I like the contrast between Limelight Hydrangea (which gets tall) and the Knockouts. I have several Knockouts and they are great plants requiring no care plus they bloom their heads off. I'd just suggest being careful of the Limelight in front of that window. How far out from the foundation will you plant it? Judging by the color of your car in front, your house is more grey than tan, right? So, in my opinion, you need more color contrast in the overall design. You might want to look at shrubs with different stem color or leaf color to stand out against the house. I wouldn't suggest specific plants unless I knew what kind of sun your front yard gets. Did I read your plan correctly --- there are lilacs on each side of the front entrance? Do you know what kind they are and how tall they grow? Lilacs are wonderful but can become huge. I know there are smaller, longer blooming varieties and wonder if these are what you have. I agree with the poster who said the beds need to be more substantial --- deeper.The peak on the left is quite tall and would be 'balanced' with larger planting bed in front of it. FInally, please don't plant a tree where it will block the view of the front door or the windows on the left. I think the inviting front entrance and porch are two of the nicest features of your lovely home! Molie

Hi Homebound, replied to your post over in windows and followed your link over here. A lot of wonderful ideas here! Your original idea of what to do in the front sounds real good. I would keep the trees too, it is so rare to have two large trees nowadays. I cannot see where they are relative to the edge of your yard and sidewalk but if they are far enough to the middle of the yard, I would build a nice wood covered patio designed around the trees. In other words, when it is done, it will look like you trucked in the trees to complement the structure. A nice low picket fence or rod-iron or ranch style along the front marks a nice boundary and also provides security. If you need the grass for children, I would then plant low brush along fence line to prevent people from being able to just hop over. An alternative will be to convert some of the lawn into flower beds and install secluded seating areas. It is nice to have a place like this where you can just do as you please from scratch! Have fun!

My gut reaction is to let the existing shrubs grow out a little more naturally - everything being meat balled is "tidy", but not a terribly appealing look. A little foreground layer of low plants would reinforce some infill plantings in the island and along the walk - a little more interesting than bouncing from ball to ball. Try some annuals to get a bit of a new look and to see what you might like in the way of color. A foreground border of alyssum or Sweet William. An infill mix of annuals and perennials - dianthus or pansies or African daisys or petunias; a clump of sedum, balloon flowers or a spikey leafed clump of Siberian Iris. With the house being grey, your color palette isn't limited. I'm a simple, practical gardener now; I don't go for Versailles when the garden centers offer such a variety.

So far, the Tall Fescue has appeared to do very well. It could obviously be better, but I honestly just did not do anything with it the first summer I was here. I am going to add some seed to it this year as well as add some fertilizer. The Tall Fescue is under two pretty large trees so I never had an issue during the hottest days of the year. I really like the grass as well as it stays green all year long. Even after we had 3 inches of snow fall, when the snow melted, the grass was still green. As I mentioned, I am going to be actually working on taking care of the lawn this year, so I expect to see great results!