How about several flowering shrubs like Hydrangea? This seems like an ideal spot for them.

Years ago when I bought my current house and posted a picture here asking for help, it was pointed out to me that the area left of the door, and the area right of the door, did not match. Actually, they had nothing in common! I don't know why I hadn't noticed it myself.

I was reminded of that when I saw your picture. As I have reworked my front landscape, I have tried to make it more cohesive.

Smothering is a good word for it, Yardvaark. My neighbor was horrified when I told her they were going, because they were the previous owner's pride and joy. They are rather messy looking right now, as I haven't bothered to trim them since they're coming out soon. I love the sketch. The rocks I think are fixable and possibly look so bad because of a water standing issue (just fixed) that completely washed out the garage side of the bed. There was just about no soil left in it, so I'm guess the rocks kind of collapsed. The sidewalk (also collapsing) is getting redone in a couple of weeks. Definitely something I can work on beautifying over the next couple years. The other front border gets nice sun early in spring, before the trees leaf out, but after that, it's pretty dense shade, which is why there are mostly hostas in there. About the birch trees...yeah...the birch trees. We just trimmed 3 trailer loads of branches off them in mid-summer last year. The branches grow like crazy. Luckily, my retired dad loves his chainsaw and jumps at any opportunity to use it. Good rule of thumb to know.

Is the path to the front door being widened?

If the walk is being redone, I would make it no less than 4', if not more. And widen it to the width of stoop where they meet. And flare the other end where it meets the drive.

Yes, the sidewalk is being widened; I did not talk to him about a flare, but I I imagine it wouldn't be difficult for him to do. I'm also getting new concrete in the garage and apron of the driveway will also be redone. I have been considering whether to widen the concrete near the garage and shorten the bed to the width of the house. I'm not sure I like the idea of less gardening space, even a few inches! But the rock gardens surround the house and I have a massive rock garden at the back of the house, too.

It sounds like you are ordering work without it being based on a physical, drawn plan. If so, how do you know exactly what you are getting, or how do you know it will turn out like you expect?

Small town. He did my parents driveway and about 20 others I can think of off the top of my head. He'll do it right - and if he doesn't (unlikely), he'll redo it. Learned the business by two of the fussiest, old Germans who were THE guys to go to for concrete in this area for about 50 years. You don't last long in business around here if you piss off a grumpy old German by doing sloppy work. The biggest concern was the garage, as the concrete is caving. The apron and the sidewalk was added in when he did his estimate. The reason I'd considered shortening the bed was because of the standing water in that area, but the gutter guy rerouted the water to the east side of the house and it's already exponentially better. My dad seems to think it would look better if the bed was flush with the house....I'm just not sure.

I'm not suggesting that the subs will do sloppy or inferior work, but that it is up to the owner to communicate all the details of how the work is sized, shaped and finished. Without that, the subs are second-guessing the owner, trying to please for sure, but also having to read your mind. How will the landing, flare at drive and curve of walk be exactly? I would make sure to communicate these things in a measured-to-scale plan. Even a reasonably accurate hand drawing on a napkin is better than just words in a conversation.

"My dad seems to think it would look better if the bed was flush with the house....I'm just not sure." That's exactly the kind of issue that should be brought up here. In this case, though, we have no information about it so, consequently, no way to help you.

I didn't think you were really implying that the work would be sloppy, sorry. Just meant that he will not be just replacing the sidewalk exactly as it is now; he knows how to do these things properly. He will be over to discuss some more in the next week or so before he starts- we are getting a lot of rain, so he is behind, but I will talk to him more about that and ask him to lay everything out for me, even if just with a napkin! I was out of my hometown for about 15 years and now that I'm back, one thing (among the very few) I really appreciate is that you just know in areas like this who does it right and who doesn't. It saves a huge amount of headache of worrying what could happen if you let someone work on your home when you don't really know them. So you don't worry so much about formalities. But your advice is noted and appreciated and I will take it.

"I will talk to him more about that and ask him to lay everything out for me..."

What I'm trying to convey is that it is your responsibility to lay it out for him. If you don't want to, you may have him lay it out for you, if he's willing, but you should review and approve prior to giving the go-ahead.

No more hedges!

These picture help explain a little more (though they cannot be reassembled into a single picture since the camera position moved.) I would consider adding a small multi-trunk tree at the intersection of walk and drive.

I'm wondering if there's the possibility of adding shrubs near the lot line so the neighbor's house is not so much in the background from your front yard.

Update: the concrete was poured this morning! The rock border lining the sidewalk had to be removed entirely to pour...and it may not be coming back. I'm going to take a week or so to observe and look at before/after pics and think about it before I up and remove the other side, too. Thanks so much for the advice. The forms were still up, of course, and they have some finishing work to do tomorrow, but so far I really love how the wider sidewalk with a flare looks. I will post some pics when I escape work.

The updated sidewalk/concrete. We back filled today; the pics are from last week. I've decided to remove the rock borders from the front entirely. I will not rework/design the beds until next spring, unless I get ahead, and have time before it freezes. I'm considering putting in a bed that starts in the corner of the sidewalk where it's dug up, lines the yard side of the walk, and joins up with the bed on the right side of the front step. Something with smaller plants that don't crowd out the sidewalk.

The tree guy will be visiting soon and I am going to ask him about removing the limb that is leaning over the garage/driveway entirely. The birches around the house were generously trimmed last August and they are already brushing the shingles. Also considering removing the birch tree by the front door - for several reasons. Every August, they lose quite a few leaves. I am forever cleaning my front steps clear of little birch twigs. It blocks the front door. It grows incredibly fast and hides the dormers.

Also, I really like Yardvaark's first suggestion of the single bush a la "window box." It's clean and neat looking, still gives me plenty of room for my insatiable loved of gardening, adds winter interest to the front, and is so damn simple, yet striking. I like your tree mock up, too, Yardvaark, but I'm under a canopy of trees and shade here already, and the selection for such trees in zone 4 seems to be limited to dogwood.

Anyhow...all of the long and miserable winter to think about this (except for the rock garden; that's going on the next cool day), so if you have suggestions, thoughts about my general plan, etc, please do chime in.

Congratulations on your new walk. Taking another look at the old one in the first picture for comparison purposes, being undersized I think it cheapens the overall look of the house. The new looks spacious and inviting, with room now for a half-dozen Jehovah's Witnesses.

Ah, yes, I had a Jehovah and his daughter stop by to read me a bible verse early this spring. She was a dead ringer for Wednesday Adams. Pale skin, black braids, and an expression of sheer misery. I'm not religious, but I simply couldn't make her feel any worse than she obviously felt by telling them so. Maybe she will feel more welcome with the new, wider path to enlightening me. Perhaps I'm a glutton for punishment, Yardvaark, but any other thoughts on the general plan?

My thoughts on what you should do for the front area are contained in the two drawings that I submitted earlier. Most of it is in the first drawing. I think you said something about not jiving with the small tree on account of the existing large tree canopy. That might be the case. I can't really evaluate it well from the relatively close-up pictures. A picture from far enough back that includes the whole large tree would be needed. (BTW, that small tree is a large shrub pruned in the tree form and I am showing its full, mature height.) YOu could just do groundcover in the area (which could be your mix of low things.)

Thanks for coming back and giving an update. And you were right: that new German-built concrete sidewalk is very, very nice. What an improvement.

I wish I'd taken before pictures of the garage floor. It had 2-inch deep cracks, old, crusty caulking from years of filling said cracks, sunken concrete steps with an 18-inch (at least) step to the door sill. It looks wonderful. I was finally forced to park in the garage after a large grocery shopping trip. I could have as early as Wednesday, but I couldn't bring myself to mar the pristine floor.

These are same ideas from different perspective.

Given the zone, specific plants should be mentioned. I've found it is easy to draw pretty pictures, but finding the plants that will thrive in the conditions that look like the pretty pictures can be impossible.

This is a quick shot I took from the street for a more distant view.

Were you planning on keeping all four trees visible in the fuller picture of the front? While I like trees, I think there is just too many of them too close to each other (and what looks like a birch, seems at least as the photo is framed, seems too directly in front of the door. I suspect you will get a whole different range of comments from the fuller picture of the front. (The work done seems very nice as an improvement)

I had commented earlier in the tread that I am leaning towards cutting down that birch. It's sort of a shame, because of the 5 birches in the yard, this one is my favorite shape (and I really like birch). But it makes such a mess on the front steps and walk. Also, if I'm to have any symmetry between the two beds, I will need some sun on the right side. It's in dense shade once the trees leaf out. For the time being, I will keep the other trees. I really dislike the elm and the walnut tree (I think that's what they are) and I wish the maple had been planted more towards the property line, but I also do not want to be too hasty. If the tree guy ever answers his phone, I will have him over for a major trim session. There are at least 40, if not closer to 60 trees on this lot, and the yard was neglected for quite some time before I moved in.

Regrettably, I go ahead and remove the birch. They have the capability of becoming VERY large and it's so close to the house. No surprise here, but I'd also do some drastic limbing up. There are so many low branches hiding the view of the house, we can't see the dormers on the roof. If one is too timid about limbing up, they are usually repeating much of the work only a year or two later. Branches grow longer, weigh more and hang lower every year. If one is just about to enter the "low hanging zone" I'd go ahead and remove it. Doing so encourages the rest of the top to grow, bringing it soon back into balance if it got slightly out of kilter. High ceiling = serenity; low ceiling = gloominess & spiders in your hair. Would also get rid of the left-leaning trunk of the rightmost tree (last picture.)