Well fizzle. How about I just post the actual pictures;

This is where we started.

{{gwi:41053}}

This is where I'd like it to go.
{{gwi:41054}}

Same as above, with somewhat helpful labels

{{gwi:41055}}

Your suggestions for improvements are most welcome.

I am not a pro but I like where you're going with this. I think once you get some design advice here, you should go to the cottage garden forum, because (hopefully) that's the style you're after.

Can you get the sheep in blue to set off your flowers? :)

It sounds like you already have much of this planted. What areas are you looking for feedback on? If you like what you have going, then yes, it is a good idea.

My biggest comment is that I think you will regret the lack of evergreens. I suspect that your area gets very little snow cover which means that you will be looking at bare ground for 5 months a year. Also, I would prefer one bed along the front with a path that cut through the middle rather than two half moon shaped beds.

- Brent

What I'm wondering is whether it looks well planned to anyone other than me... does it have that soothing harmony and balance stuff? I mean, not balance as in bookends, but in balance with the house; not too big or too small.

I know what you mean about the evergreens, and have thought about adding some dwarf conifer thingy. I haven't researched the evergreens enough yet to know would work, but do you think it needs something vertical? What about two ultra dwarf kinds; one definately dark green, the other with maybe a decided blue/white cast?(MOL the color of the lamb's ears) The big tree branch hulking in the upper left hand corner of the pictures is a mature Eastern Red Cedar. It's one of a pair flanking the gate, and they're the cause of the shadow you see in the foreground. The one you can see in the picture is actually a female, and all winter she's covered with powder blue berries, the other is a male, and after a few good freezes takes on a decided rusty cast for the winter. But they're both trimmed up at least 7 to 8 feet off the ground, so there's a pretty clear view of the house. The nandina is evergreen; might add another of those if I can find another old fashioned one that doesn't turn red in the winter. (It has red berries, but the leaves stay green) Geeze, I bet that's way more than you wanted to know about my front yard.

Maybe something smaller? What do you think about some hellebores until the various bulbs and deep purple Iris (forgot to mention those) and violets start blooming in March. (or am I crossing the line into "too busy"?) They wouldn't all bloom at the same time, though everything I drew in the picture does.

"one bed along the front with a path that cut through the middle rather than two half moon shaped beds."
Do you mean like a very elongated quarter round shape? It's doable. Right now, the reason the beds curve in at the steps is because the dogs tend to take a shortcut there to get on the porch and I hate having broken plants, but I could put up a temporary barrier to train them to go around it.

Any opinion about the bed in the middle of the walkway? A nice accent, or just akward? I was looking at the picture I posted, and just went out and measured the walkway. The circle part actually starts about 11 feet east of the steps, so it's not quite as overwhelming as I made it appear. (and of course, fortunately it doesn't look like a giant wingnut hovering in the yard...LOL)

how about something climbing up (like a rose) to soften the big vinyl triangle?

Big triangle meaning the top of the porch, or the corner of the house? I'm not sure that the house wouldn't look completly overwhelmed if I had something growing that was big enough to cover the front of the porch; it really is a small place. The main reason why the gable porch looks so out of proportion is because a previous owner replaced the original elephant foot posts with dinky 4X4s.

As for the vinyl siding, it's coming off late this fall/early winter. At that point, we might take the whole giant gable style porch down and replace it with a modified shed roof resting on elephant foot posts on short columns of brick or rock, like this one in Oregon, only without the solid railing, and obviously, a little closer to the ground. ;^)

Here is a link that might be useful: shed roof porch in Oregon

The little points of lawn that are left over when you put in the half moon beds are going to be a pain to mow or trim. I'd make the bed flow across the path a little better, as someone else suggested. I'd also extend the beds beyond the outside edges of the house to allow for using larger shrubs than you'd want in front of the porch.

The symmetry looks a little formal for this house style, I think I'd rather see either a straight path or a sweeping curve. If you're trying to draw the eye to the door, the birdbath right smack in front of it is a distraction. How about making the beds less symmetrical and geometric, and incorporating the birdbath into one of them, nestled into the plantings to make it stand out less?

I hope that doghouse is strictly ornamental.

I personally don't care for the circular birdbath bed interrupting the walk. Do you want people to have to pause and walk around it to get to your front door? I think this element would look more appropriate in a secondary path. This house has lots of potential though. I really like the new paint/trim choice.

I'm with Spazzycat about the circle interrupting the path. I think that type of feature is more suited on a much larger scale. I would make a more winding, meandering path to the house, with the birdbath/planting as a focal point along the way.

I love your choice of plants!! Move the birdbath to the side. Most birds aren't going to use it way out in the open like that anyway, it makes them "sitting ducks" for predators like sparrow hawks that can zoom out of the sky and nab them.

I like the birdbath and "wingnut". They have a certain quirky charm that adds a bit of atmosphere and individuality. Please tell me though that you are using real bricks for the pathway, not pavers that look like brick (sorry to be suspicious, our neighbors who own a lovely 18th century farmhouse just installed what they described to us as a "brick and stone terrace" that turned out to be a blob shaped amoeba of horrid "stone" and "brick" colored pavers which now sits like a blight right on our property line where we have to look at it everyday. When I pointed out that it was neither stone nor brick they were genuinely puzzled, they thought no one could tell the difference. Gah. Sorry. This is turning out to be a bitterness fest entirely unrelated to your post.)

Anyhoo, I also feel that the path and birdbath make up a bit of winter interest even without evergreens. Oh, and I like the suggestion of a rambling rose to further soften the angular lines of the house itself.

Wow, this is great! Thank you everyone for responding. Fori, no blue sheep, but they do have a decided pink cast right after they're sheared. :^)

My DH didn't trust my guesstimate, (I MOL just walked it heel to toe yesterday, and multiplied by 7.5), so he did the manly thing and used a real tape measure. The total distance from the porch to the gate is a little over 40 feet. (But it really is 12 feet from the porch steps to the outside ring, so I wasn't off by much) Also, the distance from the yard gate to just inside the main driveway gate is another 65 to 70 feet. Can you stand more pictures?

This was taken from the driveway, looking toward the house before we bought the place.
{{gwi:41056}}

This gives you a better idea of the birdbath in relation to the house as it was taken looking straight on from just under the cedars instead of off to one side. I know, the brickwork is terrible, it's been reset since then.
{{gwi:41057}}

Spunky_Ma, this is what the house will look like when we replace the spindly posts and rebuild the brick bases. (People who "remuddle" away nice architectural details like french doors and gable brackets and wide porch posts should be shot.) I definately like the quarter round beds better, and will reset them this weekend. Also, I took out the bird bath, leaving a straight path. I agree, it does look good. Then again, it's a 40 foot path, and this picture only shows about 1/3 of it. (I'm sorry. I should have thought about that) Still, I like the idea of a straight path better than a curvy path. Most of the ones I've seen make me think they were put down as "busy work" for the contractor because there's no particular reason for snaking and twisting all over the yard just to get from A to B. Then again, I've not seen any with plantings mature enough to have that special "secret garden" effect, so that's probably it.
{{gwi:41058}}

Finally, I'm just going to put a link to this last one as it's big. (90KB) I've been trying to draw a bird's eye view/blueprint of just the house yard. The alleys and "front" yard are indicated, but not drawn in, likewise the garage and back yard fence. The house is surrounded by mature trees, and the east and south side are planted with different stuff that at maturity will range from 4 to 8 feet tall; enough that the place has a cozy, well nestled in look. The driveway to the garage is just two thin strips of native gravel with grass growing between them so it's not really noticeable. I forgot to mark it, but north is on the right, and, while there are lots of plantings on that side too, they can't really be seen from the front gate, so I left most of that out. The land rises 40 feet to our property line about 3/4 of the way up the hill just past the alley on the north. The hill is terraced, and there's a swale in the yard about 8 feet out from the house on that side in case it ever rains again.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:41052}}

All real, solid, antique brick, about 1/3 are marked. Most say ADA, but there are several ACME Brick, a couple of Buffalo, Coffeyville, KS, even one that says "Chandler, OT", or Oklahoma Territory.

I don't have enough brick to do all the edging and the other paths I'd like to have, so those will be done native rock. Which means whatever the road grader drags down the hill to me. If I'm not weeding or watering, I'm wandering around with a rusty red flyer wagon making little cairns all over the yard. The fancy rocks like petrified wood and ammonite fossils line the flower beds.