We have a problem similar to this in our home, where the previous owners painted over oil-based trim with latex without properly prepping and priming. In some areas the paint is solid, and in others it is peeling/flaking. What I'm doing is almost exactly what paintguy suggests: scrape with a putty knife until I reach a solid spot, then sand a bit with a sanding sponge. No major sanding, just to kind of smooth the edges. Then I'm painting on a coat of Zinsser BIN primer before two coats of my trim paint (Sherwin-Williams Pro-Classic). I think the BIN primer is awesome, would definitely recommend it.

lukkirish and teacats: Thanks for the suggestions. Since there is very little wood, I think I'll start with some sandpaper, but if I ever want to do anything larger or more ornate, I'll definitely keep the liquid sandpaper stuff in mind. I assume you can use it for furniture?

When you go to a paint store and by a paint that merely states " White" on the label, they have usually been dulled down a little with lamp black or raw umber. Just a few drops of these colorants will dramatically improve the coverage, yet still look white against most other colors. The exception is against a pure white or clear, pastel colors. Against these, you will she the dull or grayish hint, which does not look good. The "organic" tints; lamp black, raw umber, etc., darken and dull colors. They block light rays, and therefore increase coverage. The inorganic primary colors unfortunately do not block light well, therefor clear, bright colors cover poorly. This is true across all manufacturer's lines of paint. It is not necessarily the quality of the paint per se , but rather the nature of the colorants in them.

Unless you are attempting to restrict a movable underlayment for hardscaping (sand or crusher course), you never need edging. It is only a personal choice. The right type of edging can help with the ability to mow well and close to the bedline but flimsy wooden pickets are not it!! Just a clean, sharp edge between lawn and soil is all that is required and that can be done with a good, sharp edged garden tool. As to the width of the bed, 30" is undersized for virtually all shrubs and many perennials.....36" is scarcely better. You want sufficient bed depth (from foundation to lawn) to accommodate the mature spread of the plant in question without encountering the structure plus room to access behind for maintenance needs. And most folks do not favor a narrow row of shrub soldiers lined out but would prefer a layered look of a mixture of plants of different sizes. And that requires more depth than a skimpy 30". There is also the aesthetic question of the depth of the foundation beds being in scale with the structure, so they should have a depth equal to at least 1/3 the height of the structure. 5-6' at a minimum but deeper is better.