First, thank you everyone for being so generous with your time and ideas. Yardvaark - I can definitely see your point about treating trees as sculpture to add interest to the front of the house. And, woodyoak, I really love the idea of gradually raising the height of bushes/trees to bring the eye up to the white pines. Since the spans of brick are larger on that side of the house - it would seem that using taller and larger plants to that end would solve two problems since there is quite a bit more brick to cover on the far end of the house. Yard, I see you electronically removed the much hated bushes. I'm posting a new sketchup image which illustrates one of our biggest challenges with the space - the very significant square footage between the house and driveway. Can we fill the foundation bed to cover the land and if we do - will that hide the architectural/sculptural nature of the trees and bushes? Seems, Yard, you were thinking mostly ground cover plus some interesting tree forms. Any thoughts on what we might plant in the front yard to focus the attention toward the entry? We will be relocating the dogwood that obstructs the view of the front door from the driveway. Other ideas for new plantings that might draw the eye up toward the house? Yard, hubby and I just read your last post. First, the comparison to a Yugo and now Whitney Houston. It is more than he can take. I think we've broken him. Thank you, thank you, thank you. :-) On a serious note - I was thinking we would remove the dogwood but it looks like you've moved it closer to the house. I read on another GW forum the advice "people are drawn to spaces for people". With that guidance in mind - we have been hoping to give the front door the greatest visibility possible. Am I making to much of a clear view to the front door?

This was a great thread and detroitnate did a great job. If it were my house, before I did any planting I would have widened those steps and the walkway. Every picture in the series I focus on those tiny little steps and want to rip them out and redo. I've read that the main walkway leading up to a house should be wide enough for two people to comfortable walk side by side, that rule of thumb seems just about right to me. You want people to be invited into your house with the walkway, not forced into a single file line.

Thank you. We lived there just over 20 years before building/moving to our new home 7 years ago, which happens to be in a horse community. Ours uses the 4 board Kentucky fence in a dark stain. I'm not sure what you mean by "new surface under the windows" unless you are talking about the different material used on the addition. The house was antique brick, so it couldn't be matched. The shutters are all original to the house (1956) and were not changed. But we did add shutters to both ends and the back. Do you have any fencing with posts or columns at the street/driveway? What zone do you live in? Do you have a well to water? Would you like to get rid of some of the front grass and have islands of trees? Depending on your zone.

We have decided to go with grey (with a hint of blue) shutters and a bight red door. We took everything down, power washed it, primed, put on several coats of paint and put it all back up. We like the result. Really weren't fans of burgundy and think it looks a lot better now. We also did see the house without shutters in the process and it really doesn't look right without them. Thank you all for your input!