You have a very low foundation. The rock border should be removed and the foundation plantings should be nothing more than very low groundcover. The picture is taken a little too close to the house, but possibly a small tree in the lawn on the left side of the house.

What direction does the house face?

I agree that the rocks need to go. I would relocate the Liriope to the area under the picture window. They look nice massed and you can't put shrubs there.

Liriope is going to swallow a walkway? Really? Sometimes, the choices people make are just that, a choice they made, not yours. Doesn't mean it's wrong, just means it's a choice. One of about a hundred thousand...or more...they could have made.

Is that a screened porch on the left? With some kind of lattice frame? How is the lattice built? Could it support some kind of vine? Clematis perhaps? or something more fragrant, like jasmine?

The simple answer is, just like you framed the walkway, the front of the house can use some rejuvenation and framing of it's own. Like something a tad more formal? Large urns on either side of the steps, likely in front of the smaller ones there now. Shrubs that will hide the meter, most likely matched on either side of the door.

One thing to consider might be a simple paint job. Colors can compare, much like you have now, or they can contrast, kinda like the door contrasts with the siding. Placing columns under the sally port could be a way to dress up the front without major work.

Tear out those shrubs under the window next to the entrance steps, they are beyond saving. Find something low growing that won't require a lot of pruning if you want something to fill that space. Like liriope, for example . . . :)

I guess one must see to believe, but I've seen endless walks eaten up by Liriope that started out as 3' wide and ended up about 16". Lovely to walk to the front door after a rain. It IS uninviting so I call it wrong.

I like the liriope. It does have to be maintained like any other perennial. Where are you located? That will determine what plants are suitable.

I like all landscape plants, including liriope. It is not about whether one likes or doesn't like a plant. That's gardening ... not landscaping. For landscaping, it's about whether a plant contributes in a positive way to the overall appearance and function of a scene.

Here we have wide, carpeted path to the front of a house. It's the grass lawn. But because humans are fastidious and a bit lazy, we're directing and making it easier for them by placing a hard surface floor inlaid into the "carpeted" path, providing a way for them to reach the entrance to the house in comfort and style. It so happens that many of the design principles that apply to design and layout of building interiors also apply to landscapes, as what we really have here is an outdoor ROOM, more or less without walls. A corollary for this exact situation (the floor) is the gates section of an airport terminal, where there is more or less a broad open space for people to walk. Forget that there is seating in some of the carpeted section as we're talking about where there is not. We're talking about where there is broad open space, carpeted along each side. Through the middle of this space runs a HARD surface floor. It's for wear and to make it easier to walk distance. For what possible reason would an interior designer separate the carpeted area from the hard floor area with a low barricade? There wouldn't be a reason unless one is signaling the pedestrian not to cross from floor to carpet. Do we really need to send that message in the front yard ... as if people need reminding not to be naughty?

Then there is another visual/functional component. There is barely a house built in the USA that has a sidewalk wide enough. Even some large houses of several hundred thousand $ have walks that one might more expect to find in a trailer park. Here, the walk is barely the minimum it should be. It could be larger. But it couldn't be smaller without deservedly suffering ongoing criticism for its diminished size. As the Liriope is freshly planted, and small, it's not too objectionable. But some of us know what it will become because we've hundreds of examples of it before. Within a relatively short period of time, the Liriope is going to curl over and cover 8" of each side of the walk x two. That's 16". But we know it's likely not going to stop there. (Because, again, we've hundreds of examples.) As the Liriope thickens and matures, it's going to consume 12" of each side of the walk. Is that going to be a plus when the walk really needs to be wider now in order for people to call it lovely? The idea that it can be trimmed back like a "butch" haircut is not realistic if good looks is a goal. The better solution is inlaid floor with no raised barrier separating it from the carpet. Instead of decorating the edge of the lawn where it meets the walk, the walk itself should be decorated if an upgrade is desired.

I will make the point again that an enormous amount of landscaping is people copying what others have done without regard to the principles involved. If it's "cute" and makes people think that they're doing something productive, and maybe they "like the plant," then that's usually all the justification it takes. But that does not mean that it's actually good design.

When I first became interested in landscaping (but didn't actually know anything) and was craving a project to do on my own home, I did the exact same thing. I lined the front walk with plantings! Only in my case (since I was po' then) I used those giant marigolds. The ones that get more than 2' tall. While the plants themselves were "pretty," the overall effect was ghastly on two counts: it confined the walk so one felt like herded cattle. And it made the entrance to the house LESS visually appealing ... even though the plants were pretty and I liked them. Later, over the course of many years, this scheme has demonstrated itself to me to be always wrong and never right. I've never seen an example of it where plants existing like this were better than them not existing. Therefore, that's the case I make.

Sorry, I don't agree, I think they are pretty and look good where they are. To me they look much better than putting bricks down the edge of the walk. I would continue them on around the flower bed. Your pro landscaping is exactly what I do not like. Cookie cutter doctor' office.

Well, your plant lover's myopia is exactly what I don't like so we're even. Hopefully, you will stay in your current field of work.

That's gardening ... not landscaping. For landscaping, it's about whether a plant contributes in a positive way to the overall appearance and function of a scene.

Landscaping is gardening and what I like is just as valid as yours, even if I don't slap a Pro on my avatar. Bet I have been doing this a lot longer than you. We were supposed to be giving Billie some ideas to pick from, not a 5000 word essay on why only your ideas count.

Billie, I apologize for letting this get out of hand. I do like your walk. I think it is pretty. They will have either purple or white flower spikes depending on the variety, followed by black seeds that are very pretty. It will have to be maintained. Liriope, will spread (which I like, because I get free plants to use elsewhere or pass on). You just pop the new shoots off or every 5 years or so, dig up and take out what you don't need. Iris, daylillies, ect. also have to be maintained like this. You may very well end up liking a landscape that doesn't need much if anything done to it. That is the beauty of being a gardener, you can change from year to year or season to season. You have a beautiful house and I would love to have your porch!

" ... not a 5000 word essay on why only your ideas count."

Sherry, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that I am a landscape architect, now retired, though that did bring me wide exposure to landscape problems and solutions that were outside of just my own yard. Apparently you are immune to the concept of not only making a point, but supporting it with valid reasons! So far all you can say is you "like" something. Really? Who cares? I care more about giving advice that is actually useful ... not just telling people that I like what they like as if that somehow meant anything. I don't expect the OP to agree with me now. At some future point, they will consider that my point might be valid.

Adults learn to tolerate other opinions without feeling obliged to argue endlessly about who's idea is best, and without always having to have the last word. Grow a thicker hide.

Hard to tell who you're directing your comment to kiminpl, but I don't think growing a thicker hide is the solution. What I love about gardening forums in general is that there is little of the internet warrior mentality you find in other places. Gardeners are generally polite, willing to listen and willing to share what they know and learn what they don't know. I would ask Sherry to please reevaluate her communication style. The in your face aggrieved intensity she has shown in her comments that are so common in almost all internet communication is not welcome and not helpful.

I agree, I can't tell if Kimin's comment is toward me or Sherry.

Isn't a forum a place where ideas are publicly hashed out? For others to say that supporting an idea -- showing how it has merit -- is somehow outside of the bounds of forum purpose, strikes me as absurd, rather like "being offended" because someone has a different idea belief about something. It's not about tolerating or not tolerating. It's about making a case if one has a case to make. Readers can sort out what they believe. And as far as arguing who has the better idea and having the last word, my follow up was to point out that someone was making a claim but then NOT SUPPORTING it with any valid reasons.

Many people post on Gardenweb because they seek professional advice that they would not get elsewhere. Nothing wrong with that. It's funny that someone was offended.

FWIW, I think the liriope edging adds some structure for the walk, but I agree that in time they will outgrow the space. Maybe, as budget allows, they can be replaced by a larger walkway and relocated to another part of the yard. But I think they are okay for now.

Yardvaark I like your drawing a lot, it gives the house presence as well as a feeling of connection.