It's definitely an unusual structure and concealing some of the foundation will help. I see a tree in the ground and a tree in a pot. I think I'd have trees positioned somewhat to either side of the house ... to the left, out of this view, or to the right, in the approximate location of the #4 I've placed on the ground where there is possibly only room for a flowering tree. (There might be room for a larger tree at the left.) But a tree in the ground where you have it ... I just can't see how its ultimate conclusion is a good outcome. It would completely block the windows and diminish the view to a major architectural feature. If the one in the pot is being considered in that location, I'd nix it, too. It's not going to enhance the view to the entrance. 1. At the left side, shrubbery that conceals the bulk of this wall would help the house look nestled in. I'd want something loose and shaggy as opposed to tight and sheared. The green line I drew under the windows represents the tallest I'd want. The drawn shrubs would be the shortest. If it was my house I might even consider something like a grove of sumac. You'd need a plant that topped out at a specific height as you wouldn't want to get involved in regularly trimming the height to keep it in bounds. Also, I think the stone border you have is too tight in that area. You need a plant with height and with that comes width which the border must accommodate. 2. The big brick monolith would look good coming out of a big soft nest so it's screaming Miscanthus to me. Pick the height and style that suits. 3. The shrub you already have in that area looks pretty good to me. Fill in the holes with more of it to create a hedge. It looks like it might be Nandina. That's perfect. Or something like that. 4. Seasonal color--either perennial or annual or a combination--and lots of it. You might want or need more, but this is what I'd consider the basics.

Do you know what sort of soil you have? The type of soil you have, how well it drains (or doesn't drain, as the case may be) and your annual average rainfall (20"? 30"? 40"? more than that?" all are factors that would help us recommend what would grow well for you. As for plants that can be grown safely around dogs, that's gonna be a huge challenge. First, you'll need to start out with a list of what you want to plant, and then you'll have to Google and do your research and try to figure out if the plants you want are known to harm dogs if eaten or chewed. The ASPCA maintains lists of plants that are known to be dangerous to dogs, but it is not an all-inclusive list. It merely is a list of plants that have been reported to them as being dangerous. Still, it is a good starting point. I've always gardened with dogs, but for the safety of our dogs, they have an enclosed dog yard that is fenced off from the rest of the yard and nothing grows inside their dog yard that would be considered harmful to them. If we are out in the yard, I occasionally let them out of the dog yard to roam the larger yard, but only because I am out there with them and can keep an eye on them. Some dogs are diggers and will dig up anything and everything you plant. Other dogs could care less and never dig. Some dogs chew. Some dogs try to chew but what they end up doing is pulling up everything you planted so they then can chew on it. At times, when I planted stuff in our yard before we had built the fenced-in dog yard, I would put cages of woven wire fencing around newly planted shrubs and trees to prevent the dogs from digging them up. Did I think it looked really lovely? No, of course not. What it did, though, was allow new trees and shrubs to become firmly rooted into the ground before the dogs could dig them up. After the first year, I removed the cages and the dogs never dug up any of those plants. Our dogs were pretty big-time into digging in their younger years, particularly from the puppy stage until they were 4 or 5 years old. Now that they're older and calmer, they don't dig as much as they used to. We had one dog, Mrs. Jeeves, who made it her personal mission to rip into and scatter every bag of anything (peat moss, pine bark fines, cow manure, mushroom compost, soil-less planting mix, etc.) she could find but she didn't bother plants. So, if your dogs are older and more settled down, they might not bother your plants much at all. Be advised that if you use organic fertilizers like blood meal and bone meal, your dogs will smell them and will dig up everything in sight looking for the source of that smell. I noticed that a lot of the plants on your list flower at various stages in their lives. I think you might want to consider vitex agnus-castus which blooms in summer and has lovely blue flowers. It is very drought tolerant and will grow in almost any soil, as will crape myrtles. If you have well-drained sandy or sandy loam soil, I think that everything on your list would grow well for you, but I haven't compared the plants you listed to lists of plants known to harm dogs. Lavender needs really well drained soil, so keep that in mind if you have soil that has a lot of clay in it. I'll link the ASPCA dog problem plant list. When you click on the link and go to that page, you'll notice you can ask for a 'toxic' list or a 'non-toxic' list, or you can search for individual plants using their search feature. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: ASPCA Toxic and Non-toxic Plants For Dogs

Hi all! Thanks so much for your feedback. If I knew how to post my layout, I would. We live on a quiet street in a cul-de-sac. Our house is a cape-cod and the front and back both have slight overhangs that make it a challenge to get a lot of light. Our windows in the kitchen (both the picture window and the small one over the sink) have plantation shutters, which are beautiful but I feel that they block out light. So, I'm always playing with them- trying to maximize privacy while letting in the most amount of light. The other thing that bothers me is how the picture window and small window over the sink look from the exterior. I think it would look much nicer if we had standard windows that matched the other side of the house (our living room and dining room face front as well). Most of the neighbors homes are setback off of the cul-de-sac but ours is not. Kids play in the cul-de-sac and people walk their dogs (our family included). I've just had a few odd moments where I've made eye contact with people on the street when I'm in the kitchen and it makes me feel like a nosy neighbor! Landscaping might be the most ideal solution. In fact, I might just plant a tree now, well ahead of our reno plans just to see if it works!

Why is the width of the bed limited to 2’-3’? That is really very limiting with the roof overhang. It won’t allow for many plants, and for those that are small enough to fit, they will be largely limited to a single line of plants which isn’t the most attractive arrangement. Could you allow for 5’ depth front to back? That would allow for small shrubs under the window, some tall perennials or a trellis and vine by the electric meter, and a flowering and/or evergreen groundcover to tie it all together.