Wasn't Yardvaark nice to give you a sketch. I don't have those capabilities, but if you send me a personal note, I'll sketch out my idea of your areas. Include a picture of the side near the driveway, too. I'd spend some time developing your beds first. The plants will make themselves known to you. I'm in zone 8, so I can't suggest any particular plants, but I could supply you with a rough layout. I just can't post it with any success. I'd steer clear of the boxwoods to prevent any remote chance of future problems. Don't you guys have something evergreen that also blooms? If you'll send me a note with some pics, I'll return a sketch. If not, you are well on your way. Xtal Here is a link that might be useful: Boxwood Blight

My suggestions are to mainly to simplify and embolden... Remove the low-starting, wide spreading limbs off of the two front trees. Create a bed of single variety plants below those trees. Increase the bed size at the left corner of the house and move the small tree in it farther away from the house. Increase the foundation bed front-to-back depth where possible (to the 6' range or greater.) Paint the lower portion of the power pole in some interesting scheme. Add an island with small tree in front of the breezeway area. Remove the pyramidal shaped plants flanking front door and replace with beds of annual color. Underscore the left set of windows with the existing shrubs, but don't let them extend beyond the end of house. Underscore the bay window with a single planting that will not obscure the window lower portions. Widen the front walk. Does not need to be exact same material. Anything compatible will do. Same material could form cheekwall at single step. Or get rid of that single step. It does not look needed. (Can't tell if existing bricks are laid OK, but the weeds growing in them should be sprayed out for an improved appearance. A canopy or awning of some type above the stoop would make the house face much more interesting. PS: Thanks for putting on decent pictures ... one of the extremely few times I have not wished for better!

emmarene - Thank you- I loved the suggestion for Iberis; have never grown (or noticed it). It sounds wonderful and I will be looking for some. You're right about the size - my hydrangeas to the left of the front door are 6' wide and they're brushing the side of the house. Yes, I think I could be happy with only perennials. However, I have learned to listen to the expertise on this forum. Most of my favorite features in our kitchen came from suggestions and input here. mad_gallica - I went outside and measured the add'l 5 feet and yes, the difference is not significant. Thank you for the clear direction. I like your suggestions but will need help on shrubs. I'm starting to get quite embarrassed about asking DH to start so close to the house. (Nothing worse than wasted time and effort, especially when the specs change-just not fair to him). Goal is to improve upon what we have. Today, driving around, I saw so many planting combinations which I disliked. What we have currently - single row - works. Here's a fall shot. What we put in should be much better (and yes, visible from the circle/street). You can see that I'm trying to fill in empty spaces here (below the windows). Dug up so far is around 7 yards; we can buy a combination of screened loam and compost for $30/yard. My thinking now is to fill the existing hole; leave a strip (of rocky soil), and then start digging again. I still want to plant bulbs and perennials easily, so we'll continue the process of removal and fill. I still stand by my definition of rocky! Soil samples from the yard are barely a few inches deep, when I collect them. Digging a new hole can take 30 minutes for a new gallon perennial (used to use my mantis at times, too). But yes, if we're planting shrubs, with the backhoe, the process should be quite easy going forward (happy thought). Some of the rocks which were removed when we extended our foundation a few years ago are as large as 4' x 3' x 3'+, not negligible :) (Our contractor wanted to take them away 'for us' but I thanked him and said we would like to keep them). I have Chief Architect and also Sketchup; will make a scale drawing with a 10+ foot bed. (Excellent suggestion). Then will solicit input for shrubs.

What a pretty house! It has great bones! Looks similar to my neighborhood near Boston. I wouldn't add shutters to the wing over the garage--it looks correct as is. Fixing the walk, wall, and driveway will make the curb appeal even nicer. After that, I'd suggest re-painting the flaking trim, replacing the screen door, and painting the door red, medium blue, or black to make a big difference. (Because I love old houses, I also find myself wondering what the condition of the original siding is, since I think you have vinyl over the original wood. But that could be a serious can of worms.) On landscaping: Besides your huge rhododendron and your hydrangea, I think I see two alberta spruces and a bunch of hosta. I can't tell what the other shrubs are near the hydrangea, but possibly arborvitae in front and ilex (holly) in back on left, and another ilex between the rhody and the spruce on the right. If you're looking for low maintenance, it doesn't get much more low maintenance than what you have. You will have to do very little to any of this except perhaps once/year. You should not even prune the hydrangea or spruces. You could edge your beds and mulch and it will look OK. Personally, I don't think the hosta add anything, so you could take them out. Flowers will be lovely, but definitely be more maintenance, and it will be hard to get bright color on an east-facing property up against the house, unless you do shade annuals (which is a lot more work than shrubs). I agree with some of the above posters that if you're not certain about how to proceed, you should 1) cut the rhododendron way back, to below the window. It will survive and bounce back--won't look like sticks for long. I think early spring should be a good time to do this, but do a little research on timing/technique. If the other shrubs are ilex/holly, you can cut those back too. Do not prune the hydrangea (you'll cut off next year's flowers) or alberta spruce (it won't bounce back). 2) besides pruning and shaping, live with it for a year. Maybe you'll appreciate the rhody and hydrangea more once you see them in bloom in June. It will be a lot of work to rip out all these shrubs, so make sure you know that's what you want. In that year, walk around the neighborhood and take note of which landscaping you admire. In the Northeast I bet a lot of your neighbors also have established shrub beds like you have. In my area the *really* bright and beautiful gardens have been professionally installed or their owners are avid gardeners who are constantly out maintaining. 3) Consider just taking out the worst offenders and replacing with something smaller or more to your liking. Suggestions for colorful east-facing shrubs in Northeast: more hydrangeas (check out lacecap and paniculata types), fothergilla (spring bottlebrush, gorgeous fall color), azalea. 4) Instead of re-doing the beds, onsider pots of annuals on your steps to bring in color. How about some bright-flowered begonias and new guinea impatiens in cobalt blue pots, changed to chrysanthemums, kale, gourds and pumpkins in fall? Not an earth-shattering idea, but easy to purchase, easy to maintain, and would look lovely and colorful on your symmetrical steps. 5) If you're getting the retaining wall and path re-done, consider hiring someone to advise on the landscaping at the same time. Check out this instagram for New England curb appeal inspiration. https://www.instagram.com/thefrontdoorproject/ Here are some front door color ideas: