The pictures that are needed: line up with the garage window and back up far enough that you can see 10' to the left of the garage and 10' to the right (in the camera's viewfinder) and take a picture. While in the same location, pivot toward the front door and take a picture of it. Now back up (staying in line with the garage window) until you are in the street and take another picture straight looking straight ahead toward the garage window.

There seems to be no connection between what's in front of the center bump-out and what's in front of the garage. It looks odd the way that stone "wall" arbitrarily ends at nothing.

The house is on a corner lot so that may be some of the confusion. Hopefully these will give you a better idea. The garage is on the right end of the house.

{{gwi:41149}}

{{gwi:41150}}

{{gwi:41151}}

{{gwi:41152}}

The trees @ R side mainly need linking together with groundcover.

Whenever I see a thicket of trees I want to plant a camellia.

I'm not altogether sold on the grouping of trees on the left floating in a bed of ground cover. In and of itself, it's an interesting arrangement without any additional grounding - a "mini woodland". Why tart the lawn up when it's the corner that could use something - but in a zone so much higher than mine, I couldn't recommend anything.

"floating"...? "tart up"...? I call it linking ... consolidating many standers by into one focused group. "An interesting arrangement" ... true ... but lacking.

Thanks for all of the replies. When we first moved here there was no grass in that area. It was a bed with not much in it. You can't tell much by the picture but I already have quite a bit of jasmine in two beds on both sides of the sidewalk leading to the front door. You can see a little of it in a couple of the pictures and I have about three times that much on the other side. I like the idea of a ground cover there and I agree that it would look good but I cleared the bed and planted the grass because of my leaf issue. My yard is pretty even mix of cedar elms, which loose their leaves in the fall, and live oaks, which loose their leaves in the spring. All small leafs that are a total pain to deal with in my beds and ground cover and will build up down in the ground cover if not dealt with. As much as I agree that your idea is a good one, since I added the grass under that heavy clump of trees it has saved me a ton of work. The biggest part of my yearly yard work is leaf maintenance, and that's an especially heavy area.

I really love the idea of the Aucuba in the corner. That might be just what I was looking for. As far as the inner part behind the rock sidewalk, I still need to decide what to do with that.

I'm curious as to your comments about the sidewalk leading to the front door. I understand the "busy" part, but not the "congested". Let me get a closeup picture of that and post it and see what you suggest.

{{gwi:41153}}

{{gwi:41154}}

{{gwi:41155}}

I don't know if you are at all interested in natives in the corner also, but Turks Cap would thrive in those light conditions. The pink reads really pale from a distance, almost white, but the red really pops.

I have a lot of native plants in my beds. I have seen Turks Cap in my neighborhood that are beautiful but I've never tried it. What I have seen has always been in full sun but after doing some research I see that it does well in shade or part sun also. That sounds like an excellent choice. Thanks!

Santa, keep in mind that is is perception which determines an impression. Most people who see it will never have the experience of actually using your front walk approach. While it may physically work, visually, its curb appeal value is questionable.

A sense of spaciousness is not created just by there being space at a given point, but by it appearing that that the space exists before one arrives ... that as one lays out the path of travel in their mind, they have certainty that there is room for it. One needs to see where one is going before one gets there. If you've ever driven a tallish van into a parking garage you could get the sense that the top of the vehicle might be scraped by the garage ceiling. If you get out of the vehicle and eyeball the clearance, it's apparent that there is plenty. Nevertheless, the feeling of looming decapitation follows the search for a parking place. Because the walk at your house is not any wider than the necessary minimum, the "S" curve, and it's being planted on both sides ... instead of a feeling of spaciousness there is a feeling of "be careful you step." It doesn't help that flanking the walk -- instead of smooth, guiding lines and shapes -- there is a hectic mix of sharp angles and odd shapes greeting the first time visitor. ...Very odd shapes. It's incomprehensible to me, really, how such a bed shape could come to be if not entirely by accident. It does not look as if someone intentionally created this bed as a whole, but rather that it is left over pieces created in isolation of each other piece.

Interestingly enough, the house itself gives the impression of being, at minimum, quite comfortable inside ... possibly even luxurious. But the approach to the front door looks out of sync with these concepts.

(edited to add word)

This post was edited by Yardvaark on Mon, Jul 28, 14 at 0:34

Appreciate your input. I'll put this area on my list of things to do.

Kerrria would look nice if you can give it enough water.

Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Botanoical Garden