True, plastic should kill anything under there, including the microbes that decompose organic matter and make soil healthy. An odor can develop from anaerobic decomposition of large amounts of fresh green material. Plastic must be removed to garden an area smothered this way, and isn't visually appealing while waiting. Newspaper or cardboard are usually left in place because they decompose, so can be covered with mulch when laid, for an instant 'finished' look even though it's only the 1st step. Smothering with organic matter like this encourages/feeds the microbes, not kill them, and decomposes the weed matter aerobically, no concerns over foul odors or creating lifeless soil. To have a great garden, you need 'good dirt.' Pulling little sprouts as soon as you see them is easy. Pulling a big patch of something that's grown tenacious roots is hard and takes exponentially more time. Patrol/pull often and it should only take a few minutes. Doing that feels like you're mostly looking at your 'good' plants, because you are, bending occasionally to pull any sprouts you see. I usually leave them laying right where they were, to wither in the sun within hours and return their nutrients to the soil. Once you stop any weeds from dropping new seeds for a whole year in a yard, you'll be amazed at how many fewer weeds you'll see in successive years. Control is easy to maintain, so much easier than to gain initially, so don't be frustrated by all of the work the first year, or lie to yourself by doing things like just breaking the tops off of perennials but leaving the roots. (If you 'pulled' it once but it's still there, it wasn't killed or pulled, just pruned - and now you know the root must be killed/removed for certain death to result from your efforts.) Pour boiling water on that root, or get a shovel, dandelion fork, something that truly has a chance of killing that thing/getting completely rid of it. Continuing to do ineffective things is a waste of your time, and ends up using more of it in the long-term, so do it thoroughly the first time, a few more minutes, but is then the only time you deal with that thing. Birds, other critters, and wind will always bring unwanted seeds, but patches of weeds come purely from neglecting to pull something before it's produced seeds in your yard, often a single plant that can be 10,000 plants the next year if left to leave its' seeds. The other primary area of concern is those that creep in from adjacent property. Sometimes a hard barrier is needed, a row of bricks, landscape timbers, to extremes such as a trench filled with concrete. Make the effort/expense of hardscape if possible and necessary to thwart a yearly or constant border battle. Go extreme, complete, total, one year, truly getting rid of anything perennial at the roots, and not allowing anything to drop seeds, install whatever barriers or measures are necessary to enforce your borders, and then maintaining...

Easy answer on curb appeal is, replace the shrubs in front of porch. Personally, I like the idea of there being a hedge there, but I'd plant something that would grow to be...wait for it...as tall as you want it to be at maturity. What i'm not sure on is what exactly the question is. Curb appeal? dress up the lawn, replace the foundation planting. Is that all you want? follow up questions...what can you do? For instance, can you plant something that would act as a privacy screen between you and the next house? and that might be a zoning question. what's the arrangements between the houses? could you create a path that would be enticing to the rear? It appears as though there isn't exactly a lot of creativity in planting schemes as I look up and down from you...that may be regulated, or it may just be that way, because there's limited space, and with is comes limited ability to do stuff.

Hello. Just finished washing tools and pots while putting the garden to bed for the season so after all that work I thought I'd share my thoughts. 1) Give up container gardens except a welcoming pot outside whichever door you use most. 2) Plant perennials that work hard and give lots of visual pleasure, which for me would be Yuccas, Sedum, Daylilies, Peonies and Honeysuckle vine for more shade Hosta's paired with perennial Ferns and Lady's Mantel. 3) Plant some soft needled evergreen trees and Smoke Bush -large shrub or small tree depending on original pruning- and Service Berry trees, not only low maintenance but the textures are wonderful looking together. 4) If possible have hardscape/ deck at both entrance doors and use built-in benches on at least two sides -old and young love sitting on them- (greatly reduces outdoor furniture cost, maintenance, storage) and join them with a wide walkway/ boardwalk. Using the walkway between the two doors is especially welcome in Spring and late Winter when the ground is muddy, you can still sit out and enjoy nature and it's safe moving between the two doors so you don't feel so house bound. As much as I love wood we had our windows wrapped in aluminum and had the house covered in rigid foam insulation and then covered in a historically styled Vinyl Siding and yes we too added the gutter guards. The original large vegetable gardens were plowed under and grassed over and I built four small pie shaped raised gardens very near the house, down from the small deck. I planned everything to allow myself and my husband to stay here for as long as we can, together or alone we can get along without help and enjoy ourselves and friends and family too. Wishing you and your husband all the best on this new adventure,

It's impossible to give you any specific advice without seeing the property. Stand 25' away from the house, in line with the front door. Take a panoramic series of slightly overlapping photos, showing from your left neighbor's house to your right neighbor's house. (We need to see some surroundings.) Don't substitute a computer generated panorama as it will be too small. Also, take a single photograph from a distance, straight on, that shows the whole front yard.