Regarding the front walk, I would say that replacing it with an upgraded walk is essential if you expect to create a nice picture in the end. It is not just outdated, but sub-par in its overall size, character and quality. There is no point in thinking about plants until the walk it determined. No point in planting anything until the walk is built. At the same time, I'd consider remodeling the two light pedestals into path lights that aim downward, or changing them in some yet-to-be-determined way.

Are all the plants shown in the pictures remaining?

Would you consider removing the two palms nearest the front door?

Great feedback. I was telling my wife that I think we should change the walkway prior to any landscaping that way we could work around the curves of the path. I mentioned to her about eliminating the large concrete light pedestals as those I feel are also outdated. All plants/trees seen in the photographs are there because we at least want to have something in the meantime. We are open to the removal of all plants/trees. The yellow/green hedge plants under the two front windows are definitely going to be removed...once an idea blossoms. What kind of pathway style/design do you suggest for the set-up? I was thinking winding/curved with pavers. This design would then make the pedestals that you discussed seem out of place, which is OK if the plan is to remove them. Thanks again for your input.

I think your house lends itself nicely to a covered porch or attached pergola, just big enough for a couple of comfy chairs. That of course would change the design of the walkway. I'm thinking something that would take up the middle section entirely. If not a porch, then at least a substantial landing at the front door.

Keep in mind that these are not plans. They are suggestions of ideas that must be worked out in detail in plan view. Or, new ideas must be brainstormed. (Next, I think I would consider a straight diagonal in lieu of the curved section.) I don't think I would go narrower than 5' on the walk. It could even be wider near the house. The one pedestal could be remodeled into a path light that cast light downward in 3 directions. The other one could be swapped out for a conventional wall or eaves mounted porch light.

Very nice ideas. Thanks! Question on the walkway...Is how I am seeing the walkway design that you made the way that it will look or will it look different because of angles? Is the bend more subtle? Do you have any photographs of similar looking walkways as an example? Also, I'm all for removing the two palm trees and just leaving the cluster of three together. I really like this idea too. Removing the pedestals is another viable option. I do like the downlight pedestal idea, however, my concern is that it may be too tall/bulky or stick out too much. I tried to do a google search for pictures but was unable to locate any.

Okay, you will really have to use your imagination with these photos, because they are nothing like your house, but I hope they give you some ideas:

First photo -- see how the low groundcover connects the palms in the bed?

[https://www.houzz.com/photos/old-florida-home-tropical-exterior-miami-phvw-vp~2848372[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/old-florida-home-tropical-exterior-miami-phvw-vp~2848372)

Imagine a paved area like this tucked between the garage and the post nearest your front door, nice pergola overhead.

[https://www.houzz.com/photos/woodside-guest-house-traditional-patio-san-francisco-phvw-vp~379722[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/woodside-guest-house-traditional-patio-san-francisco-phvw-vp~379722)

The plant around the base of the palms in the foreground of this pic is the dwarf philodendron 'xanadu' I mentioned.

[https://www.houzz.com/photos/architectural-firm-of-moulton-layne-pl-florida-remodel-tropical-exterior-miami-phvw-vp~4725413[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/architectural-firm-of-moulton-layne-pl-florida-remodel-tropical-exterior-miami-phvw-vp~4725413)

We are practically neighbors! I am currently working on a front yard remodel so I understand just how overwhelming this can be. I agree with getting rid of the pillar lights. You can push them over and then disconnect the wiring. Update the lights on the garage and front door. Lights are important for your recessed front door. Paint will make a huge difference. The arboricola around the foundation should change to the solid green arboricola (and more of them to make a hedge).

If you can change the walkway to a softer shape and perhaps use a paver for some visual interest. Think of a walk up to your door. It shouldn't be so straight. There are a lot of straight lines and sharp corners on your house. It's a good thing for you or visitors to meander a bit on the way to the door and admire your handy work. If you change out the walkway, run conduit for electricity to the front. You may not want lights right now but at least you will be able to run the wire later.

You might consider adding some under planting for the front yard palms. If you look at the picture you just see grey trunks. Some Jatropha kept trimmed to 5 feet will give some color, hide the palm trunks and add food for butterflies. I am not a fan of the Palm to the left of the garage but it's expensive to remove them.

The wall of the garage that also faces the front door(ish) could use a piece of art or driftwood. I would use some good sized rock or faux rock in that area inside the walk up to the door along with ground planting or a fountain with a rock and maybe some bromiliads ( green apple is tough but has visual interest. Perhaps something to frame the Windows.

The downspout dumps right onto the front pathway. That should be redirected.

Finish it off with some path lights, up lights on the front palms and the corner Robellini. Pick the right color mulch to enhance the paint. Finally re-seal the driveway. Good luck and please share when you get done.

Regarding the walk, the picture I need in order to show it more clearly doesn't exist, so I used the one you provided. I am not trying to "sell" you on a specific solution. Take the sketch as a general idea with details to be worked out by whoever will design it, be it you or a landscape designer. I'm just trying to get you in the ballpark of thought for an idea of how you might approach it. It's a starting point, not an ending point. It must be designed in PLAN view for you to understand how it relates to other major features. It would be helpful to you to start working it out that way. First, you need to create a base plan (shows the existing major features that will remain) in order to have something to draw a proposed walk on.

Others have suggested a courtyard approach to the front door ... basically creating an semi-enclosed patio. The existing pedestals attempt (a feeble attempt) to create the illusion of a courtyard by marking its corners. You should consider if you would use such a feature (with a small seating area) or if it would be worth it to you to spend that much for what would essentially be a decorative feature ... a way of dolling up the front of your house.

You could remove the columns. Possibly add a light post in place of one. Remove some trees. Widen walk. Something bright planted next to the door. Paint the door a lighter color. Doesn't have to be white.

Brian, I don't think this is going to turn into the help you want it to be unless you react and converse about the ideas that are presented.

He might be overwhelmed. These projects always turn into something bigger. As soon as you touch the first thing, everything else looks outdated so then that leads to more work. A work plan and a budget would be helpful.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm sorry, I've been away from computer for the past couple of days. I'm sold on the idea of removing the two pedestals, the two trees in front of the door, the Ptychosperma in front of the fan palm, and putting in a new and wider walkway. I like the idea of ground cover around the base of the three palms that will remain as well as the robellini palm, just not sure what type yet. As for a installation of a hedge along the wall in front of the two windows.....any suggestions on whether to simply leave it as a row of hedges or have the hedges with additional plants in front and within some sort of medium/large winding plant bed with some type of border. I'm trying to figure out whether to have separate plant beds or incorporate everything into one..

I would suggest a foundation planting bed in front of the house and a separate island around the palm. You can see in the sketch that I opted to leave only the single palm near the center front. It seems disturbing to me to have a collection of odds and ends palms in a group because they don't make a nice group. If they can't be like type palms, I'd rather see a single specimen.

The architecture already carries a horizontal visual element as the base of the house. Rather than duplicate or cover that up with a hedge, use plants to temper it, and the easiest way is a mound shaped shrub below each window. It doesn't end up looking like you're trying to smother the house with shrubs. Where the windows are low to the ground, such as left of front door, instead of shrubs (that you will need to trim regularly in order to keep them low) use an 18" height groundcover -- such as Liriope -- that won't need to be height trimmed at all. It should be a FAT (double or triple) row -- not a skinny string. Consider variegated Liriope for a brighter look.

Given your location, for the shrubs below windows I'd consider Thai crown of thorns. (Not the regular small-flowered one.) It would cheer up the front of your house considerably for much of the year. At the base of Robellini, consider an island of firecracker plant. Eventually, if it gets too tall, you can cut it to the ground and make it low again for a good length of time.

For the moderately low groundcover used to link the separate elements together, consider tri-color oyster plant. It is at the same time soothing and cheerful and it's easy to start from pieces. You can split a gallon of it into about 15' pieces that will plant that many square feet. In one year's time it will appear grown together. (Of course, you would need to wait until February to plant it.)

Near right of front door and at garage are two places you could use seasonal color.

The groundcover around the single palm could be same as the foundation bed groundcover, or different. It could also be a little taller if you wanted, since it is a limited space.

I can understand your wanting to get rid of the two lamp pedestals. But for sure, I would think about how you could retain the use of the electrical supply wire that they contain. Either could gain a new use: path lights ... uplights on trees ... post lamps ... downlighting from trees, etc. I would determine how you will reuse them before you demolish them. (BTW, you can make an underground splice if you use heat shrink tubing with sealant built in. I can't say that it will be in compliance with your local code since I don't know it ... just that it works and can be done.)

Again, I remind that you need to work out all the proposed changes in plan view before you do any work.

Yardvaark, your rendition looks great and right along the path of what I am envisioning! Way better than I could have ever come up with. I appreciate everybody's input. A couple of questions on the plants that you suggested. Looking at your rendition, I wanted to verify that the light colored plant arae under the window to the left of the door is the variegated liriope. The two shrubs under each window are thai crown thorns? I googled those and saw the small plant ones, I was unable to see them in large shrub form. Lastly, are you suggesting the tri-colored oyster plant to fill in the entire remaining foundation bed where the dark green ground cover is shown on the drawing?

I'd like to know what your thoughts are for the area to the left of the driveway. I will most likely be tackling this area first as I have already removed grass to properly grade the soil. I like a previous suggestion to get rid of the tall skinny palm in front of the fan palm. Any imput on shape of planting bed, material used as border and ground cover? Again, hank you so much for everyone's assistance.

My thought for the left side is that you must create (draw) the plan for the WHOLE front yard before you do ANY work. You must work out the walks in plan view. Until that is done, it's going to be hard to determine what should be planted at left of garage in front of the wall because we don't yet know what would fit. I'd bet there would be some groundcover though. There could be a SMALL tree form of some kind, but we can't tell if one would fit. Around the palm at left of drive, I think a small bed of groundcover in a nice shape would be fine. I'd get rid of palms that don't fit visually with the principal palm.

Forgot to mention, you got all the plant suggestions that you were questioning, correctly.

This is the Thai crown of thorns I'm suggesting.

I would create a sitting patio space in the entry corner and not just a walkway, but do keep a small planting area in the corner. The pedestals could be re-purposed to match the wainscot design of the house and this would add to the curb appeal. Also consider adding a curved walkway from the front door area to the sidewalk through the lawn rather than only to the driveway. Keep in mind the driveway in its less than ideal condition is going to stand out like a sore thumb after the surrounding landscape is renovated. The driveway left as is will look like you neglected it. Maybe that's what all the driveways look like in your neck of the woods, but as a designer, the driveway surface is always an important design component. I would rather see a sophisticated gravel and turf driveway than black asphalt.

I would start with a component list of what you need the most. Then study the views of what your are looking for. The path ways can be segmented with lights, plantings and a low wall.