Here's a photo from summer.

the summer version is so much prettier!..and will be even more beautiful when you plant new shrubs and trees..to get great suggestions we need to know where you live..

The answer to your title question is YES. I don't think there's anything particularly "dated" looking about the house. But the landscape is typical of one that people begin thinking about redoing after it gets to be about 10-15 years old. These are meant to be instantaneously satisfying when first created, but they don't ever seem to last. and as per usual, it looks fairly high maintenance.

I think the first thing you should do is show the complete scene, not just what's in front of the house. For a landscape, what's in the next door neighbor's yards is important, too. Maybe there's something over there for which a view to it needs to be preserved. Or, maybe there's something that needs to be screened. At the least, your front foundation landscaping will transition down the sides of the house so what's in the vicinity of the corners needs to be known.

Capture the pictures by standing at a single location for a given scene, and pivoting the camera, not by moving the camera location. The pictures should overlap slightly. Post them individually. Do not make a panorama out of them.

Also, we should see how the house is fitting into the neighborhood, so it would be good if you could take a shot from the street or across the street that shows everything at a greater distance.

Thanks for your responses! We live in north Georgia, about 45 minutes north of Atlanta. Yardvaark, you nailed it! The house was built in 2000, so the landscape is roughly 17 years old. It is hugely labor-intensive, with way too many of these sculpted bushes. Our neighborhood is inundated with rabbits, too, and I think the flower varieties that were here when we bought the house were more rabbit food than landscape. I'm attaching the photos below. I took them all from the same vantage point at the top of the driveway. In a new post, I'll add one of a wide view of our property, as well as two looking across the street and down the street of our neighborhood. Thank you again for your responses, and any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

View of our yard, view of across the street, view of down the street.

Yardvaark, that is fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time to offer these wonderful ideas. The last two photos are taken from a little ways coming back up my driveway to get a broader view of the neighborhood, so, yes a slightly different point of reference. I definitely see what you mean about the house feeling exposed. It is a huge, wide-open area. In fact the woman we bought the home from said that her husband had "all of the big trees" taken down because grass wouldn't grow under them. Sigh. Why do people do that?!? We're looking to get rid of some of the sprawling lawn, and it was probably how we would have wanted it to begin with. That tree on the right side really balances it out, especially with the slope of the yard. It's like it props up that side of the house to even it out with the higher-level of the driveway.

I wholeheartedly agree about the shrub masses. They are a royal pain to keep up with, and they don't even look nice. I feel like Edward Scissorhands lives here with all of the sculpted shrubbery.

If you don't mind, I have a question about that arbor. Here in the South, you will see those things free-standing all over the place, and often they don't really serve as a gateway to anything. They can look like strange, alien growths that pop up at random places, and because of that, I've taken somewhat of a dislike to them. The one you've designed here looks good, though.

My question is ... would it make any sense to create a bed the runs along the sides of the walkway to the porch that would connect those unattached beds where the path meets the driveway with the ones that frame the porch? So that the arbor is less of a stand-alone structure and is grounded in a bed that is connected to the house? The beds along the path could be planted with plants of varying heights up to about 3' tall?

I guess I really like that arbor, but I have never appreciated those disconnected beds at the top of the walkway. Would it be silly to connect them to the ones at the house in this way?

And I agree that a true groundcover is in order. There are several that do well in our area and appreciate the many hours of sun.

Thank you again for your thoughtful plan. It is a night and day difference from the stark, unprotected version we have now. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help!

"...would it make any sense to create a bed the runs along the sides of the walkway ...?"

Do you mean so that when people are walking from the drive to the front door, they get a sense of being barricaded in ... as if there is no escape when once they begin the journey ... like how cattle might feel during the last few yards of the walk through the slaughterhouse ...?

I joke, but the answer is no, no, and no again! Why you might think the bed of an arbor must be contiguously connected to the bed of the house, I don't know. But it is not necessary. The bed the arbor is in must fit it and that's all that's needed. I suspect there is something else going on that causes you to dislike the disconnected arbor bed, but until we undergo an in-depth analysis, I can't speculate on what it might be. Maybe it is seeing all the cheap, crummy looking arbors and never anything better ...?

Even though you may want it to be smaller, I have to say your lawn is lovely. It is peaceful and soothing. I suspect that you could use some street trees, too, in order to help counteract the exposed look of the yard. And where tree shade impedes grass growth, that's the time to begin a plan to convert those areas to groundcover. When grass stops growing well from lack of light also happens to be the time when weeds will have a harder time, too, and therefore be easier to keep out of the groundcover beds.

BTW, what I've offered you is IDEAS, not a PLAN. In order to develop work and proceed with it you must covert the ideas to a plan in order to know quantities, that everything fits, and that they work next to the other things around them. In conversion to plan is where the specific details are worked out.

(I was a landscape architect practicing in the Altanta area for many years, so I know pretty much about what is there and what grows there. IMO, it is one of the prettiest areas of the country.)

my neighborhood is much less formal than yours but prepare to be shocked at the amount of plant material in my yard!..when we moved here 12 years ago we had only the native trees, big areas of mulch with a hosta here and there (5 ft apart) and a lot of bare dirt..so I started planting..this summer I plan to move some things and simplify a little but I'm posting the pics to make Yardvaark's point about a house that's too exposed..the shrubs that I planted have really improved the curb appeal..the arbor ($40!!) was an impulse buy..can't tell from this fall pic but it feels anchored because there's a tree on the left and a paniculata hydrangea on the right that could be tall someday..it's like an entry to the woods and looks pretty from the street..we put a path thru the trees using aggregate circles and river rock that was here..I put plants down each side and think that idea sounds pretty for your house too..

after I submitted my post I saw a new Yardvaark post..can see what he means that full length beds next to your walkway might be annoying whereas in MY yard the path is very useful and there's so many trees that plants flanking my path is not a problem..you aren't able to just step anywhere along the way..it's an obstacle course haha..but I like it..the volunteer hellebores in the path will be moved when I get around to it but I couldn't destroy them..just can't kill plants haha

Yardvaark .... I see what you mean about the cattle run. haha. And without additional shade trees around, the pathway would look more contrived that way. I think perhaps I have seen to many sketchy arbors that have no purpose other than to take up space and break up the line of sight.

But as more of a gateway, that could work.

With regard to the lawn, we used to live in the woods in the mountains north of here. There weren't lawns, but understory. I loved it. Our lawn here feels like a sea of green to me. And having grown up in the north, even 20 years here in the south has not acclimated me to the intense heat and humidity of summer. So, our front yard is a painful place to be if you can't take the heat. Walking to the mailbox is like walking through an oven.

Shade trees, with years of growth, would do a world of good out there.

Thanks again for all of the IDEAS (not plan) :) I appreciate you sharing your insights and thoughts with me.

another thought..I think I would plant 2 trees flanking the driveway (like the pink flowering ones in Yardvaark's drawing) not too close to the driveway or the street..and then get 4 nice urns and use 2 at each end of the walkway..I have urns in the back and love them..

Nicholsworth, your property is beautiful! I love how organic it all feels ... no little round marshmallow bushes in sight!!! That would be the ideal kind of landscape for me. When we lived in the mountains (woods), we had a variety of native plants (mostly the deer hardier varieties), and your gorgeous yard reminds me of those more carefree kinds of landscapes. Not carefree in that you haven't put a lot of thought or planning into it, but carefree in that it's not so stiflingly manicured and fitted to such linear spaces.

Even your pathway feels more comfortable and organic than our perfectly shaped concrete pathway.

I love the plants down each side of your pathway, but I think Yardvaark is right that without the shade trees and other plantings you have, ours would look artificial and a little weird.

I think our plan is going to be to take all of these ideas and have a landscape designer try to come up with something that can balance what we have location and site wise with a more natural and balanced yard that provides a sense of protection for the home.

Thanks for sharing your ideas and photos. I love your place! It looks like a very peaceful and lovely place to stroll and enjoy the variety of colors and textures. Good job on creating such a serene setting.

Another comment to put the arbor in perspective ... all the one's I've seen that homeowners install themselves are flimsy little blow-overs with 30" or 3' openings x 6' height where guys like me must duck. For a house like yours it should have 6' to 8' opening x 8' min. ht. clearance and be built of 6"x6" posts and appropriately beefy top lumber. The posts should have chamfered corners and some nice details and be like you might see in an architectural magazine.

Nicholsworth, do you have a squirrel colony?!? They look quite at home there. The urns are a good idea to add interest and height to the low-lying areas, especially when things are young. The woman who lived here had pots and urns all around the backyard. I must have counted at least 60 on one of our walk-thrus when we were buying the house. Thanks for the tip!

Yardvaark, that's how we would do it ... sturdy, heavy, and built to last. My husband likes to build, and if he has a fault, it's going overboard with the "sturdy" factor. We've had decks and screened porches that would probably be standing long after the house fell down. We have talked about putting an arbor in the backyard here, where there is a path that leads to a large stone patio with a pond. So, we have already been looking at arbor plans. Perhaps putting one in the front and the back would create even more unity on the property. Thanks.

Pam..thanks for the compliments..now you understand my mindset and why my first thought about your home was "needs shade..trees..shrubs"..I do love our setting.. it's very shady and peaceful..I'm sure you'll figure things out and make your home more to your liking..it's beautiful already and to some people the manicured grass and shrub look is perfection..just not to you and me haha..

Pam..wildlife LOVE it here..my husband has spoiled the squirrels with dry roasted unsalted peanuts..I took this owl pic in my backyard in broad daylight..there's an out of focus squirrel in the Japanese maple in the hawk pic..(didn't mean to takeover your post..just wanted to share pics..

Nicholsworth, you're right. I prefer the more natural settings, where there's not so much contrived shaping of things and controlling them. It's weird because it's like two different houses here. The front yard is like what builders create for the short term and then walk away from, but the backyard (photo below), while still a little molded into a form, is much more layered and pretty, especially once everything is in leaf and blooms. I'll be working on replacing some of the more manicured plants in the back with more natural ones that fit the space without being constantly trimmed into submission. The goal in the front will be to work with what the builder has left us and make strategic changes, like Yardvaark suggested to bring about more balance and proper sizing for spaces. The shrubbery as a groundcover is counter-productive. It'll get there over time. I don't think we're going anywhere anytime soon. Thanks again for sharing your insights and photos. You're lucky to have such a peaceful place there.

Love, love, love wildlife! Your barred owl is majestic! And hawks are my favorite birds. Your husband seems to be the squirrel-whisperer. :) We have three dogs, so squirrels don't hang around in our backyard much, but they do taunt the dogs from overhead. We live near a lake, so we have geese that pass over us often, honking and in formation. There are some deer that wander behind our back deck as well. Wildlife is a great part of living in the woods like you do.

Pam..it's great that your backyard has the woodland feel that you prefer (which is probably where you would spend the most time)..I like it!!..it's what I'm trying to create here..natural but tidier and prettier..I love that you realize how much time (and money) that I've spent improving this place..most people are clueless and think it looked this way naturally haha

Pam..the squirrels love both of us..it's my thumb in the pic..once I was sitting on my garden seat (sits really low) and a squirrel put his front paws on my thigh and stretched his face towards me like "got any nuts?"..was pretty funny..

Ann

It's remarkable what you've been able to achieve in your 12 years there. You've done a really great job of creating a natural look. You should take it as a compliment when people think it looks so natural! That would be one of my goals ... that no one could tell where I stepped in to urge nature in the right direction. No one would look at my front yard and have that thought ever cross their mind! Keep up the good work, and enjoy that gorgeous woodland garden. It's very special. You're right in that we spend most of our time in the back. It's shadier and more relaxing. Now, we need to find a nice compromise between what the front is now and something much more natural and relaxed. It'll take time, but we'll get there in the end.

Squirrels are crazy little creatures! Be careful or word will get out about you and your hubby, and your whole house will be covered in squirrels. :)

It kills me when people say "oh you don't have much grass to mow" as if this yard is maintenance free!..hope someone thinks that when we sell it someday..have a great spring and summer..one more pic when things are green..enjoyed our chat..it's raining here or I'd be out picking up debris haha

Doesn't all of this make you excited for spring to finally arrive? Your property is beautiful, but deceptively natural looking. So, I bet when you go to sell it, people really will think it's low-maintenance. :) Have a great growing season ahead! It was great to "meet" you.