Agreed; the taller shrubs (Yews?) can go. Cape Canaveral those horrible white stones while your at it! The planting replacing the old shrubs should still have enough height to hide the lower third of the porch to provide some privacy (say just below eye level if you were sitting on a chair on front porch). There should be foreground plantings in front of that for a layered/tiered effect. The house needs some separation from the street - perhaps a specimen multi-stem small tree/large shrub in the bed alongside the driveway. Replace those stone chips with some proper hardscape border material (and lose that dinky radius)

Front door/stormdoor…what ever color you choose have the door and storm the same color…and get a full view storm.

Lucky for you there are a lot of paints that have “cranberry” for a name. So, you have a leg on which to stand when you choose:

B.M. Soft Cranberry

I have never lived in a neighborhood which was “patrolled” by an HOA. Wouldn’t you think a group of intelligent people could do better than white, black and cranberry? You never have the fun of telling a first time visitor that you house has the purple door, or the lime green door.

How about you can choose any color in B.M. Historical Colors? That makes sense to me.

I would get rid of the eagle, the river rocks and all of the planting blocking your cute front porch.

I would do a hydrangea on the left side of the front porch. The do really well in south NJ. Then I would plant perennials and annuals in the beds.

Thanks to all of you! You've confirmed my opinions of what needs to go to give this house a bit more sparkle. Alas JudyG, my HOA is an over 55 community and you wouldn't believe how strict they are over every. single. thing. There's a specific name for the cranberry and it must match the painted shutters on the side of the house, it's fairly dark. The lawn guys will be putting down mulch soon so I want to have my landscaping plans in hand before they get here. Will definitely be taking out the bushes. There's a fairly large evergreen on the very corner that doesn't show much in the picture; that I think can stay. The rest is going away. A hydrangea sounds like a good idea, they do grow well here!

Just wanted to say what a darling house you purchased. Yes, remove shrubs, eagle, solar lights, stones, etc. You obviously know what it needs by the sounds of it. Can you swing for a new driveway? Yes to new front door, don't do the 1/2 thing. You will need to bring in some new top soil for the garden. Go to local nursery, they know what plants should grow in your area.

Good luck.

The driveway is aggregate and actually in really good shape. It doesn't show up well in the picture. The hard part now is finding a landscaper who isn't up to his neck in projects in the spring!

I would get the new door and a phantom screen so you don’t hide the new door. I think I would do black then once all the shrubs are gone get a couple of bright colored chairs for the porch I don’t think the HOA can tell you what color those can be. The landscaping will make a huge differene in the curb appeal.Some nice potted seasonal plants along with the new plants I would not do anything that grows taller than the porche floor to keep that space feeling open. Lots of spring bulbs always work well with low plantings.I would do evergreens and then mix with annuals and the bulbs

Then paint the front door black as well as the new garage door. Sounds ridiculous to paint a new door, but it will make a world of difference and it will tie in with the roof.

Remove the river rock, and before replacing with a ground level masonry mowing strip, change the bed outlines to make the lines more generous and the sweep of curves more open/less tight. Use an edging along the drive that keeps the soil in the bed or lower the soil level.

Shrubs need removal and replacement with a combination of lower evergreen and deciduous plants and a flowering evergreen groundcover.

Storm door needs replacement with a full light one that matches the door color, or as someone suggested, a retractable screen.

Either black or cranberry would be an improvement for the door color and sidelights, but I would likely appeal this to the HOA with some other ideas. Three choices is ridiculous.

Redoing the landscaping will help, of course. Would you consider adding a walkway (perhaps brick to match you chimney) directly from the front door and parallel to your driveway? The two wall sconces on the garage seem a bit pinched. So, you could consider removing them. Not always a fan of hanging plants but in this situation it might work in the two arches on the left. Your chimney is pretty big and sort of dominates the front fascade. You might consider painting it white. This would lessen it's impact but would still provide textural interest. Be aware that once painted brick can never be unpainted. Also, the small lone vent with cover on top of the chimney looks undersized. You could consider switching it out with a larger one or a couple of the size you have now. There are some really nice looking clay chimney pots that would look fantastic there. You can check the Superior Clay website and browse their selections. Good luck!

Wow, so many really good ideas, including a few that I never thought of! Thank you, everyone!

The lawn may be fine but I would start over on the perimeter of your garden. The bed along the driveway needs to go. I would replace it with lawn. I am surprised sometimes at the all the goo gaws people add to the landscape when often simple is better. Your house is very attractive and I see no flaws that need disguised with landscaping. I like the river rock and hope you find a use for it but it cannot be used as it is currently.

After removing the current shrubs I suggest only low plants. Probably not a shrub unless you find an attractive prostrate shrub that you want. Evergreen perennials would be nice. Even a flowering ground cover would be nice but I would go for the clumping type over the vine type. You don't want something that will aggressively spread into the lawn. I like annuals so I would leave some open places in the bed for seasonal color. I do know that Heuchra will grow in NJ and the red or peach shade would look good with the color of your house. Violets are nice if they do not become a bully. Hellebores are beautiful.

A retractable screen door would be best but I am not sure if you have room for one without hiding part of the sidelight. It is worth looking into. If not there are full view screen doors. I found this one online.https://www.lowes.com/pd/LARSON-Pembrook-White-Aluminum-Hinged-Screen-Door-Common-36-in-x-81-in-Actual-35-75-in-x-79-75-in/1000102935 Paint the screen door whatever color you paint the door. I would choose cranberry but black is nice too.

I love the eagle and would keep it. However, I would have it mounted on the chimney above the roof. I've always wanted one but they are pricey.

I'm not an artist but I made a cut and paste image of how the cleaned up garden could look.

Our HOA is insanely strict. Our subdivision is fairly large-2,200 homes— and they’re pretty close to one another so for the most part I do see where rules help keep things from getting out of hand. Every. Single. Outside change needs approval. My backyard Is lakefront so most of my “living” will be done back there, but I want the front to look good too. La dscaper coming next week to go over some ideas. Bushes are definitely coming out and I will pare down the cutesy stuff!

I never thought about removing the curved area from the front but it really does look much better that way. What’s there already seems like a mishmash of plants and flowers without any cohesiveness. This is my first spring in this house so I was waiting to see what popped up in the spring but so far I’m not really impressed. Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

I usually like a popping front door but in this case I'd opt for keeping it white. Everything is a bit shaded under there and you need some cohesion with the chimney breaking everything up already. I think white would be great.

Your new garage door is very classy and is a great feature. Don't try to make your front door compete with it. And the eagle, as cool as it is must go. Not enough room there and again detracts from your garage door.

I would take the shrubs out, remove all the stones. What about some large grasses in front of the porch that have a bit of winter interest too and don't totally block the view of the porch, yet provide some barrier to the street front?

I don't think this is particularly well executed but like the idea of a bit of a hydrangea shrub garden curving out in front of the porch.

Lovely Renovations · More Info

More low shrubs - I think hydrangea in front of a porch. Yes to ferns hanging in the summer too.

Cape Cod Style Home · More Info

This would not provide winter interest, but I'd think of having a border garden of hosta in front of the porch. Low, great textures, green interest. Could plant mini rhodedendron there too. I live in Philly, not far from South Jersey, and mine did great over the winter. Keep them clipped low not to block the porch. Something like the border garden below but imagine the fence shown here is your porch instead.

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PS - HOAs are a pain in the ass. I'm sure you have better uses of your time than trying to take on people who gravitate to these kinds of boards. My parents used to live in a place that had one and they called it the "Itty bitty architectural committee."

I live in an HOA community and I’m grateful for it. The alternative can be cars parked on the lawn, purple houses, pink flamingos in the front yard, etc. etc.

Your house is very cute. Good luck!

Just wanted to update this thread. My landscaper is pulling everything out of the front on Monday (including the rocks). He's keeping the curve to the bed, and putting in maiden grass, false holly, a Japanese maple bush, dwarf butterfly bushes and dwarf crepe myrtle bushes. I'll post pictures on Monday.

TONS of perennials popped up in this bed over the spring and summer. Several of my friends wanted some of them, but the landscaper sprayed , to kill the groundcover, I guess- and I'm not sure anything will survive. I can't get an answer from him on exactly what he sprayed, so I guess it's "Let the buyer beware" if they want to take a chance on the plants.

Whoever owned this house in the past obviously loved gardening. Since I don't, it's better to just start with a clean slate!

following

If weed killer was sprayed, you can’t plant anything or will have to replace dirt around each planting. Get name of product used and google manufacturers recommendations on new plants after use.

Talked to my landscaper yesterday. Only the ivy and the wild strawberries were sprayed. One of my friends took all the rocks today and another took a good chunk of the annuals. Looking forward to tomorrow!

Stage 1. Everything torn out. It looks better already!

Picture won’t load. And if it loads, it won’t post. This site is horrible.

Took these pictures late this afternoon. I’ll try to get better light tomorrow. Any and all ideas for improvement welcomed!

Personally I don't like how the plantings were placed.

I would have placed the tall grasses in front of the pillars.

You have 3 pillars - put a tall grass in front of each then smaller plants

in between.

The garden bed on the side is too wide. I would make it narrower by about

1/3rd.

I'm not at all sure about the grasses in general. I think they're too tall. The Japanese Maple bush isn't really thrilling me either. I'll be planting or potting some annuals in the side bed, which I think will fill in the spaces. I definitely welcome opinions on this!

You have gotten some excellent ideas here. I’d call the former style of your home (your original pictures) Old Lady Futzy. Kind of like fussy, only more so. :).

I’m worried that too much/too tall things have been planted now . . . Landscapers do that sometimes. More money for them, you know.

Lol, well, it is an over 55 community! The landscaper said the grasses won't grow taller, will get a little wider, but I'm not sure I believe him. I might keep the one at the end of the house only. The Japanese Maple bush--honestly, it looks like a tree to me. And I don't want that to grow either, so it might also be going.

Sharon, can you find out what variety of Japanese maple was planted? There are literally tons of varieties, including some dwarfs that can be more of a dense, compact bush.

Hard to tell, but the Japanese Maple doesn't look like a bush, looks more like "tree like" variety.

If the grasses get too tall for your liking, you can always cut them back in the fall and they will

grown again.

I talked to my landscaper, the Japanese maple is definitely going.. It sounds kind of silly, but it looks like it belongs in front of a more contemporary house. It's too modern for my house! I'm still on the fence with the grasses.

Cannot post a final picture . Happy with the result!

"It sounds kind of silly, but it looks like it belongs in front of a more contemporary house. It's too modern for my house! "

I find this a very odd notion :-) There is nothing particularly contemporary in style about a Japanese maple. They have been planted in Japan for thousands of years. With the right complimentary plantings, there is a cultivar suitable for any style of architecture! I would opt for a JM over messy, deciduous ornamental grasses any day of the week!! Especially for an entry garden.

"If weed killer was sprayed, you can’t plant anything or will have to replace dirt around each planting."

Just an FYI but this is not at all true. Most herbicides/weed killers retain minimal viability in the soil - they have to interact with growing plant tissue/foliage to be effective - and you can generally replant the area within a couple of days. The product label will always provide this information.