Here are a few ideas-- 1.Widen the walkway with bricks on either side that match the house and take out the grass from between the walk and house and make it part of the bed. 2.Have all plants in front of the windows be lower that the windows. Go to a nursery and look at what is available that you like. Ground cover in front of the shrubs and annuals or something very short in front of the stoop. Matching planters on the stoop on either side of the door. 3.Black shutters on the windows on the brick end of the house would help unify both 'parts' of the house.

"I agree that the tree needs pruning for shape, but I think in this case Yardvaark's drawing shows it pruned far too high for what I find attractive in that type of tree which looks like an ornamental fruit tree of some type. I would get a professional arborist (not a landscaper who may or may not have a clue about pruning) to come help you with the pruning." This position represents a fundamental, philosophical difference in our thinking. In one school of thought, the landscape is a functional artwork. In the other, it is a display for horticultural efforts. In the latter, the bottom of the canopy (how high the tree is pruned) depends on the type of tree it is. And this depends upon a somewhat arbitrary convention promoted by horticulturalists, arborists and the like.) Presumably, the criteria would have to do with plant health, function and that sort of thing. In the landscape school of thought I subscribe to, the landscape is a specialized garden. It is a combination of art and engineering that is no more than additional construction onto a building (in the case where a building is present and is the centerpiece of the work) but with different materials that are durable for the outdoors. To me a building and a yard is at the service of the human body, especially the head. It is the height of the head that regulates the placement of a ceiling. While some people are shorter and some are taller, it has been decided long ago that ceilings are much nicer when they are several feet above one's head. When money is no object, clearly, people's preference is for higher ceilings, not lower. Short people are lucky in that ceilings, for them, are always a little higher. Tall people complain when ceilings are too short. To me, landscape plants are not objects which must conform to some professional's preconceived notion of what they are supposed to be; they are materials with a built-in plastic capability with a given range of potential. If they are used in a common garden, it hardly matters (except to a professional's opinion) how the owner chooses to form and shape them. In most cases, they are left alone to "do their thing" ... which people have a tendency to accept as the "proper" potential for a given plant. But in landscape gardens, trees and plants are first doing jobs, and then looking beautiful. A primary job of a tree is to provide a ceiling. The objective in selecting landscape plants is to match their plastic potential to one's need and desire for a given size, form, shape and structure. Given that I think of trees mostly as small accessory buildings with domed roofs -- the bottom of which is a ceiling -- I find it absurd that a ceiling would be placed at the height of one's thighs (as it is above)! Or waist, chest, eyes ... or even scraping the top of their head! It is much better placed OVER one's head, with plenty of room to spare, since humans jump and wave their arms. We have not even touched on the fact that houses have faces and low ceilings generally tend to obscure them. With my viewing landscapes as essentially FUNCTIONAL spaces, SUBORDINATE to buildings, it does not seem to me that obscuring the building face (as long as it is attractive) is good idea. A little is OK and it goes a long way. The more beautiful a building is, the less it needs obfuscation from foliage. While I'll agree that landscapers sometimes don't have great ideas about pruning (even basic practices) I will argue that when it comes to the landscape garden, sometimes the so-called pros (horticulturalists, arborists) do not take into account the overall, big picture objective of a particular plant's job and how it best fits in.

No one can suggest anything without knowing what the house looks like or what zone you are in.

You have a simple facade, so keep the planting simple. Accent the existing maple with a purple smokebush (Cotinus coggygria) planted in the opposite corner (the right side of the front). Smokebush can be pruned to size, or even limbed up into a small tree when it is mature. This is selection ’Royal Purple.’ Add one of the more subtle selections of golden juniper as a footer. I like the layered growth habit of this selection. I think it’s ‘Gold Star,” but I’m not certain. Then add somthing with a bluish cast. This is Dwarf Blue Globe Spruce. So those are your three main shapes and colors. I like DDD’s idea for a lawn tree. There are a few Japnese maple selections that are surprisingly sun tolerant. One of them is Bloodgood, and another is the trademarked selection “Emperor One’ (which was bred from Bloodgood). I would train and prune this to an airy, spreading form. For the north side of your house, if you want some gorgeous plants to insert into that groundcover, consider Pieris japonica.