Not abandoned. I am reading the comments, but I was traveling and having trouble with connection where I was, so responding was difficult. The tree trimmers are coming next week. I agree I don't like the bushes. I do have to replace or repair/resurface the driveway because it's about to be dug into during a plumbing project that we have to do. We can keep the shape (circular drive), or change the look of the front in general by not doing a circle drive and deciding on a totally new look/landscape scheme for the front yard. Not doing this for resale, but I won't do anything out of character for the neighborhood just in case.

That looks like a nice place to live. Congratulations on your first home! Curb appeal is subjective but when I moved back to my home in 2005 I wanted to sustain pollinators (bees, butterflies, hummingbirds) since they're being decimated by chemicals. No, I'm not an activist; I just love seeing them in my garden pollinating my plants. What is your USDA Hardiness Zone? I'm in Z6a southern New England which was a huge help when I started planning my garden beds. Wish I could post before/after pictures but I'm cell-phone challenged. When I moved here I Googled my ZIP code so I knew I was in USDA Z6a. That defined what perennials would grow in my slightly acidic sandy loam. I also knew that my parents practiced organic gardening 40 years before I moved back home. I decided "curb appeal" and sustaining pollinators weren't mutually exclusive so I designed a number of full/part sun as well as full/part shade beds and planted perennials that would (a) add curb appeal; and (b) sustain pollinators. Here's what I planted: Full/part sun: Russian sage, wandflower, butterfly bush, beardtongue, lavender, Shasta daisy, false indigo, ladybells, balloon flower, perennial geranium, stoke's aster, daylily, coneflower, cushion spurge, blanket flower and other sun lovers. Full/part shade: hosta, brunnera/Siberian bugloss, columbine, Japanese sedge, black snakeroot, Lenten roses, coral bells, astilbe, toad lilies. Get a picture in your mind what you'd like others to see when they view your garden. No, I didn't do that; I knew what I wanted to see each day when I pulled in the driveway after work. It took a lot of effort but now I'm happy with what I see whenever I come home from the library. TIP 1: don't just spread mulch; spread recycled cardboard with mulch on top to suppress weeds. Worms LOVE cardboard. Happy worms = worm poop = free fertilizer. Tip 2: My folks planted beds up close to the road. I moved all my garden beds down close to the house (where the hose would reach). Tip 3: I asked my neighbor to pop the evergreen shrubs out in front of my house so I could plant other things. He came with his tractor and I never saw them again.

I knew they'd chime in...listen to them, they're golden!

Appreciate all this feedback as our house has been a work in progress for last 15yrs. Was an ugly orange one-tone brick that we painted when purchased and repainted about 3yrs ago off-white with same color trim. There were sage green shutters on all the windows that were rotted and removed. We couldn’t afford to replace at the time. Should we add them back in updated style? We put a new roof on last year and went with brown tones. I like the idea of a darker trim color and maybe even a dark gutters. We’ve struggled with the lawn due to heavy shade and drainage issues. Our House sits below street level on the right side. Two years ago we removed one lg oak that was also on the right-side and limbed up all the other tree. We are considering sodding the entire front yard and tearing out the front walkway to the street we don’t really use it-we live on a really busy street. We moved our mailbox to the side street years ago and added a friends entrance w/porch with a walkway from the street. If we tear out the walkway from street straight to the front door we would replace it with a walkway from the friends entry porch around The house to the front door In front of a landscaped bed along the front foundation. I would say that I’m looking for an overall cottage-look. Im a very visual person so your drawings and pics are VERY helpful!