You might investigate a circular drive. It would be a nice feature around which to design.

I like that idea! Is it a problem that the water line runs from the well to the house under the front yard, though? I just didn't know if driving across it could damage it.

No pea gravel. It's messy and doesn't stay put. Crushed stone or decomposed granite.

The biggest issue I would have with your landscaping is the trees and shrubs up so close to the windows. Not great for safety or for seeing out. There's a difference between creating a view and blocking a view. A tree placed a ways away from a window creates a view and also blocks the view of the window from the road. Right in front of the window makes it easy for critters or burglars to hide in them and blocks your view out the window of anything other than the wall of green in the summer. But actually it looks like some of the trees were limbed up so maybe just rethink a few of the worst offenders. I inherited similarly planted shrubs and my house and I'm sure they were fine for a while, but now they need to be torn out and we are replacing them with low plantings. Feral cats hide in what we have now.

I've lived in a house where the water line ran below part of a circular driveway and the problem was that it was prone to freezing in the winter if you plowed that end of the driveway. So in the winter I didn't have a circular driveway. If you live in a warmer climate (I'm in zone 6b but with really long winters) it may not be an issue.

Agreed that it would look nice and complement your home.

I think one of the reasons this thread is not getting lots of traction because it too broad and therefore, seems overwhelming from the advice-giver's perspective. It works better if the threads focus on bite-size chunks of the yard rather than the whole yard (or too much of it) at once. For example, a thread could work on just the front foundation planting. Or, it could work on the larger front yard, minus the foundation planting ... and so on and so forth.

A second reason for the thread's lack of traction is the photos. They are of lots of things from lots of perspectives, but don't give a great understanding of how all these things fit together. That is best understood from a broad view that is taken from not too great a distance away. For example, if you were doing just the foundation bed, you'd move about 1/2 the distance the camera is from the house in the first picture. And from that single point take a SERIES of slightly overlapping pictures that pan from far left to far right ... so we could see and understand how the bed and its surroundings all fit together. (We're too far away in that frontal view shown in the first picture to discuss how a walk might run.)

Trying to upload the recommended photos. I moved closer and re-did the series from left to right.

I admit that I myself am overwhelmed by this front yard, so I get it, who wants to take on this monstrosity?

I like the split staircase. I like the height of the house. What I don't like is the feeling that it's propped up on a high foundation like a raised ranch. What if you white washed the brick foundation so that the house wouldn't appear floating? I am also not fond of the windowless side. Depending on what the siding is, I'd grow an ivy or climbing hydrangea on it. Or install some windows. I would also anchor all trees and the flagpole in generous beds of groundcover.

Have I spent enough of your money?

Yardvaark, I absolutely love that plan! It's exactly what I was hoping for, and looks even better than I could have imagined. For plants, I am hoping to find some evergreen, deer resistant shrubs, if I could find white flowering varieties, even better. I would prefer to use native plants if possible, as they seem to survive our difficult growing conditions and my neglectful tendencies best. I stopped at my local garden center, and found several that I wanted to ask about.

Sterile viburnum, it says 6-10' in height. Would it work as the specimen plant in front of the stairs? Viburnum grow very well in our area. I like the white flowers but it is not evergreen.

Clethra "sixteen candles". Supposedly the deer don't touch them, and Clethra are native to Virginia, but it may not be wet enough in the front garden, and I would prefer low watering requirements.

Ligustrum "sunshine". Evergreen.

Abelia "Rose Creek "

Abelia "Radiance"

Spirea "Little Princess "

I also like Russian Sage, which does well in our hot summers, and the deer seem to leave it alone. And of course the standby, the knockout rose. My garden center has a white variety. I like the false cypress mop type shrubs, too.

I am open to other suggestions!

Olivia

It seems that many threads, today, have been messed with and are missing some of their parts, or they are out of order.

Olivia, earlier I submitted a picture with suggestions in it, but there is no comment by you indicating that you even saw it. It couldn't help advance your cause unless you comment about where it doesn't work for you, if it doesn't.

The website appears to be having some technical difficulties. I responded yesterday to this thread, but Yardvaark appears not to be able to see it. I also cannot upload photos today. Yardvaard, if you still can't see my reply after a reasonable amount of time, I will re-post. I did see your plan, and I love it! I responded with some ideas for plants. Thank you!

Olivia

Basically, a visit to the Landscape Forum, today, is a trip to the Twilight Zone. Finally, I have figured out that Houzz has reversed the order of the posts within the thread. It leads off with the original thread, which is immediately followed with the newest post and the oldest is at the bottom. This is in a way good, but it seems like the comment box should be moved up to just under the latest post. Otherwise, one still has to scroll to the bottom in order to leave a comment, which often has some reference to the comment directly above (but now way far above) it.

Olivia, whatever of those concepts you wish to use, you'd convert to a plan view (which is like a map of your yard.) You'd begin with laying out the hardscape (walk) before doing any planning of plantings. Need to start all of this with a simple, measured base plan.

My amateur plan attempt.

That's very good. Since you're drawing to scale, you don't need to put the dimensions on anything existing. At the base plan stage, try to keep the drawing as clean and clutter-free as possible ... so no tree canopies or any extra marks. If you show the tree trunks, that's enough of a reminder of where and what they are. Labels would get in the way, so those can be added once a copy of the plan evolves into a planting plan (or whatever kind of plan you make of it. It could have multiple purposes.)

The first thing you'll want to use the plan for is to lay out a walk. The house steps terminate seemingly much farther out than they appeared in the picture. You'll want to create the walk according to reality ... no what things might have appeared to be like in a picture (as was the information that I went by.) It might look something like this. But you can alter any way you wish.

After you decide on a walk layout, you'd want to figure out any beds. It's possible that the edge of the walk might form a bed line, but not necessarily. It's up to you. If you follow my concept, there are beds below at least two trees. (Another reason not to show tree canopies. Both beds and tree canopies showing around a tree would be confusing as to which is which.)

Having the plan and the concept together will help you plot out the location of the larger plants, and then you can work down to the groups of smaller plants.

If you're planning on some type of gravel walk, I'd make it 5' wide. I would also create a landing at the base of the steps, equal to their width, and made of some type of hard paving. If the entire walk is hard paving, such as concrete, you could make it as narrow as 4', but not narrower. A landing should still be equal to the step width and you would flare the walk where it meets the drive. (How the drive meets the parking seems a bit awkward and unrealistic, so I'd verify its layout on the base plan.

The scale marked on the plan is what I drew it at. If you want a copy of that file, you can send me a PM with your email address. (Drawn using Microsoft Paint.)

Just a question, how do you normally get to the in-law suite on the right? Is there a better way than walking up and down the front entry staircase?

I noticed that you're choosing shrubs based on the available selection at Meadows Farms. Get thee to Merrifield Garden Center! You have a lovely home which deserves quality landscaping.

Good point about the path to the in law suite, nickel_kg! Currently, we are walking on the lawn around the front of the steps, so I suppose we need to extend a walkway of some sort along that route. I wonder if we need a full width walkway there, or if we could do something subtle like stepping stones within the lawn, low enough to mow over? My husband likes the clean look without a wide walkway across the front of the steps.

Cecily, I will go check out the closest Merrifields! The Meadows Farm is right on my way to work, but I will plan a trip to Merrifields when I get a free day.

The in-law suite should be shown on plan and a path to it worked out.

The in law apt is on the right side of the house, where the patio is.

The driveway is a little awkward where it meets the parking, but I took it directly off a satellite image, so it is accurate.