It's a very formal frontage - I would try and keep the plantings as formal as it is (although you could add a little whimsy to it too)...It's all going to depend on how much you want to spend.....Your cheapest solution right now is probably going to be a hybrid of the two choices: I'd cut back the plantings so they are reasonable again and then mulch. That will give you time to research what plants you like and what will work for you and you can try them one at a time to see how they actually fare for you :) I would trim up the shrubs (or replace one or the other - they look unbalanced - don't know that is because of the time of the year or not). Since you have hosta and LOTV, I would think it's a shadier type bed; there isn't too much in the form of easy care, tall, shade loving plants with lots of colour. So if you're looking for replacements, yews and boxwoods would be good evergreen choices. For colour, an easy care part shade perennial options would be things like Tiarellas or Heucheras - you might even get away with things like Columbine. As for remove LOTV or not - I will give you my experience. When we bought out house, the previous owners had removed all but the LOTV from the garden. Every year we get out there and remove 2 garbage bags full around the plants that I've now put in.....every year it comes back just as strong. It's pretty and fragrant when it first comes out, but it starts to look ratty towards the end of the season. So your call, but if it were me, if you are removing things, take it out, if you're not, work with it. If you are removing things, but love the LOTV, try putting them in a pot and sinking the pot into the ground (with the lip above the edge of the soil). Since they spread by rhizomes, that should help to contain the plants somewhat (that's what I recommend to all my friends and it seems to work well).

Curvy or straight? The main point is to give beds depth. Rule of thumb for a border or foundation would be a minimum depth of 6 ft, but most look better if deeper than that. Narrow beds and borders, I think, are one of the things that leads some people to plant in the dreaded soldier rows. Also, although I sometimes think some people get a little anal about the "rule", it's kind of a common mantra in gardening books and on garden forums to hear that plant material should be planted in odd numbers. Three is the favorite number. For smaller plants, or for greater impact, try 5 or 7. If a plant has presence enough to be a specimen or accent on its own, then plant just one. Consider that most dwarf shrubs are about 2 ft at maturity. You need to keep an access space along the house, so you don't plant them write up against it. And, you just read this rule of 3 thing, so you have 3 little shrubs that you won't plant in a row. How much depth will your irregular planting of a trio of the same shrub or perennial need? Then you figure that ... hmmm ... a 2 ft shrub doesn't have a lot of presence by itself. What if it were to have a grouping of evergreens here ... and, say, here ... Oh, and the evergreens are something slow growing that will eventually reach 4 to 5 ft. Pretty soon you realize the border depth needs to be 8 ft to accommodate the shrub groupings. And, because I think it's how many of us think, I'm starting from smaller plants and working from there. Of course, the other common scenario is trying to plant something that matures at 6 to 10 ft with a similar spread into a bed that isn't deep enough. So, my recommendation would be that you get a working idea of the shape and especially the depth of the beds. Incorporate the raised bed idea if you like ... But for now, just play with the ideas on paper, keeping foremost in your mind the way these beds will enhance your home. Once you've got a paper plan that you like, you don't necessarily have to pull the whole thing off all at once. You have a plan. Execute it slowly. Given that you are trying to learn design and learn plants and "do" the garden all at once, give yourself permission to work at a reasonable pace. Maybe the shadier side first, and focus next year on the sunnier side. Give strong consideration to checking out if a local nursery provides design services. Often you can pay a reasonable fee (about $300) for a reasonable plan. If they seem to be going in a too cookie cutter direction, call them on it and indicate the preferences you are already developing. Mainly what you want is something to guide your process. And, there are designers out there who work specifically with clients who intend to put the plan in place themselves. Anyway, whether you sketch it out entirely yourself or get professional input, once you've got a plan, implement it in stages. Don't do what I've done ... rush out to look at all the pretty plants and come home with babies that need to go into the ground ... now! Give your future plantlings the courtesy of beautifully prepared beds with wonderfully prepped soil. You won't regret it. Focus on getting a particular section of the project done well. Maybe it won't look finished, but you have a plan and you know what you will be doing next to fulfill it. Hope that makes sense ... It's just often the case that we get an idea, and think we can execute it and then it turns out to be way more work than we realized when we were just playing with it on paper. Get the big picture on paper ... But, if you are doing the work, stage the execution in manageable phases.

This isn't a 'shady' area. It is an area that gets decent sun. Shade plants can often handle an eastern exposure, but not always. Start by deciding what you would like it to look like *in the winter*. Deciduous shrubs look like dead sticks. So it is usual to plant shrubs that have some sort of color during the winter. Instead of the hydrangea, a blue colored conifer like a blue juniper would provide that color all year, then a shorter, flowering shrub could be planted in front. There are also gold conifers. BTW, the shrubs on the left are probably some sort of flowering shrub. I'd get them ID'ed before yanking them out. A lot of things are looking unusually ratty after this winter, and they may just need a bit of time and some pruning to look decent.

yes, it is heavier. This house is similar to the house the DH and I just sold. It had a raised concrete patio in front of the house. I didn't know how to landscape in front of that PIA :o) and I don't know how to landscape in front of this one either. I don't know how this owner feels about their patio, but I didn't want plants large enough that they would obscure the view. Also didn't want the predictable symmetry of two same-size pyramidal evergreens on each side of the house. As I said above, I'm no designer. I'm just playing around with pictures, trying to keep reality in mind. To be real honest, if it were me, I'd never plant the large shrub by the corner of the house, just because I'm onery and it's one of those things that "everybody" does, so I wouldn't! That, and we had to cut down two at our previous home 'cuz they had grown to well over 30 feet high. Needless to say that they dwarfed our little ranch/tract home, a house that already sat on a hill. It was atrocious. Anyhow, thanks for the notice re: balance or lack thereof. I'll leave that to the homeowner, but I would love a suggested solution to landscaping around those darned patios. I don't have one anymore, but I'd still like to know. Moon