Thanks everyone for your help. Ok, I'll leave the yews. They were pruned in that weird shape before we bought the house. You can't tell fom these pics but there is a cherry tree in front yard closer to driveway. We ripped out some old ratty looking shrubs when we moved in and easily 12 inches of much and leaves. I know new shrubs will take a while to grow to size, but the sooner I get them started the better. My winter project is going to be learning a landscape software programs, for now I am making do with graph paper, and all of your help. pls8xx: The extended landing looks good, it helps to see it done this way, and the shrubs near it look nice also. So this will be my next big, project. aegis500: The extra tree is a good idea, and the shrub placed near large picture window is perfect. I think 2 more similar but not necessarily the same shrub would do well on either end of house. karinl: Thanks for the compliment for the work done near the house. I admit I started there because it is something we see everyday. And I liked the shoes & clothes analogy. There must be something to it - I've always enjoyed shopping for shoes more than for clothes. jant: Well, we just replaced all the shutters, so to keep peace at home, they have to stay as is. Door color can be changed. But, WOW, what a difference when the big white vinyl siding matches the house color, and I did like the door color, would have never tried that on my own. Not sure how it could be done, can vinyl be painted? It is the eastern side of the house and the winter sun is strong in this part of the house. I don't get why that siding is there, the rest of the house is aluminum siding and brick. brent in nova: I ran out at bought that magazine, had to go to 3 stores to find it! It was good, they added a lot of box wood for winter season interest. I think I can use a lot of what they showed. busyd95: That is a good way to put it: with no front walk and plantings so close it doesn't feel welcoming. There are no sidewalks along the roadway, so people either use the steps from the driveway or cut through the front yard. I did plant the Nellie Stevens holly to help block that view. I think I'll plant 2 more so there is a grouping of them. Thanks again everyone.

I can tell you what we've done, which looks like it would work for you as well, with the least amount of effort and money in materials. (Yes, we are DIYers too.) Several years ago we decided to do away with our grass because there wasn't enough of it, and 75 percent is under an oak tree where it doesn't grow well anyway. We just mulched the grass heavily to kill it out, and keep adding (pine bark) mulch every year since it tends to break down over the winter with weather. After doing this for several years, we have very few weeds. Because the mulch breaks down after while, it does need a thin surface layer once a year in the spring to keep it looking fresh. I think that would look the best since you wouldn't be adding another hard material like pavers, you wouldn't have to match anything and a natural look is always current. Your path and the landscape around it is what you really want to notice and adding another material would just distract your eye away from what makes your garden so beautiful. We also plant a container garden that goes in the area every year, and I choose brightly colored hummingbird annuals to put in the sun around our pond to feed my hummingbirds. There are things like fuchsias, ferns and gardenias in partial shade, and begonias for deep shade. It's pretty, very natural, and easy to maintain. If you wanted to dig out the grass, that would give you some depth in which to spread the mulch which would keep down the weeds beautifully, without needing any landscape fabric (which just seems to get in the way and is a big hassle to install.) Keeping it simple with just the mulch, gives you more room to ''landscape'' and putting your money into containers and maybe a fabulous fountain, makes the most sense. We've bought yards of mulch that were dumped on the driveway, and bought it in bags. After moving around mulch both ways, we actually think it's easier to put down mulch from bags without the immediacy of having to get a big pile off your driveway. When the season is over, plants go into the compost pile, and I turn my containers upside down under my cedars to live out the winter until next year. After so many years, I pretty much know how much I need now to fill them. I love my garden, and the low maintenance aspect of not having grass to mow makes me happy. You already have a beautiful garden. I don't think it will take much to tweak it to a place where you'll be happy too.

And don't forget to talk to your contractor and/or landscaper. We can't tell from the close-in pic you posted, but it's likely that the contractor is going to do some back-filling near the house. They will probably bring in some dirt and slope it away from the foundation to ensure that water drains away properly. This back-filling will mean that maybe the porch won't be quite so high above ground level as you think it might be. Even so, I personally think not doing railings on a porch makes the porch look "unfinished", like they forgot to come back and install the railings. I like to see railings even on porches that are just several inches above grade. The *steps* may not need a handrail if you have only 1 or 2 steps, but I think the porch needs railings. JMHO

Thanks for sharing those pics boxerpups! It is helpful seeing what others have done. island....I didn't explain that very well did I :). We have a small commercial cabinet shop, and our guys already cut the 4" backsplash in Glimmer since that is what we usually do. We did the 4 or 5" backsplash of the same countertop in the rest of the bathrooms in our house and our wet bar. So that is what I'm bored with :) The glass tile in the bathroom is different from the glass tile I like for the kitchen. The bathroom looks like glass and you could kind of see through it before we installed it. The kitchen tile is more solid all the way through in that you can't see through it. Hope that makes sense!! Here is the bathroom tile. The dark color is brown..it kind of looks purple in the pic! The tiles come on a 12x12 sheet and I have two of them. I may put them on cardboard and tape it on the wall. The wall space under the microwave cabinet is taller than what is at the windowsill. dianalo...that is what I'm leaning toward. But DH likes just the tiles. I just don't want it to seem that we "overdid" the 1" glass tiles.