Shee, I wish I could give you a hug. I can appreciate how overwhelmed you feel (it's how most of my life feels from time to time!). Let me try to put things in a more manageable state, and I'm afraid I'm going to contradict some other posters in doing so. They have good advice, but it's not all what you need right now. I really do think you should go to the LD forum, it's really not a bad place. Your question about symmetry in DH's plan is a perfect one to focus on to start with, though you should obviously present your project as a whole. Just go in looking for tips to help you design it yourself, rather than for someone to design the thing for you. That's exactly what the forums are for! DO link to this thread, so that people there don't have to repeat what people here have already said. I'm sure you will find that the conversation evolves toward resolving other questions, and people will ask you to clarify things. Perhaps what needs to be articulated about LD is that it is not a hand-holding, cheerleading forum, but rather a place for problem-solving and analysis. The funny thing is that HD and LD are almost a bit like female/male equivalents of each other. Quality analysis of design occurs in both places, just in HD it is embedded in a warm, supportive, connecting environment, where in LD that's all they're there for (though they connect in the process). Think of it as getting "just the facts ma'am!" Some steps to focus your thinking: (a) try to formulate a mission statement for your project with your DH that expresses YOUR needs with respect to OUTCOME in the long term. People will tell you to make an overall plan before starting, but you don't have the knowledge yet to do that. So just try to establish a direction. I jumped to "nestle into the site" from what you originally posted, but maybe that isn't quite right. Talk about what effect you want to achieve. It can be kind of vague, like "just look normal" or "less bare", "ground the house" or "balance the house," as long as it sets up a bit of an idea in your head that you agree on. Just to give some perspective, other people might say "wrap the house in a naturalistic woodland" or "vegetable gardens as far as the eye can see" or " a place to organize my collection of irises." Or they'll want a formal Italian or Versailles type of garden. Or "Sleeping Beauty's castle." You may need to look at pictures and read books to name your objective. I find that negative identification helps too - seeing a hundred examples that you reject can help you narrow down what you DO want. This will also help you distinguish relevant advice from useless advice. (b) establish what is most important to you THIS YEAR. I went to foundation planting because it sounded to me like both you and DH are currently thinking pretty close to the house. It also sounds like you're focussed on the front. This means you have to ignore everyone, including me, who talks about stuff you aren't ready to do, like planting trees, which may be smart, but if your heart's not in it and you're not ready, leave it for even a year. Besides, you've already done some of that, so good stuff. I was going to mention that mail-ordered plants are small but my fingers were wearing out. But (if they survived) ou're going to look up one day and realize you already have some respectable-size trees. (c) decide whether you can do it yourself or have to get help. The issue of symmetry points out something quite interesting about landscaping: it can be tricky to achieve even a pretty generic effect when the house is unconventional or atypical in some way. What form of help? Why not start with the forums, as it's a format you enjoy and that leaves you in charge of your project. Hire someone later if you still feel out of your depth. But you won't know till you try. (d) when you are doing it yourself, understand that you are on a learning curve and you will make mistakes. Everything you do will teach you something, whether it works or not. Getting one plant and putting it in the ground is like painting a patch on the wall rather than just walking around with paint chips. That's why there is nothing wrong with letting DH go ahead with the planting he has in mind already, so you have something in the ground to step back and look at, and watch grow. I think that Wellspring's comment about impact will hit home immediately: he'll plant it, step back and go "I need more." Then the process of figuring out WHAT more is needed will be done with a better understanding of how things look in place. ANd if the hostas start to burn in the sun (and southeast, they will), you can dig them up and move them to the north side (just catch them before they actually die). If the roses look boring up close, head back to the nursery and look for something that scratches the itch that they leave you with. Plants will probably die at some point, they always do. I think I've killed one of every plant I have before succeeding with them. Some thoughts to hold onto: (a) there is no "right" answer to how to landscape this house, or any others in terms of either OUTCOME or PROCESS. Landscaping is done for the people in the house, not for the house. Put ten different families in that house, and you'd have ten different landscapes, all of them just fine. (b) the most important thing going on in any house is the relationships inside it. Never sacrifice a relationship to get a plant or rock put in what you think is the right place. (c) unless you pour concrete, there is nothing in landscape design that is irreversible. See (b). I'm not going to answer all your questions right now , partly because I think you need to forget about picking trees for now to do what matters more to you, the front foundation planting. I will just clarify that yes, rhodos are rhododendrons, and a V-groove is just a way of edging a planting bed - ignore that for now as you don't need to think that far ahead. And try doing an image search for "rockery" and I think you'll see right away what I mean. But I will add that the point about deer is EXCELLENT. I keep forgetting about them. If you have them, you might like to be prepared to think about whether or not you want to fence the house off at all. See you on LD! KarinL

If you flanked the door like in your inspiration pic would you miss the side lights? If you need the light I would suggest an entire new door and remove the glass block. I cannot stand the size of your shutters on the large window in the front. They are too skinny to be believed. Before I chose colors I would want to know the brick colors and use it has my palate choice.

Thank you so much all the suggestions. The age of the home is 1989. I agree 100% that landscape with really warm up the home. I love the idea of framing the door with large trees. I purchased two large flower pots and will add them to the front porch. Thanks so much for the shutter feedback. I agree painting the home one single color will help. Almost every home in the neighborhood has window grills so I purchased some diy ones online however because the new windows have the low e glass and screens they were hard to see from the street. You had to get up close to really even see them and to be honest they looked cheap. Is there a company that offers larger window grills?

An inviting front walk might be a nice way to start. Your driveway seems relatively narrow, so having that as your only walkway to the front door is not a very inviting experience. Consider reducing the lawn and creating nice generous beds around your existing trees, but leave access to the lawn in areas along the entry path. It's very inviting to have a garden experience as you enter the house, so walking through a landscaped area between the trees that opens to the house will be an asset. Keep any plants along the house low so they don't visually consume the house. Hope that helps.