Could we see a closer pic of entryway area?

some ideas

Shrubs in general do not burn up from too much sun even with a regimen of some shade. There must be some other issue involved.

From the photo it does look like you are down south in the piney woods of the coastal plain region. Knowing better where you are and what direction that wall faces will help people suggest plants that will tolerate the site.

A sculpture, serious, DIY, would help breakup the wall. How about a bottle tree? You could even do a sculpture/ornament attached to the wall itself. Then fewer plants can work off that.

boxwood might create a nice year round hedge for you. Anything green will need some water during drought times.

I do not know what zone you live in, so the listed plants may not be suited for your climate. However, this look is easy to recreate with many other plants. This look has good winter appeal.

Notice how the plants in your photo are tucked in tight against the building, vs. the deeper beds in Doug's sketch. The original placement smack against the wall is difficult on plants since they are right against masonry that will heat up in the sun, and also the building's overhang creates a rain shadow so that plants are more likely to be too dry. Though they don't need to be as deep as the ones in Doug's sketch, make deeper beds, to at least 6' from the building, both for aesthetics and for plant health, and don't plant anything so that its final size is within a foot of the building other than perhaps letting a groundcover wander there. Deeper beds will look better as you aren't restricted to a single line of plants. Use a shredded bark mulch to help even out moisture and soil temperature after planting as well as to reduce weeds. Some taller, multistemmed flowering small trees or large shrubs combined with low evergreen shrubs and/or ground cover won't look too fussy.

I wouldn't plant anything in line with the front door. You want the door to be clearly visible and not feel barricaded from the street, especially since the door appears to be inset and shadowed. While I really like the deep red color with your brick, it may contribute to the darkness in the door area, so you may want to look at lighter colors as well. You will have to judge that on site. I would also think about changing the trim and garage door color to a shade taken from your brick. Right now the contrast between the two sides of the house is fairly harsh.

I would consider Rawket Grl's idea of adding faux windows along with the garden plants. Her example used faux shutters, but another option is using a mirror or frosted glass with a dark backing in a window frame. I would use a couple on that wall and choose ones that suit the architecture and windows elsewhere. You could do cardboard mock ups to test the idea. Other options include sculpture of some kind or a relatively tall, flat trellis set out beyond the dripline from the roof and covered with an ornamental vine. However, it may be that the garden alone will add enough interest to distract from the blank wall.

Your home has a mid century look to it. I’d avoid adding any country elements. I would consider deepening the garage door colour to the same depth as your brick using a warm grey to help it recede. Siding two shades lighter. Change the fascia board at the roofline to white, maybe it is but I can't tell by your photo. If you are willing to share, we'd like to see more photos of the exterior. Is your window trim white?

I like the brightness of this door and the house numbers. I think landscaping will help but you do need to bring it forward from the wall. Keep the planting area in front of the door very low.

First thing, I would remove the metal decorative element from the front porch. Replace the light fixture as well. Next, to address your large brick wall, I would place a horizontal wood trellis on the right hand side of the brick wall (approx. 1/3 of the facade lengthwise, with some height).

Hope this helps!

Great....the plants shown will work well in 7B.

We need to know where in zone 7 you are located :-) All zone 7 describes is expected winter cold temperatures but it addresses nothing about summer heat or humidity or rainfall patterns and the plants that might grow well in zone 7 Texas will be very different from those that might grow well in a zone 7 in Oregon!!

There are many broadleaved evergreen shrubs (or dwarf conifers) that could be used in zone 7, so your choices are wide. A visit to local independent nursery should present you with many choices.

And Christopher's comment that if shrubs are selected properly for your location/situation and then planted and watered properly they will not burn up in sun is spot-on!! This is a case of user error, not the fault of the plants :-)

1. The way I see it, the blank wall has one possibility and that is as a backdrop for a proportionately sized planting arrangement. The most likely possibility of plants that fit would be an arrangement of 3 small, multi-trunk trees (12' height ... made of what would otherwise be known as large shrubs) where two are at the back row (a few feet from the wall) and the third is centered between and in front of them, as a 'front row.' They would be limbed up to half their total height and sitting in a bed of groundcover that is substantial in size. In fact, the bed would also encompass the existing tree. If you'd imagine a 12' circular bed with the existing tree centered in it, that would be a major part of the bed. Then, in line with that same tree, extend the front edge of the bed straight over to the drive and parallel to the house front wall, fine tuning the details as to what makes sense. (Thus, the front-to-back depth of the bed would be roughly equal to the same distance that the tree is in front of the house, where that measurement is made 90* from the house facade.) The multi-trunk trees would be spaced such that the the width of their finished form fits comfortably within the confines of the brick wall width, excluding the entrance area.

3. It seems that an effort is being made to obscure the entrance door. I think this is opposite of what the goal should be. I'd remove whatever screen is in front of it and widen the drive with an abutting walk that goes directly to the entrance area. There ought to be 25 square feet of seasonal color planted left of the entrance door.

Sarahe_fray, can you give largest nearby city and state? That will help us roughly judge such things as soil pH and texture, summer nighttime heat, and moisture. So zone 7 in TX tends to have warm nights and hot days in summer, alkaline, clay soil, and lower rain than somewhere such as Cape Cod which has acid sandy soils, regular rain, and few temperature extremes due to the ocean, but plants have to contend with blown salt from storms.

I too would remove the trellis from the entry, move the plantings way back from the house, adding a courtyard area in the front, large house numbers, some wood trellis or sculptures and repaint the trim and grarage door to a darker shade with an accent color for the front door and the house numbers. Keep it modern no shuttewrs or country stuff please. The plantings to should be in a mid cetntury modern format! Nice house BTW!

I would say she is close to Jackson, Mississippi.

In my area, short palm trees across front of plain house look neat and trim - and great lit at night, especially. Yardvaark's centered ornamentals [?] would be the right height. With taller trees against the brick you'd see trunk/ branches. With shorter shrubs, not sure there'd be enough impact...