Does this help?

Hmm I see what you're saying. I think the trees on either side might be a bit much for the size of the house in person? We intend to eventually get rid of the lamppost and plant a Japanese maple in the center of that side of the yard. There are several houses in the neghborhood with something similar and I love the way it looks!

I also want something that will almost completely cover the gray foundation of the house. Would the groundcover accomplish that?

And, of course, if the grey foundation were painted white, you'd never notice it all behind the plantings.

I guess maybe I'm not picturing "trees" correctly. I do like the updated sketch though. If the driveway were to be moved left, it unfortunately would run into our property line :(

Good idea on the painting the gray white though. Not sure why I didn't consider that.

Any suggestions on the type of shrubs to use that would grow to an appropriate size without looking messy or too formal? Thanks for the feedback.

It sounds to me as though there may be confusion here about the trees Yardvaark is suggesting in his design sketch. I think he is talking about trees that stay fairly small. These could be small trees (i.e. Dogwood or Redbud). These could also be large shrubs trained into tree form by removing lower branches (i.e. Peewee Hydrangea, Viburnum).

I don't think he is suggesting anything that will be more than 20' tall.

Thanks so much for explaining the phrase "in a perfect world to me." But I guess one should expect the level of snark that comes with posting in a Houzz forum.

Whitewater, yes, thank you, I wasn't exactly picturing "trees" as intended in the photo. I do think something flanking the house might be nice. I also would like to have a large shrub (not sure if this is the correct term -- I am thinking o a hydrangea) in front of the fence on the right side, so as to hide our vegetable garden area from the road. I want to make sure I don't plant anything that would conflict visually with a tree planted more towards the center of the right side in the future, if that makes sense.

I have some small pots on either side of the steps now, but I'm thinking they may need to be much larger once the planting is complete? Kind of just made do with what I had for the time being.

Amanda my dislike of your proposed garden is that it is too varied, in my opinion, for such a small area and simple house. I do like the Hydrangea or other plant that would hide the raised bed. Just be sure it is not so close to the bed to block the sun light.

Uh oh. Yardvaark's sketch is gone. :(

Thanks emmarene. I see what you're saying. I *think* there's enough space between where the bed is and the fence that it would be fine, so long as I don't let whatever is there get TOO large. I do agree that we need to go with something simple!