What direction does your house face?

South South-West

If you like color, Crotons are beautiful as are Pentas. Both love sun. Find beautiful ideas on Pinterest, search Florida Landscaping, there's lots to drool over.

Crotons with Bismark Palm (sort of fan shaped fronds) in foreground:

5c45fcde8b909ff5ef8ad1332006e989.jpg (736×552) · More Info

Pentas:

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My immediate impression is that the house looks too exposed, naked & plain. Needs some trees to give it a more sheltered, protected look. The right end of the house, without windows, could use a small forest of small trees ... or a multi-trunk tree to add a little interest. Since you're in Florida, you might consider Tabebuia argentea or chrysotricha as they can be kept a reasonable size and are glorious in the spring when in bloom. They do not produce a heavy shade canopy, which is another reason they look good as a small "forest."

It looks like the large tree is missing a big chunk. The remaining stub ought to be chain sawed off so it looks better and can heal over. The lower branch at the right ought to be removed for a more balanced look. Maybe it's in decline, which is another good reason to start some trees at the right side of house. If it goes, you can add another street tree then.

A small tree off of the left corner and center would help, too. (The house looks "vacant" at the central area on account of roof expanse and aqueduct.) Other things are shrub(s) annuals, perennials and groundcover.

I would not put in trees that will lose leaves. There are so many beautiful palms to choose from for Florida. We are in central Florida and have found it is sort of trial and error. Beautiful trees for along the side of your house would be Bottle Brush trees. They get beautiful blooms a couple of times a year and are easily trimmed. I would put a grouping of smaller Robellini palms near the front entrance with a bed of crotons, pentas, and some small annuals.

Small Palm Trees · More Info

You could do a bed like this around your large tree.

Boca Raton Landscape Designer Renovations - Before & After Images · More Info

Check Pamela Crawford & Associates website.

@Kelly Jean, I would start giving feedback on some of the suggestions given you, so that you can fine tune the help you get, to what is actually useful to you.

I do like the bottle brush but don't think it's bloom comes anywhere close to what a Tabby does. In my view, that a plant loses leaves for a short time is inconsequential. There is beauty in branch structure. There is excitement in the return of new growth. There is awe at pure bloom that is 100% uncluttered with leaves or any other distractions ... that it looks like the tree is in and of itself, a pure, colored light. The bottlebrush though not especially tall, is a very wide tree. If you were to use it at the right side of the house, only one multi-trunk specimen is all there is room for. It's a cool tree, but one must be prepared to accept its habit of showing a lot of "sticks" (small branches without leaves) in its foliage section.

Hi Kelly Jean - I am not a pro so I am speaking from what works for us and is easy to grow and maintain. We have a bottle brush hedge next to our house. The multi-trunk trees are planted about 12 feet apart and do not show "sticks" except right after they are sheared to about 5 ' in diameter. After a month? or so, they have full foliage again almost to the ground. The birds love them. As a specimen tree they are spectacular, almost like a weeping willow, but would get too big between houses. If you are in a more northern climate, I agree that deciduous trees can be very beautiful. Here we have queen palms, robellini, a pony tail palm and a bismarck palm in our yard. I moved to Florida to enjoy the tropical landscape. Our palms are beautiful and healthy. But everyone has different taste.

bottlebrush hedge florida - Google Search · More Info

bottlebrush hedge florida - Google Search · More Info

With a zone 10b climate, you're pretty well as tropical as you can get in the continental USA. In addition to curb appeal, you may want to consider other factors such as:

• Keeping tall trees far enough away from the house to minimize the chance of damage from a major hurricane
• Potentially landscaping to reduce the amount of solar impact on the house and lower energy bills
• Taking advantage of the mild climate - planting a unique landscape.

I like the border garden suggested by @Yardvaark as well as the border gardens suggested by @ashtonchick, The crotons and ti plants are great for adding some of that tropical color.

A few words to the wise on the pygmy date palms (Phoenix roebelenii) - they do have very stiff spines on the bases of every frond. If you are doing your own maintenance, wear eye protection and gloves. If you have young children, you may be better off with an "unarmed" palm. As well, they are very common because they are fully hardy even here in Central Florida. I have 11 of them here, but no children and do all of my own maintenance.

A great, unarmed native alternative mid-size palm is Pseudophoenix_sargentii. It typically stays below 30 feet high, has a distinguished tropical look, is fully hardy in your area, native, and has a high salt tolerance.

If one did substantial pruning on a bottlebrush it would not develop the look of exposed sticks ... because the growth is new and has foliage. It is the untrimmed tops of mature trees that develop bare branches. The foliage is on the twigs and because they hang down, don't cover the branches from which they come. Here's and example. Some older trees show a lot of it. It could be remedied with a major haircut and refresh of foliage, as Ashtonchic is doing with hers. Here's an example I pulled off the web, but it doesn't really show the condition well. In real life it can be quite pronounced, especially in older trees. Since you live here, you can drive around and see what it's like for yourself.

I guess everyone has a different opinion.... for one I would NOT plant ANY palm trees... but if you want them come take mine. I HATE them.... I mean REALLY hate them. I have several different kind and I HATE all of them.... 2nd someone said to get rid of your arches, but I personally like them. I would probably put climbing rose on each of them.... and then I would put a rose bed in front of that and mix in some salvias.... the kind that attract hummingbirds. Roses are my thing.... I have 45 bushes here in South Florida. They smell great and are beautiful, however, If you aren't into roses, a person in my neighborhood had a ragoon creeper that is arches like that. It is green all year, but has beautiful flowers at least half of the year hear in Palm Beach County... The thing about that plant is it smells REALLY good. When I go for walks I can smell it a couple of blocks away... It is on the west side of her house, also facing the street. I would probably pick a lot of different fragrant plants, such as Viburnum odoratissimum, and or fiddlewood - which also both attrack butterflies. Starburst (Clerodendrum quadriloculare) is a beautiful tree that reaches about 15 feet. It has pinkish flowers that puts on a real show during the winter and spring. It is highly attractive to hummingbirds..... If you also like fragrant, but don't care if plants are decidious you can plant some frangipani, and if you want to make the frangipani pretty when there are no leaves... you can attach orchids to it..... You have a wide variety of options.... everyone gave you advice, and many of us don't care for what others have suggested... it doesn't mean one is wrong, everybody likes what they like.... it is why there are so many FLAVORS of ice cream.... did I say you could actually use an edible landscape idea..... So out of all of the suggestions you get here, one thing you should really do is find a tropical or botanical garden and GO look.... see what YOU like.... Drive around your neighborhood see things you like..... go to a couple of nurseries and ask if they have any customers they landscaped that you could see.... or if they have pictures.... Then ask yourself.... do you want to keep a large grassy area... do you want to play games, in your yard, do you want to mow.... do you want to attract birds or butterflies... how about bees (or are you allergic to them).... how much time do you want to spend in your yard maintaing your garden... do you want to care for it yourself, are you going to have a gardener come help... install.... Do you live here full time? Will you want your flowers all year... how about fruit.... Whatever YOU do DO NOT rush to put in something just to get it done.... Take your time and REALLY think WHAT you want ... And 2nd, once you get your garden done, don't forget to post pictures here so we can all see.... GOOD LUCK!

I'm seeing a palm tree grove with loads of varying color hibiscus happening right after you tear down the arches.

Wow! Thank you so much for the feedback!

@Yardvaark- I appreciate that great rendering and all of your input! I really like the idea of adding the Tabebuia trees; their blooms are beautiful! I knew that area of the house needed something- just couldn't figure out what.

@ Patricia Colwell Consulting - Thanks. I'm not the biggest fan of the arches either, but taking them down is not an option right now. I'm just looking to add some landscaping for now.

@ ashtonchic - I love your idea about adding a bed and maybe some palms near the entrance.

@ kinzyjr -Thanks for bringing that information to my attention. I hadn't thought about "dangers" of different palms. We will be doing our own maintenance and do have children that will be playing in the yard. So, that is definitely something we will consider. I love the look of the Pseudophoenix_sargentii palm you suggested!

@ sharon2079 - I really love the idea of adding fragrant plants and ones that will attract hummingbirds, butterflies, etc. I sincerely appreciate all of your suggestions. I look forward to researching everything and coming up with a plan!

Thanks to all of the input, we are talking over all of our options and will come up with a game plan!

The arches are bad. I'd get rid of them first thing.

Ditch the altered arches. Those are not original to the house. Someone added cladding and got carried away.

Then call a pro landscaper, spend some time on a plan for the front. The growth and OVER GROWTH happen at the speed of light in Florida.

I like the arches. You could move them to the backyard if you dont want them out front. I agree with Sharon. There are lots of pretty rose climbers that do well in Florida. You could also grow jasmine or another vine.

Here is a link to the rose forum ..... if you scroll down threw it you will see a house that has arches with a rose growing on it.... thought you would like to see it.... https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5698023/beautiful-visit-to-lisas-garden#n=59

Don't listen to the guy above about ditching the arches, use them to make a new orleans style courtyard out of them, google "new orleans style courtyard". Put a small water feature on the patio. I would then drill in some eye ancor bolts directly into the brick and use some wire to train 5 bouganvilla "20$ each large", Purple, Red, Purple, Red, Purple going up the brick and espalier them off to the brick. "est 150-200$" Take that windmill palm to the left, remove the ciruclar pavers, take the bed about two feet wider, replace with a tan rock to match your house and use fabric underneath "est 50$". I will also say something, so many people put shrubs and trees right up against the house and its a huge no no more often than not. You can use stratigic stuff like cannas, dwarf promgranite, ginger, etc to get the same look of whatever your going for without blocking your view from the house. In saying that, I think you need to have something that gives your house some mystery. That large tree is a huge focal point. I also don't like the hedge in the front which kind of looks like legustrum. I agree with the bottle brush row between the neighbors house out the right side as I think it would be nice to have the privacy. I would go from the large tree to the black driveway and take the grass out from there to the street. Then would add in daylillies, coleous, sweet potatoe vine, birds of paradise, amongst other things. I would also put a couple of orchids on the iniside wall of the arches so you could see them from your house.

If you are looking to add palms, I prefer the self shedding palms such as foxtail and Christmas palms. They're easy to maintain and don't get too large. I have both planted right in front of my house and have never had a problem during hurricanes or tornadoes, and I've been through both. I also like Sharon's idea of adding climbing roses to the arches. It will soften them and look beautiful as well.

Those arches are actually pretty common in nice 70s subdivisions in our area of Florida. Usually stucco, but occasionally beick or stone.
I had a lovely courtyard with the arch.. added offset stainless wire trellis, covered the archwayvwith climbing jasmine. loved it.

I too would take the arch thing down. It totally takes your eyes away from the rest of the house. Taking it down would be my first priority. Without it the look of your front yard and the front of the house will change a lot and different landscape treatments might be more appropriate.

I probably sound like a broken record, but have you considered native plants? coontie, byrsonima lucida and beauty berry are my favorite.

Arches would be the first to go. Only in Florida do you see such nonsense. They certainly are NOT New Orleans style. Just some dumb builder who thought people would think it made the house look good.

Doesn't.

I agree, totally with Yardvaark.

honestly people are being quite rude about the arches. It is a very common look un broward and I think they look great. I hope everyone remembers this is her home! Be kind. :)

I agree with Broward. While I love the arches, others don't.... that is fine, but I don't think people should "trash" them... Removing them would be quite expensive, and we don't know that she could even get a permit to remove them.... so don't make her hate them.... while it is ok for one or two people to say they don't care for them is fine... but I kind of feel like people are ganging up on her.... She was asking for landscape help not how to re-design the architect of her home....