Wish you would return to where you took second picture and show the left and right flanking space so the view would be complete of the yard. I am on board with your removing the planting bordering the walk and removal of stones from tree and bed. If you had those embedded flush into grade (as a mowing strip) and of a fitting proportion, I would support their existence. Wish your front foundation landscape bed was larger, in order to accommodate a small tree.

The retaining wall looks very amateurish. Can you afford to have one professionally built in a stone more closely matching the house? Your back row of plants are growing much too close to the foundation. They are small and will survive transplanting. Also, give Yardvaark the photos he ask for and you will not be sorry.

Thanks for the comments! I swore I posted the pictures you requested last night, Yardvaark. I believe the photos below are what you asked for.

I would be ok with extending the flower bed to the left to accomodate a small tree. Possibly a small crape myrtle, or japanese maple?

I agree, the retaining wall looks amateurish, but that's because it was built by an amateur :). I have learned a lot since building the wall though. I'd like to just get rid of it completely.

Thanks for the help!

Here's a general idea. (BTW, my painting program has become very glitchy/uncooperative, so getting more rough with each drawing. Too much trouble to fix things or be tidy. It is a low shrub below each window, if u can't tell.)

Thank you Yardvaark! Looks great. I'll see what I can do based on your design. I should be able to use a lot of the same plants, and I have a small kousa dogwood from the backyard that I can move to the front yard to put on the left side of the house. I have to double check the area, it may get too large in which case I saw a great Sunset Japanese Maple that does well in full sun at the garden store, which I may grab. Thanks again for all of your help!

Also, I'm not sure how my neighbor would feel about the tree on the right. Will have to talk to them. I may end up planting a small, skinny conifer or evergreen closer to the foundation on the right, if that would look good.

That's the trouble with lot lines! :-)

They might not know it or agree, but their house needs this tree too.

A couple of thoughts...when planting a new tree, it's difficult to envision it mature since they usually look pretty "twiggy" in the beginning. So pay attention to how big it will get when mature and don't plant too close to your house. Also - what direction does your house face? That will affect the amount of sun that planting will get. When the tree pictured at the corner of your house gets big, the plants and shrubs in that area will probably be shaded most of the day, so you'll need plants and shrubs that don't require full sun.

My house faces east, so the tree will get FULL sun. Yes, I am certainly keeping their mature size in mind when deciding on a tree. I am between planting a kousa dogwood in this area, or a Japanese Maple. I am looking at "Osakazuki" Japanese Maple. I know the dogwood would grow faster, but may get too big for the area. I could always put the dogwood on the right of the home, then the JM on the left closer to the house. Any thoughts?

Thanks for the help again everyone!

So I'm struggling to decide what to plant under the Windows. I currently have 3 boxwoods, but may get rid of them in favor of a flowering evergreen shrub such as encore azaleas. What would you suggest Yardvaark?

Also, would it look dumb to have 3 shrubs across the windows in the back? That would fill the area in better, but may not look right.

I would barely care what plant is used if it will, or can be made without much trouble, to comply with the size requirements and if it looks good. When I lived in zone 7/8, boxwood has a lot of disease/insect infestation problems so I never used it, preferring one of the dwarf small-leaved hollies instead. I have nothing against anything that doesn't cause trouble. The important thing here is not flowers, but shape and size. Flowers would be an insignificant incidental.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking me about "the windows in the back" ...? Do they happen to be the windows at the front left of the house? If that's the case, I think you are asking could you do a single hedge that underscores both windows ...? If you were placing a window box below the windows instead of a hedge, would you consider using a single one that spanned and connected both windows? I don't think you would contemplate it, though the hedge and window box provide roughly the same effect. While sometimes a hedge seems to work fine, here, I think I would lean toward a less smothered look. I can't see why you'd look forward to covering more of the stone portion of the front. As long as you have low groundcover filling in the nooks and crannies, I don't think that center shrub is necessary. If you agree with me now and then found out in the next near or two that you don't, it wouldn't be difficult to add the 3rd shrub then.

@ puremichigan ... any chance of you showing an example of the "layered" look you describe. I've heard this touted before and think the word is lovely. But some of what I've seen that I think are examples of it rub me the wrong way bad. I think it may be something that must be done with a careful finesse. I wonder if we're thinking of the same thing.

@ puremichigan ... it's common here to have misunderstandings about things that people describe with words. "Layer" is a lovely sounding word. But I see things that look like hedges in front of slightly taller hedges, sometimes as many as 3 or 4 in the extremes. I find I am repulsed by every instance of them. It has even had me questioning the value of all forms of plants used as "edging." (I am not thinking that something is good because it is either common or "accepted" by others.) I don't have any pictures of these ugly things but occasionally I drive by some that give me pause. The next time I go to the local post office, I'll stop and snap a photo as there is a pretty outstandingly bad example in the vicinity.

Much landscaping are good examples of bad philosophies.

"Suggest planting Crimson King for the color. It should be heavily cut back every year so that it remains a small tree."

That is a grotesque and ultimately disastrous idea. Try it out on the trees forum and see what replies you get. If you want a small tree, plant a small tree.

Thanks again everyone.

Yes, Yardvaark, I was talking about the front windows. I understand your point now. Looks like the Carissa Holly may be a good planting for in front of the two windows. Stays low and grows fairly wide. I would then fill in areas with ground covers like you said. Would some ornamental grasses look good as well, or should I keep anything in front of the two foundation plants lower than those plants? It just seems like such a large area to fill with ground coverings, but I'm new to this and am most likely wrong.

Perhaps I could do some purple ornamental grass on the left behind the JM tree I just planted. There is a big empty gap behind that tree.

I'm also planning on putting the dogwood on the right side of the house as you suggested.

Thanks Yardvaark, I will check out Dwarf Yaupon Holly.

With regards to the groundcover, I guess I was a little off by saying there isn't enough room. I just haven't seen much landscaping near me where you have a couple of foundation plantings, and then groundcover to fill in the rest of the bed. I certainly like your idea and want to implement it, just struggling a bit to envision it. The landscape bed shown in the pictures is roughly 8-10 ft. deep. FYI.

So if I did the dwarf holly in front of both windows, perhaps a hydrangea or something else for color right next to the walkway, then the JM tree on the left, I should fill the rest with groundcover? Would you suggest all the same type of groundcover, or perhaps use 2-3 different ones?

Where I'm struggling is if the dwarf hollys get to be roughly 4 ft wide, I would still have roughly 4 ft. to the front of my bed. I feel like I should have some more perennials in there such as daylilies to break up some of the groundcover. Or would you consider daylilies groundcover, and I could add these as well as a more spreading-natured ground cover?

Thanks again for continuing to help!

I can see you are thinking to copy the conventional and typical with the idea, I guess, that what is known is what is good. We're on different pages in that regard. Seems like you want to "busy it up," thinking that it will be prettier, but I disagree. You can always add a "pretty" later or as a temporary element.

A hydrangea next to the walk is too big a plant. Why wouldn't you use annuals for color as that's what produces ongoing color? Sure you must change it out seasonally, but the areas are not that large and it is what solves the color problem.

Whatever groundcover you you would be fairly low, because it is in front of shrubs that are fairly low. Daylilies would be too tall. Too, at certain times of the year they would be non-existent.

Yes you are right. Being new to this, I have the same conventional/cookie cutter idea in my head. But yes, last year I tried to "busy it up" and it looked terrible.

True, when the hydrangea get's to be 4+ ft it would certainly outgrow that area. I like the idea of just some annuals.

Would you just suggest going with 1 type of groundcover? Perhaps purchase a couple dozen to plant, then wait for them to spread and converge? I can't think of a way that 2 types would look good once they converged, but I could be wrong.

Yes, one good type of groundcover. (Just like you have only one type of lawn grass.) Mixing can look weedy. (Like all rules, there are exceptions, but they're not the place to start.)

So I came upon a Dwarf Golden Threadleef False Cypress today. Same as the golden mop I currently have, however, dwarf version. Although they are tiny now, about the size of a melon, they may fit the area great under the windows in a few years. That and they may provide a better look with a ground cover, since they are golden/yellow. I was looking at the Creeping Phlox for groundcover, which seems like it would blend in too much if I went with the Dwarf Yaupon Holly.

The golden color shrub does not sound good to me, but you'll need to decide if it's for you. If weeds invade creeping phlox, it's over, so you'd need to be careful to keep up with weed control. I agree it wouldn't be the greatest texture combo with a very fine leaved shrub. If it was me looking, I would look around the neighborhood and see what other groundcovers with the characteristics that are desired are doing exceptionally well. I would want textural contrast.

A paperbark maple is one of the most elegant small trees you can plant if appropriate for your zone.

How does this design look from the top? I took your basic design Yardvaark and tried to reuse some of my existing plants. I would like to reuse my boxwoods for in front of the windows, and will see how they work. If they end up growing way too fast and being a pain to keep trimmed to a reasonable height, I may swap them out. I also wanted to reuse the daylilys if possible. Finally, I have a 3+yr old blue juniper that's very compact I was looking to reuse, so I put that behind some annuals on the right.

This may be too busy, which I have a tendency to do. I would appreciate any feedback!