In order to get meaningful comments, you'll need to provide better pictures where all of the features can be seen. Sometimes it takes some doing if dark shadows are the problem. Try taking pictures on a slightly overcast day. Sometimes, a different camera will help. Other than that, I would return to where you last picture was taken (in line with front door) and then move forward about 25' or 30' in order to show things large enough that we can really see them. From that position take 3 pictures beginning with one aiming leftward and capture that side of the yard. Then take one that looks straight at the house. (All pictures should overlap a little.) Then take one that aims rightward, capturing that side of the yard. Take all 3 pictures from the exact same position so that we can see the whole front yard in one sweeping shot ... almost as if we were standing there. (But don't create a computer or camera panorama as it will shrink and distort too much, having us wondering what planet we're on.)

Of what I can see, I can tell you that you need to limb up the front yard trees. We should be able to see the whole first floor of your house, at least, below the tree canopies. The little tree by the front door would be an exception to that height, but you can at least limb it up to 50% of its total height.

I saw the first picture before reading your statement and my immediate first reaction was that the front walk needed widening. So that's great news you're replacing it with pavers. Hopefully, you will be redesigning its layout from scratch and not copying its present path. The stoop needs an improved landing and the walk approach could be much improved.

Lets try these and see how they are. To the left of the picture, there are 3 Limelight hydrangeas that the deer trimmed for me this summer, with Fothergilla (?)and one of the gold spirea in front of the grey siding area. Under the Japanese maple is a rug juniper in an elevated area bordered by large rocks with the Little Princess Spirea in front. Choke berrys in front of the garage (which look pretty pathetic currently!)

The Swamp Oak by the drive is limbed up 8-10 feet. How high should we go?

I haven't really studied this a lot, but here's my first impressions: I don't like the tree by your front door. It's hiding the door/house. And the shrubs near that tree - there are too many. You have a really pretty house behind all that stuff.

I don't like the bed on the outside of the sidewalk. At all. I'd bring the yard right up to the sidewalk - no bed.

And I'm glad to hear you are considering increasing the width of the sidewalk.

The pictures are VASTLY better! Will review them later when I get time.

The process of widening the walk will eliminate the rounded shrubs beside the walk and the J. maple, exposing the ground cover under the maple and making the garden feel more spacious. Is that a ground cover under the maple? More of the same ground cover on the other side of your widened walk will visually connect both sides of the garden.

I would tuck the birdbath under a tree, perhaps way off to the left. Birds like to perch and scout the situation before entering the water.

Resist the temptation to replace the removed tree with another tree. Choose 2 or 3 plants with contrasting characteristics -- form, leaf size, leaf color, height and width -- and plant them in multiples to fill in the area. Repetition of the same plant in mass can be very effective.

I had thought that we would widen the sidewalk on the outside of the existing walk leaving the Little Princess spirea on the inside. I probably do need to trim back the rug juniper some underneath the red maple. There is some Vinca still under the oak but my intent is to get rid of it too. Grape hyacinths have sprouted there greenery there now (or is it the crocus?)

The bed on the left side of front door needs improvement. The shape is a problem. The three shrubs to the left of the walk need to be moved. Widening the path will mean you have even less room for the bed on the garage wall. Only ground cover should go there.

Golly folks - I know everyone is trying to be helpful giving their views but could we possibly be less emphatic about how that advice is phrased? There are very few rules in landscape design and statements like "you need to remove those shrubs", "the tree is hiding the entry - I don't like it" and "only groundcovers should be planted there" are really just personal opinions rather facts of life or even valid landscape design practices. It's not even my property and I find them somewhat offensive and put on the defensive by them!

Even as a practicing designer I seldom weigh in on actual property design/layout questions but this thread has prompted me to make a couple of observations. With confirmation of a new and more generous walkway layout and the removal of the large green blobs on either side of the front porch (which are featureless and could be much improved), I'm not sure I agree with any of the other comments. The tree in the front is fine - it's open, pretty airy, of a proportionate size and branches high enough that it is not obscuring or hiding anything. And I agree with Yardvaark that really all that is needed is some simplification and repetition of plant selection on both half of the facades.

Yardvark, I really like what you did. My husband is ready to pull out the "blobs" (which are boxwoods). Is all of the dark green ground cover? We had ajuga before the vinca along the sidewalk. Neither one of us can get very excited about that much ground cover. Do you have thoughts on color for pavers?

Does anyone in the midwest want to suggest plants? Our original plans had a bazillion yews even though I told the designer I didn't like them. We need plants that will provide year round interest and look nice in the snow.

We drove around looking at nicer neighborhoods about the age of ours. My husband is now ready to critic everyone's landscaping and lighting! We just don't know what to replace things with.

Can't get excited about that much groundcover ...? I presume you mean at the left of the lawn. I put the bed line where it looked like it would stop being fun to mow because of the hill. You could take the same, or a similar, line and push it leftward. My guess is that groundcover stopped being fun as soon as it got weeds. But there are ways to avoid that. Preen is the groundcover owner's best friend during the establishment period.

For paver colors, consider a charcoal field with a natural concrete soldier edge. Would lean away from browns/buffs/yellows. Always get some samples (enough to see from a distance) and look at them from the road.

Our yard is flat with a slight downward slope from left to right; the neighbor's mound septic system is just to the left, out of the frame. I have used Preen over and over and we still get weeds.

Thanks so much again Yardvark for the visual. Hubby is impressed and wants to play with your software!

Tell him that software is Microsoft Paint.

Could your use of Preen be, perhaps, irregular? And geared ONLY toward germinating, not existing weeds?

Probably the camera angle and shadows that make it look like more slope. Less slope ... more leeway. The tree shade and roots will be the greater determining factor about where groundcover is needed.

Yardvark, are you saying I am lazy? Perhaps you hit the nail on the head! I think I do it per package directions but perhaps it needs to be reapplied more frequently? And yes I realize it it only works on weed seeds. We have driven around looking at more neighborhoods today and are ready to redo the front.

I would never say that! But what I find in meeting with Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Public, is they usually are not good at implementing a program designed to lick weed problems. If the package says reapply in 3 months, to them that means 5 or 6 months or in about a year. Also, they tend to let existing weeds produce more seeds so instead of shrinking, the problem magnifies into a never-ending war.

Great choice to widen your walk! You've asked a couple of times about the pavers. I think that if you can find brick that matches the color of your house bricks that it will add a consistency that is appealing. It may be difficult to find a gray paver that looks good with the gray of your house. I like bluestone, and it might work color-wise, but it also has a reputation for being slick in wet weather.

You are also making a good choice to avoid yews if you have deer issues. I have plenty of deer, but also plenty of alternate food sources in our woodlands, and the one plant that the deer consistently nibbled down to stubs when I had them was yews. One other thing I noticed is that some of your current plants (such as the hydrangea behind the J. maple along the garage or the plants between the walkway and the garage) are planted too close to the building so that the plants are misshapen. When you replant near the building, be sure plants such as shrubs or large perennials have at least a foot or two from the expected ultimate size of the shrub and the building so that the plant isn't leaning out or rubbing up against the building once it is grown.

Our landscape contractor is pushing for a red paver but I am afraid of getting a "near miss" colorwise and having to live with it. We have some at home and they look pink compared to the brick. Also pictures I have looked at online I think look nicer when the pavers don't match the brick. That's why I was looking for input into colors, I was wondering what others felt.

I don't think the red will be a near miss. It is commonly used with many brick building colors and works out fine. You would need to appraise samples on site in order to tell. I remind of the greys I mentioned earlier. I wouldn't give a second's thought to matching anything. Instead, look for compatibility. There are already many greys in the picture of your house. Many greys can go with other greys. One reason to want a darker color is to minimize glare from the sun. Get samples and see them on site in order to dispel mysteries.

Today I actually saw shades of grey pavers in real life versus the catalog. I like them, I haven't put water on them to see if they darken up enough to be upgraded to love them. What I meant about the red being a near miss is that the colors would not match, you thought they were a match but after install they aren't. We saw a house tonight that had red brick and added brick at the porch that was very orangey. The two were side by side and did not go well at all. I am too anal to put up with that.

We are ready to tear out most everything. We will probably wait until spring since it is cooling off here and I am fearful of planting now.

Actually, you can plant anytime the ground is not frozen. When I lived up north (northern Illinois) fall had become my favorite time to plant as plants seemed to get a head start on root growth before heavy demands were made on them by hot and dry weather.