I'd lose the paired identical shrubs at the front door because the house facade does not have a geometrically symmetric design. Nor are any other plantings in the vicinity organized in this manner. Both making the identical pair look completely out of place.

Agreed! On the list of things to go!...though I will miss walking through the smell of lilac in spring!

And they’re too big as well as poorly placed.

I’m confused over the asphalt at the front. It’s obvious that you might drive up to the garage door and use the curved sidewalk to proceed to the front door. Why is there asphalt/hard surface in front of the door, shown curving to the right in picture 3? Looks awkward. Could we see that in another shot taken from further back so we could get a sense of why it’s there?

The driveway is a single lane... it looks fairly wide in this shot

I'd plant a deciduous shade tree of enough mature size to balance the size of the house in the center rear of the half circle between the house and garage. By filling and obscuring the gap between the house and garage it would make the whole appear more integrated. Of course it will take a long time to size up but even if you leave while it is still developing it might be seen as an enhancement by the next buyer.

The right corner of the house also needs something of some size planted there to soften it.

The lilacs can be dug when dormant (leafless) and used elsewhere on the property. Just not together in an identical pair.

As always there is really only so much discussion this format lends itself to and it may soon get to the point where you really need somebody working in your service area to come out and help you in person. In the meantime you will always need to make it clear what you are asking about - where, specifically you are thinking about having a wall, for instance - and show plenty of good views of the areas being mulled over in order to get useful responses here.

Tree shown between house and garage is too small to be in scale with the house - something at least twice as big is called for. Something also not consisting of multiple slender trunks that are bare to above the 10 or 12 ft. level, as though property is infested with some kind of prehistoric browsing animal.

"not consisting of multiple slender trunks that are bare to above the 10 or 12 ft. level, as though property is infested with some kind of prehistoric browsing animal."

LOL!! Not sure where that viewpoint comes from!! What does it matter if it is a multi-trunked tree or one that has a single, clear trunk? The effect is the same. I would also question the comment about scale. The tree shown in the mock up is in perfect scale for both the planting area and the area it is intended to soften. It is the overall mass that provides balance, not just the height. And you wouldn't want a 40-50' shade tree planted that close to the residence anyway.....that's the whole point of smaller ornamental trees like Japanese maples, dogwoods or crape myrtles. They enhance and soften but not overwhelm.

I wonder if it ever occurred to Embothrium that my drawings are starting points ... an attempt to get a flounderer's thinking into the ball park. They're hardly a statement that this is the exact only thing a person could do! Emboth, you could just redraw things like you like them and repost. Then we'd see how much you really want to labor over those details. A property owner doing the DIY has the responsibility of creating the plan, picking the plants and pulling all the details together -- including how tall a tree is or whether it is single or multi-trunk, etc. I'm just nudging a half-dozen same principles, where I'm sure we disagree, along.

Hey Peeps, I didn't think a mini war would erupt over my question!;) Thank you so much for the drawing! It definitely gave us a good shape and bouncing off point.... and having a visual makes all the difference! Does anyone think we could add a stone wall or fence across the front of either side of the walkway to the door? I'm a sucker for a gate or even a Fake wall that looks like a bit of a ruin!

Not really a "war." Disagreements come. They get sorted out ... or not. No big deal. When someone thinks a cartoon is a photo or computer rendering, they need reminded, it's a cartoon.

My vote would be a definite no on a wall, and I think it would be a big negative. There's no grade change to speak of so it'd be sitting on top of ground looking like ... why? You could find other hardscape to do that makes sense ... wide mowing strip to separate beds from lawn ... a well positioned and proportioned art object .... a flowering vine covered arbor that leads to the back yard ... etc.

I see your point, I was thinking a bit of a folly to give the illusion that maybe there had been an old homestead here... the house is actually only 15 or so yrs old.

Sometimes we try to make things too busy though and I often remind myself to keep it simple!

can I ask your thoughts on the railing above the front door? It needs to be replaced and I am thinking maybe we should do a black metal rail.... or should we stick with another trim coloured rail...

so many conundrums!

Either color railing sounds not wrong. If I was trying to decide, I'd paint a small sample and walk across the street and see what it looked like and make my best call. If it was wrong, it wouldn't be by much. If I was wrong about that, I'd paint it again. It is not that big.