annuals (though I have been thinking about using them more often) but this seems like a good place to use the. Most perennials are still going to leave you without blooms for much of the summer. Expanding the bed to the other side of the walk would give you more room to play around with perennials.

- Brent

Unless dwarf, rock garden type annuals and perennials are used they will not be in character with dwarf rhododendrons visually. Herbaceous plants of any significant height or vigor also have to kept from flopping onto small, slow shrubs like rhododendrons and killing out sections of them. (More vigorous shrubs will also quickly damage them if allowed to, of course).

I'd either move and group the way bboy suggests, or just underplant the whole thing with an evergreen groundcover. Some have interesting foliage colors, like Ajuga, as well as short-term flowers.

Anything herbaceous that is more than a foot tall is going to flop onto the walk as it leans out in search of light.

I guess it is up to me then as no one else has stepped up. If you dig up the walkway that forms the outer edge of the narrow bed that causes the problem then you don't have the problem. It also seems strange that you have a grand entrance to the house with a little walkway dribbling off to the side, reason two for digging it up. After this you can redirect the path and add depth to the planting deflecting the eye from the present focal point (the garage) to the centre.

Now that we're looking at such things, since the house facade is symmetric and you have a matching pair of conifers in place to go with this you probably should organize the rest of the planting to match the formality of the house as well. Too bad the drive curves off the left, creating a conspicuous departure from the rectilinear theme of the house (and planting, if you continue in that direction as I suggested)--or maybe it just looks curved in this view, but really isn't.

Ink--if I'd have checked in yesterday--I'd have stepped up.

If this were my house, I would move that sidewalk. It looks "mean" (in the Victorian sense of the word.) You need something more "generous"...and then you'd have a planting bed big enough to USE.

Think about it.

If you just can't bring yourself to destroy the current walk, and replace it...(or if it just isn't in the budget right now--I know how THAT goes!) then I'd consider Saypoint's suggestion.

BUT--if you can figure out a way to swing it--I think moving the sidewalk will make you happier in the long run. I have no photoshop skills...can someone mock up a pic of what Ink described? Sometimes it helps to SEE the difference....

Oh--full disclaimer--I'm just an amateur. Who has an opinion. On just about everything. ;~)

melanie

summiebee: are you there?

- Brent

Hi. Yes I am here. I have been ill then my daughter became ill too. All better now though. Ok... I need to remove the sidewalk and then make out further???? It actuall is about 2 1/2 feet deep at least. We have considered extending the bed to include the lightpost as well and the area there.

I keep the rhodes pruned back small because I really do not like how they look when they are large. I have considered removing them for something else, but just not quite sure what I would put there???

I had done a little research lately and thought maybe dianthisis(sp?) or pinks to the left?

Thanks to all for suggestions so far. I am very appreciative and I apologize for my few days of absence.

Summie

Summie--

No need to apologize. I think Brent was just concerned we'd scare you off. Glad everyone is feeling better!

At the very least, I would relocate those rhodedendron. They aren't going to be happy getting pruned every year, and you won't be happy PRUNING them every year. Once they are gone, you can plant with perennials while you contemplate whether or not you want to mess with the sidewalk. Sounds like you have a fairly full plate. Dianthus are one of my favorite flowers--but they are relatively short lived ( need "renewing" ever few years) and bloom for a limited period (a few weeks.) Many varieties have nice foliage when they AREN'T in bloom. You'll just want to include OTHER perennials in the mix.

Goodness, I wish I could photoshop. It's prom weekend here--and I agreed to let The Boy's "gang" sleep here and feed them breakfast tomorrow morning, so I won't be able to give this my attention TODAY--but I'm hoping to get Elder Son to help me put together a quick photoshopped sketch in the next few days. Then perhaps you will be able to visualize what Ink is saying about your walkway.

Ink--were you thinking of bringing the sidewal out straight for a bit,a nd then letting it do a gentle curve towards the driveway--with Bed between the house and walk? What were you thinking of doing witht he lampost? Leaving it where it is, but incorporating it in a bed?

melanie

There are several possibilities. A landing proportionate to the two equal squares on the frontage at ground level in front of the front door would draw the entrance out. Perhaps this landing could accomodate the street light but then the walkway could come out from the side and pass through a more substantial planting mirrored on the other side of the entrance. Perhaps the landing could contain some architectural elements. The planting could be as high as the railing and the sentinals as high as the porch. Dianthus is not going to do it.

Well my husband thinks it's funny when I I told him we should dig up the drive, but he said maybe more of a possibility when we add on a bump garage next year. We also have considered replacing the front porch with pillars instead and getting rid of the spindels and then putting stone on the front of the house. We really love the inside of the house and have spent a massive amount of money on the kitchen and granite and travertine floors throughout. Now the outside needs to match the inside on the grandness scale. ;)
What about pink there for color until the sidewalk can be redirected?

This is a classic example of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should". Please don't remove the railings and porch and put columns on this house, it's NOT the kind of house that will look good with them, or the stone, either. The outside of the house if fine the way it is. It's a very nice house, and you will ruin it by carrying out the changes you are proposing, and they will have a negative impact on resale value. Trust me on this.

Put the money into a professional landscape design that will be worthy of the house and setting instead.

I'm glad you brought up the word "grandness" Summiebee, because I think the mismatch in grandness between the house and the landscaping is what everyone is responding to by giving you far bigger ideas than you came here for.

The house is grand (whether you change the porch or not), and the landscaping you have is puny; it's not just the walkway that doesn't match the house's grandeur. When you asked how to amend what seems like completely inadequate landscaping, the instinct is to look for ways to make it match the house better.

I think that if you are looking for a way to make the current landscaping work, then you can't do better than Saypoint's idea of a unifying groundcover, and if that is mostly shade, then Ajuga would be perfect. If you crave some colour, get some annuals; you'll need to clear the ajuga off their spots every year anyway. The annuals will also let you assess the impact of dotting individual plants in there, and you may find you agree with bboy about them looking like food bits. Or you won't, and you'll look for the right perennial. I don't really like the idea of using perennials for landscaping impact, but in this case you have the rhodos as a backbone, so what's inbetween can come and go - hostas, again if shade, are a great idea.

Ultimately, however, if you are going to put money into the front of the house, I again agree with SayPoint to put this into some grand landscaping. Put it this way: even stone and pilasters are not going to make your current landscaping look any better, and you will probably end up having to redo the landscaping ANYWAY. Why not redo the landscaping first, including replacing the path with a generous flagstone landing and wider and better-placed pathway from it to the driveway, and some skillfully selected and grouped plantings, and then reassess whether the exterior of the house really needs to be redone at all?

I don't know if you're DIY people or people who hire landscapers, but either way you can maybe do some reading about landscaping to enable you to visualize just how big an impact "grand" landscaping can have.

Well I have a lot to think about now that is for sure! Dh wants me to wait until I get the hanging baskets up and in place before I think I am lacking color and strat ripping stuff out. They are pretty colorful and adorn the front of the porch. I think perhaps I need to find a reputable landscaper and have a picture done with a different walk. Perhaps brick to match the house foundation or stamped concrete?

Keep in mind that when reputable landscapers design, they don't do it with "pictures". The pictures don't show you if the plants will actually fit in the area you have available for plantings, so designs are done in "plan view" which is a drawing that looks like a blueprint, a birds eye view.

The "pictures" are used by some designers as a sales tool, to help a client visualize what the finished design might look like in a few years when the plants are established and have grown a bit. Not everyone does them, and it's certainly not the first step, it's done after the real design work is done.

If someone designs this way, and does only a picture for you, I wouldn't consider them reputable.

Summiebee--

I'm glad you are considering hiring a pro. Take your time, interview several designers, look at portfolios. (Many folks have portfolios online these days.) If you don't KNOW any local designers, you can always start with the yellow-pages. They are liable to be booked solid right now, but you can at least find out if they have pictures online you can go look at. I'm not certain where you are--but am guessing that you are somewhere in NE Ohio. Not certain how the season runs there--down here (NC)the landscape designers have a lull in mid-July--through most of August. You may be able to catch that lull...or you may need to look at this as a long term project that won't happen until NEXT spring...but that's ok.

Plan on spending the early part of this summer doing research. If you can, go out to sites and look at the designers actual finished gardens. They tell you so much more than pictures. It's worth investing the time and energy. The product will be MUCH more than the sum of it's parts.

IN THE MEANTIME--have fun with a bunch of annuals. It looks as though the front of your house gets plenty of sun...there are LOTS of things you could toss into that bed to liven things up. Take a current picture (and the bed measurements) of the front of your house with you to a good nursery (NOT on a Saturday)and get them to help you plan something. I'm talking an independant nursery, not Home Despot or Slowes. Tell them you are trying to liven things up, and that you want annuals to fill holes while you figure out a more permanent planting scheme. If you are a gardening newbie--admit that straight up. They will be able to steer you to some easy-to-grow annuals. The great thing about annuals--one doesn't need to feel guilty in experimenting. They aren't as serious a commitment as a tree or shrub.

Above all, have fun. Sounds like this is your "forever" house--it will be worht the effort. AND the delayed gratification!

melanie