Hey, Phil,

Just your luck, but I'm a poster who knows little and sees nothing. Did you include pics? Can you say more about what you have already accomplished and why it appeals to you? Is there any particular style or historical reference suggested by the architecture of your home?

Not a pro here, but I'll give myself a little homework and try to provide a partial (miniscule) answer  Others will come along soon with more, I'm sure.

It sounds like you are beginning to get something of the aesthetic function of your front yard clarified:
You want something that is noticeably different, "something special", not the same-old same-old;
You do not want the ubiquitous cottagy look;
You are not living on an estate;
You don't want "boring".

I'm mostly getting a sense of what you want this garden to look like. It isn't clear whether there are other functional needs to be met. Things like:
How much maintenance / gardening do you enjoy doing?
Are there any practical issues to consider -- views to frame, drainage, screening?

Check out the checklist  2 actually  on the "Easy Question" thread.

I'm quite interested in what you come up with, because we are about to say "Yes" to a landscape contract on our front garden. I'm downstate from you, so the Midwest thing is even more pronounced. "Boring" is de riguer. But  I've found that what I want is simplicity  Maybe that's just my improved term for "boring".

Wellspring

To simplify, unless you want to do some flower gardening in the front yard, the "public" spaces should be attractive and designed to enhance the appearance of the house, while disguising or distracting from any awkward or ugly architectural elements of the house.

I might translate boring and conservative to mostly overused evergreen shrubs with little seasonal interest. Even more conservative would be planting them right up against the house foundation (extra points if they're too close and outgrow their space in time). A poor design would include a walk that is only a few feet from the house, creating a planting area that is too narrow to plant and too wide to ignore. Bad lighting, as in insufficient to see where you are going and/or lights strung out in a line like an airport runway or positioned so that they glare in your face instead of lighting your way.

Using a mix of shrubs and small trees that have something to offer in every season and massing them for impact is a good idea. So is taking a hard look at the house itself for dominant lines or interesting elements, and either echoing the shape if it's pleasing, or using plant masses to correct problems. Mixing foliage textures and plant form will make it interesting.

Extending the plantings our beyond the ends of the house can help "ground" it.

These are just some basic considerations. Your statements that you don't want a cottage garden and you don't want a pretentious or formal approach leaves you with a nice selection of flowering, deciduous, and evergreen shrubs, and a few large masses of selected perennials that will add some punch when they bloom. Select perennials that look good after they bloom, or late season bloomers that will have attractive foliage early in the season.

If the house is a ranch, raised ranch or split level, go with curving informal lines. If you have a cape, colonial, or bungalow style, you can use some straight lines and fill the beds with an informal mix, or use sweeping curves that direct your eye to the entrance.

Have you looked at Oehme and van Sweden's work? Piet Oudolf? Try searching the web for designers with an online portfolio or for photos that show the work of designers who have been published for ideas beyond the same old same old.

Perhaps you should begin your meeting with the designer by taking a quick car trip around the neighborhood looking at other front yards. Put into words what you don't like about them. Why do they appear 'boring' to you? This would be an easy way for you to verbalize your likes and dislikes. It always helps when you have a visual picture to critique. Also, the designer will probably find helpful clues when studying your landscape efforts which you find pleasing and build on your ideas. Let us know how your meeting with the designer works out. Many would find your thoughts of great interest.

Something to keep in mind, having fought the general concept of north side of a house in zone 5 with a pH over 7 for several years now, is that one of the reasons that midwestern landscaping is 'boring' is because of the extremely limited number of plants that can handle certain very common conditions. The evergreen that can handle extreme house shade is yew. I've been waiting for 5 years for somebody to come up with an alternative, and nobody has. Few flowering deciduous shrubs perform well in shade, and they have the disadvantage of disappearing during the winter.

i'm thrilled with the responses....and i can see i have lots more explaining to do....but, except for a few minutes, i won't be home til tomorrow to try to elaborate...one thing, i don't think i said that i don't want formal, did i??maybe it sounded that way when i mentioned the "magnificent estate" pictures in books. i LOVE them, it's just that i don't LIVE on an estate!(grin)also, the front yard faces south; that's good, right? ALSO,this landscape designer does hardscaping too, and i really like that idea; the yard has a decent slope down to the sidewalk, so maybe some terracing-something-or-other?? we probably have 40ft. from house to sidewalk, with 2 short pennisulas at ea. side of house; one anchored by a large white paper birch; and the other by a 7ft canadian hemlock(which we keep pruned to stay small, at least til death do us part!(grin) i am THRILLED with the feedback so far...yesterday was the first time i visited this forum; how lucky am i, i ask myself! i've only had a computer a short time and just joined gardenweb 4 wks. ago as a matter of fact, this whole computer process is SOOO new to me that i posted on the wrong forum first- don't know what key i pressed wrong...gotta go, see you tomorrow, i hope. i'll try to post a picture...how in the world do i DO THAT!

I tried to post a picture of it. Let me know if it works.

Here is a link that might be useful: my front yard

the pix doesn't tell you much...wellspring, you pretty much understood...to answer your question, i LOVE gardening so i'm not concerned about maintenance. the landscaper will take care of drainage...and terracing. if we do that. he is an engineer/architect/landscape guy (grin) can't really remember all his qualifications. the BIG thing i really don't know is: will i be able to communicate what i want (especially seeing i don't KNOW) AND i don't know if he is a CREATIVE person.

saypoint, nothing about appearance of the house is unattractive; yard is just.....BORING. it's a 2 story, grey dutch colonial on 1/3 acre suburban lot. f.y.i. piet oudolf is appearing at the chicago cultural center on sept 27. i have visited the lurie garden (which i suppose you already know he designed for the new millenium park). i buy perennials from northwinds, who supplied oudolf with his plantings for millenium park.

nandina, great idea, my husband & i are going to drive thru some of the more up-to-date neighborhoods this week.

mad gallica, good point, we have the line of yews going across the foundation (grin) actually, though, i'm beginning to think more & more that i am looking for architectual design & THEN plant selection.

so, what do you think....geez, maybe i should postpone the app't for awhile...this is such a big step...wish i had a better idea of what the heck i want.....phyl

Where's your folder of pages pulled from magazines? Just as in home decorating, collecting photos can help you identify your style and recurring themes of what appeals to you. Also I find it helpful to collect some "not like this" pictures.

Since you seem to want something in particular but don't know what it is, you may not be happy letting someone else do his thing. However, from what I have heard, a good designer will be able to draw some of that (what you want) out of you.

On the other hand, maybe designers dread the lady (or man) with a folder of photos.....

oh, i DO have a folder...but i don't have the mansion to go with it...i do get your point...you are right, i DO want something really eye-catching, just don't know what

Why not show your folder to the landscaper guy? You're planning to pay him, might as well let him do some work. You're always free to not like it, and can get him to change it. Isn't that the process?

Try this site, has bunch of front yard designs...

Their other pictures aren't that great, but there are some good front yard designs at least.

Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape Designs

I checked out the website, Tim, and it's a rather unguided site with a rather large menagerie of photos, nothing which is would be specifically helpful in either of the two threads that you've posted this to. And I've noticed that you just registered today and already are advertising this website, twice, within 6 minutes. Please take your advertising elsewhere.

-Audric