You've definitely made an improvement over what you bought.

What direction does the house face?

What's growing in the large front bed?

Is that a windowbox under the first floor window?

What's the white area between the house and the shed/playhouse?

On many Garrison colonials there are pendant "drops" on the underside corners of the overhang. Traditionally a simple wooden ball or pineapple or acorn painted in the same color as the house siding. Just a little architectural detail likely found at any home improvement center.

Probably paint the foundation the same color as the steps. And the shrubbery you've planted will grow as it will on its own timetable. When it's time to put the house on the market, "stage" any glaring bare spots with annuals for some color rather than trying to put in bigger shrubs and trees which may or may not give you the look you want - or think you want. Most of us who have been watching the evolution of our own spaces over years still have unrealized visions. But if you're not really into gardening/landscaping, or have other responsibilties that are simply more pressing, it's even harder to put together a package that you feel might have a more generalized appeal.

For the circle around the big tree - hostas are great utility plants - add four more in different varieties to the existing three, planting them between and a little forward.

Since you have only one tree on the property, maybe the expanse of lawn on the right could use a specimen ornamental - one of the larger flowering crabapples? Beautiful in bloom with burgundy foliage and fruit.

And if the property were mine, I'd invest in a few cans of Rustoleum spray paint in black or Hunter green and help the chainlink fence facing the front road recede into the background.

House faces Northeast
Front bed has a couple Yews, a green eunonymous,a couple hostas, astilbes, bleeding hearts, a ninebark in the back corner, the tree is a dogwood with some dianthus underneath. There's a sedum behind the tree near the corner, making its way around the edge. And a very small boxwood around the corner.
Yes it's a window box (actually 4 side by side) my plantings were pretty meager this year since we were away a lot and rain water doesn't get to it with the overhang. I didn't get a chance to water much..The white that you see is the neighbors fence befind us. There is a short retaining wall and white fence on that. It's starts right about where our deck meets our house and continues behind the shed.

Yeah, I've definitely tossed the idea around of spray painting the fence.
So paint the foundation a brown color? We should be able to do that.
Last year I planted some pansies in between the hostas around the big tree and they looked evry nice. Just didn't get to it this year.
I've been mentioning planting a "mound" somewhere on the right to at least have some focal point. Probably will look better in a short time frame then a little tree, right?
Thanks for the ideas!

I wouldn't necessarily paint the white fence -- just plant something in front of it or on it. Not knowing what was there, I wondered. You don't have to cover it all, just break it up. I believe clematis could handle the shade (but I'm no expert on clematis, and it might depend on the variety). Honeysuckle is another possibility, but choose a native or native hybrid rather than the horribly invasive Japanese type. Virginia creeper does well in shade, if you don't need showy flowers.

Sweet pea and morning glory seeds are inexpensive, but they wouldn't look like much in the winter.

Since the shrubs in the front bed are still so low, I'd consider planting something trailing and flowering in the window boxes -- but keep it trimmed if it gets too close to the top of the shrubs.

I'm glad you decided to follow up and come here, and you've provided an excellent overview of the landscape parameters.

For the info of others, I've linked below to the Decorating thread, where some of Duluth's suggestions for the house itself have also come up.

With respect to landscaping, I originally thought the house would need beefier foundation plantings but upon reflection I wonder if there would be some merit to planting along the fence to give the boundary more presence. Chainlink being see-through, it offers no sense of enclosure or coziness. Painting the fence to make it disappear won't help with that. I think planting there would serve the purpose of flattering the house a bit as well; since from the curb, fence-line plantings will appear to supplement, and extend, the foundation plantings.

I'm not sure if an outright hedge, or just a series of various plants, it would depend a bit on your taste and what you can get within budget.

My only hesitation about recommending this is that it might restrict your ability to see as you exit the driveway, and enter it vis a vis hitting children playing in the yard. For that reason I don't think it needs to be anything tall. Something like a row of low azaleas and/or junipers or smaller boxwoods would provide an enhancement without blocking much driver view.

If you go around the perimeter with the plantings, on the side past the corner you could go with some taller deciduous shrubs, which grow fast (think lilac, mock orange) and would enhance privacy in what seems like an otherwise very exposed yard.

This need not be beyond your budget, especially if you get plants at a season's end discount or dig for other budget sources. For example, watch craigslist for people who want to give plants away. But even if you have to buy them small, I think they will have some impact.

Maybe you could photoshop or sketch the idea and see if it appeals to you "on the ground" - sometimes things look really different in real life than they do on a picture.

I agree about a specimen ornamental tree on the right - even a couple on the right and one on the left, not lined up with soldierly precision but somewhat naturally distributed. I'm going to guess this is a sunny yard that could use some shade, and there appears to be room even for trees that will eventually get quite large. Trees always seem to nestle a house into its site. Again, I don't think it matters if you have to plant small, and you may be able to get a good deal as local nurseries try to clear stock before winter.

KarinL

Here is a link that might be useful: Decorating thread

Darn, I scanned for this comment before I posted, but obviously not hard enough, as I knew you'd said something about visibility at the corner - finally found it deep in the decorating thread:

"We're somewhat limited in what we can do near the perimeter as we're a corner lot and town laws say we can't have anything over 2 feet high that will impede being able to see around the corner."

Does this apply to the whole perimeter, or just within a certain distance of the corner? And how far into the yard does this restrict you? Along the lines of your mound idea, you could do something that creates a smaller enclosure, a space within a space. Not a row of plants if it's not right at the fence.

KarinL

I had thought about the perimeter idea before. There is some distance that the bylaws include, I can't remember off the top of my head. But the distance along the right side of the house is quite long (gotta be a good 75+ feet). I could get a decent amount of perennials from family (my MIL is an avid gardener), but evergreens would be straight out of my pocket. I already searched craigslist and there's basically nothing around here. And I have to keep height a consideration. But 75 feet would take quite a number of shrubs, and I think cost quite a decent amount. Even planted 5 feet away that's 15 shrubs.
We did plant a small tree at the right corner of the house and you can barely see it, so I doubt any trees I plant this fall would have any kind of dramatic impact in less then 2 years time, although I'm not against the idea.

A few more pics to get a full feel of the property:
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Isn't that interesting - the traffic guard rail actually gives you much more of a perimeter enforcement visually than the chainlink alone. It doesn't need beefing up anywhere near as much as I expected it would.

Also, now that we can see the whole property, it becomes evident that the right side is basically your front yard, and the left side is the back yard. It isn't that unnatural to have an open front yard. But you might consider making the back yard look cozier.

At least on that side, you probably aren't restricted from planting taller things. The question is then whether doing planting to that effect (or any other planting that you might prefer) would really pay dividends. And that depends on what other expenditures you could make instead; a decision only you can make!

Good luck,

KarinL

That little shed is a bit of an eyesore. You could add shutters and paint it to match the house better. Plus if you planted around it, it would look more like an out building/dollhouse than a shed.

yep, the shed is going to get worked on. I'm going to rebuild the door, repaint and put up the window box.

The existing perennials look nice, so if you've access to more for free, I'd go for it. Shrubs of decent size tend to be more costly, so maybe try some ornamental grasses for the corner side of the lot. They're usually not that costly, and add interest even in winter. They look great mixed with perennials too.

Do you really need that chainlink fence all around the yard? Repshaping it for only the area the kids play in moving it would make the space more open. Also an ivy or other vine planted into the chainlink fence will give you some privacy and hide the fence. A "fedge" (fence/hedge) may only be seasonal depending on the vine, but maybe be cheaper to install if annuals are used.