I guess you could add some other plants in between the roses, but I like it as it is!

Your place has fairly formal, well-manicured look to it, and when the roses grow up, they will take up most of that space. I would add a birdbath in front of the trellis closest to the house. It will add a new shape, texture, and interest, will "enliven" the bed, and yet keep the semi-formal look. I'd also plant something in front of your drain, or at least paint the drain the same color as the bricks. It's pretty intrusive, especially with the weird downward angle. Something tall and narrow, like a sky pencil holly, would keep the formal look, or a grass, a miscanthus, would add a new dimension and texture and its plumes will give some winter interest.

Then I'd cut a 2' wide bed on the other side of the sidewalk and fill it with perennials and even some summer annuals. Nothing too tall; keep it low so it doesn't compete with the roses, but fill it with flowers. It will offset the austerity of the rose bed without competing with the rose blooms and will soften the formal look without disturbing the form.

Great suggestions, thanks catsrose.

What do you mean when the roses grow up? Just later in the summer when they are bigger?

I don't know if it is my zone or what, but in later summer, yes, they are bigger, but they don't really look full. I can't really describe what I'm thinking, but I've seen other pictures of gardens on here where there are rose bushes that seem to be one on top of each other all flowing together. Mine just look like rose bush, mulch, rose bush, mulch.

I love the bird bath idea. And your other ideas too. That drain is horrible, isn't it?

Paint that rain pipe the same color as the wall (where it is against the wall). It will then blend in with the wall and not stand out so much.

Small perennials such dwarf Shasta daisies, coreopsis, small daylilys, or annuals such as alyssum or lobelia at the planter's edge would make the bed look fuller and add interest before the roses get going.

In zone 5 those hybrid-tea appearing roses will likely not get much larger than they are.

I would fill in with an assortment of perennials that bloom at different times. Also like the birdbath idea.

Do you know what kind of roses they are? If they are HTs, they don't really get full and bushy, especially in your zone.

You could try some other roses that are more 'garden' roses than formal roses.

Or you can add some perennials in between the roses. Shasta daisies are great. Mine are blooming now and the roses are, so it is nice. They seem to multiply easily so you can start off with one batch and then divide and transplant.

Daylilies are also another good rose companion. I put those on the border in front.

You say you have planted Ramblin' Red. So, even if the rest of the roses don't get a lot bigger, Red will take up a lot of the visual space. Since your roses do seem to be mostly HT's, again, the more formal look. Don't clutter up the bed trying to make it look like a cottage garden, when it isn't. The only thing you might add would be some mid-summer blooming clematis to intertwine with Red when he's not blooming, or some tall delphiniums right in front of Red and the trellises. They are elegant and keep the look. That, Red, the birdbath, and a complemetary bed will solve the barren look. Save daisies--and get a low/dwarf variety--for the bed on the other side of the walk. Same for daylilies. Use the Stella d'Or or equivalents. There are now lots of repeat blooming, low growing daylilies.

A formal rose bed is both restful and elegant. More is not better. If you clutter it with a bunch of the other things it just ends up looking like you don't know what you want. You don't have the right roses for an informal look. Get your pretties in a complementary bed. When the roses are in bloom, they will dominate and when they aren't, the eye will drift naturally to the other bed and the roses then become a restful background to that.

I think there are some good suggestions above.

So, I'll ask a question: Why is the drain pipe aimed back toward the house? Does it connect to a drain? Can it be re-routed?

I have a corner that has a similar drain pipe and I planted a clematis near it and am training it up it. If I were you, I would plant a white/cream color that is a Group 3 (hard prune to remove all old growth) and train it up that corner. You would have a little contrast with the white flowers against the green foliage but not so much that it would take away from the roses or the formality. Huldine is a white Group 3 that I have in zone 5 but it may be a little too aggressive a grower for that space. You can also go in the Clematis forum and ask for other suggestions if that is something you think you may like to do.

I live in the same area and I tried planting thyme around the base of some of my roses and I am loving the way it is helping fill in the area beneath it. There are many, many varieties but I have thymus doone valley, silver edged, and silver queen and red carpet. Either one of the silvers might work nicely for you if you want to keep it simple.

Good luck!

I'm not sure why he had it set up that way. It doesn't connect to anything. He might have wanted the water going into the garden instead of down the front of the house and into the driveway? I do like that idea from a water conservation idea.

Buford, I'm not sure what all the roses are. I had a blog (http://mysteryroses.blogspot.com/) last year to try to figure out what some of them are. It was my first full summer with them. I know there is Double Delight, Hot Cocoa, 2 JFK, Duet, and Purple Tiger.

Hi Erika
You have the most perfect lawn and very tidy front garden.

The roses against the black iron trellises are they climbers? It looks like they were meant for clibmers, but on the picture they look like hybrid teas all of them.

You could make over the corner beds. If you like roses use some of the ones that are there, and perhaps find different types that are more bushy and grow different. It is a bit more work to have a flowerbed with lots of different plants and no mulch but I like it a lot. You can use all kinds of summer flowers , bulbs to fill in the space between the roses. It is easiest not to have too many perennials between the roses when the soil is amended in spring and the roses fertilized.

I am very shore redoing the corner beds will not crash with your formal garden, and that much mulch is not very nice. A bed of only roses, hybrid teas, floribundas, any rose really, is usually planted much denser, so that when the roses leafs out the mulch is not seen. I agree with getting rid of the thuja hedge. If that is Brabant it needs to be cut once or twice a year to look good and must be watered in dry periods to stay green. They do not help if you think your garden is too tidy and repetetiv. What type of hedge is up against the front porch?

Your garden is very good as it is, but I recommend making it what you want. Having your garden done professionally is easy but may not be worth it.

diana- I didn't see your reply before. I like the idea of a clematis climbing up the drain pipe.

taoseeker- On the trellises are Ramblin' Red. They were only planted (bareroot) this spring on May 8th.

I am not sure what hedge is in front of the house. It is pine-y. We cut it way down this year because it was growing over the roses. It is finally started to get green again on the sides. I was afraid it wasn't going to come back at all. We have not trimmed the top at all this year because the sides were cut down so much and we wanted to keep some green on it.

...half my point disappeared somehow...

My suggestion is first to make over the curving beds (the ones that are sort of quarter of a circle). Either by doing something very different with them, replanting everything, or plant same type of roses so that the beds fill out. Something went wrong with those beds. That much bare much cannot have been intended, it looks like you need more that three or four times as many roses than there all ready are. Plant them close together no more than a foot and a half apart.

These type of hedges often needs too be cut once or twice a year to stay the same size and to stay green as well. Cutting them too much makes them bare for a long time. Watering and some kind of fertilizer helps a lot. I too have cut this type of hedge rather drasticly and it took at least two years before the top was even and green again.

When it comes to remaking your front garden you can do a bit at a time and it all comes together if you have an idea of how you would like it to be, and I would not be too afraid to go against the very bare and formal look.

Good luck with your project :-)

I don't know if you would consider this at all, but might you be interested in taking out the hybrid teas and planting more bushy, softer looking roses that would spread more? I can't advise you with names since I don't know about your growing conditions but I'm sure many people on the forum could help you with that. You have a lovely home but without some softness in the landscaping my feeling is that it looks a little too severe. I don't know if you have any trees in the front yard but a flowering tree planted away from the house, more toward the sidewalk would also soften the overall look and add interest. I love interplanting roses and would still do that, even if you choose only one variety for a more formal look, some kind of lavender for instance.

Good luck with your project.

Ingrid

personally, and we all have our own personal tastes, I would get rid of the bushes. For me, those type are hard to weed around because they always seem to give me hives and itch. I'd add some delphinium and coreopsis in between the roses and maybe a couple lilies (not daylilies, but orienpet or trumpet for the longer bloom and fragrance) and maybe some clemitis, perennial sweetpea, or climbing rose for the trellis. Send us a picture of whatever you end up doing! I'd love to see the final bed.

OK, I just took some more pictures right now because the left side of the garden was chopped off in the top picture. I also tried to explain some of things on the pictures. Here they are:

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Sorry about the open garage. We have some men doing some cement work in the back. Also, sorry about the text in the last shot, I could get it to cooperate.

wow. I didn't realize how much that hedge has grown since we moved in. I know DH had trimmed it last year, but I guess not enough.

Like I said before, we did trim the side drastically and yes, I realize it will take a bit for it to grow back in. I'd like to trim the height too, but that might be too much for the thing to handle.

Do you have any kinds of pictures in you head of the types of beds and roses you like? Lots of things can be done, and roses that thrive in your garden and climate are probably possible to find. Is there some kind of fiber cloth (I'm probably not using the correct therm here) under the mulch? In my wet climate mulch and fiber cloth can be a problem with black spot and flowers like fuchsia, dahlia and marguerite like it better with out. There are lots of plants that can make you bed look bountiful, neatly organized or any thing else you might have in mind.

Some roses like Comte de Chambord have canes that arches and hybrid teas and floribundas stand more or less straight up.

Hi Erica,

It is difficult to suggest since I live in a different zone (Portland, Oregon). However, I will write what I would do to make it prettier.

In the place of "6 roses in front of the hedge" I would plant 6-7 roses "Double Knokout". That rose gives flower through the entire season with color giving an excellent contrast to the grass and the green hedge and a strong accent to your pretty pale house. Also I would plant 3 roses of the "Knokout" instead of the pink shrub rose. Knockout is slightly different from Double Knockout -- that will give a nice effect as well.

You did very good by removing the ugly evergreen. The three trellises look very good as well. I would plant some of red climbing roses on them (in my region, blaze does very well, but Dortmunt and Dublin are very good as well). I would go with RED roses to give more color to the light bricks.

In front of the trellises, you may have two and a half rows for different flowers (roses, Dahlias, Zinnias, etc). Higher and darker in the back row and smaller and lighter in the front row. I would also plant few bunches of Narcissus (Daffodils) between since they are the first flower ti give a strong impact in spring, and they are low maintainance plants, and they die back in May. Then few azaleas (for example Hino Crimson), since they flower just after Narcissus. In the rows I would plant different roses (or other flowers). From roses I would choose few of a rather small floribunda roses, for example Disneyland, since it gives spectacular and rather unusual colors. I'm very in red and yellow colors, then I would also add a line of marigolds on the edge along the path.

I would also plant some ground cover levander to cover 50 % of the brown area (it is evergreen in my climate, and it is covered with flowers for a month).

But before doing anything I would remove the existing roses, double dig the entire area, amend some organic matter to the soil. Then I would plant back the removed roses, add new plants, and mulch the area with a new dark, fine mulch.

What a lovely house! I love your trellises. I think that's where you planted the ramblin' reds? You will love that plant.

You know, I would get rid of those rectangular, flat topped bushes. I think they date the house. I'd dump them and put a proper railing in front of the porch. It will add a lot of charm. If you like evergreens, you can put some more modern looking ones in but leave plenty of space between them. You can move some of the HTs over there an spread them out.

In your rose bed, I'd add more bushier, ever blooming roses like Easy Elegance roses or knockouts.

I would also add more perennials to that rose bed (and the new one I just told you to create lol) to add punches of color season long. Rozanne geranium is nice for all season color, and she compliments roses nicely.

You've got a great canvas there. You can have tons of fun with it.

If it were me -- a lilac in the left corner & a small tree in center of the lawn in front of the living room to make a nice view in spring -- but not big enough to block the sun from roses -- maybe a crab apple.

Nepeta is nice in front of roses, also pansies. Not narcissus because of the leaves, but maybe grape hyacinths & tulipa clusiana -- & yes to lilies, the early pink trumpets & late black beauty -- also 3--6 plants of Aster Frikarti Monch. Sweet william & foxglove also look great, also campanula persicifolia.

If you want to go all out, a big pergola with wisteria & climbing roses to mask the garage