Hmmm I had downloaded a picture without the mulch but it didn’t show apparently. hmmm the garden center actually recommended the sand cherries, they said you can keep cutting them down to a Shrub height. im also not a fan of evergreens which why I didn’t include them, for some reason I don’t like the look of them, but I guess I need to get over that! which ones would you Recommend? And yes! I agree about the numbers, pole and the railing! That’s my project after the garden lol

(@ Yarkvaark) "Thank you so much for your input. My problem is my windows don't start til a little over 5" high so I need larger foundation plants. I like what you put there. I was thinking of trying an aborvite in the middle of the two garge windows. What is the shrub you designed in front of each window? It looks perfect! I had been thinking a rhode but I'd love something different since most house have the rhode up here. Much much thanks!!" The purpose of landscaping is not to rebuild the facade of the house in plants, covering all of the exposed siding. I think an Arborvitae be between the garage windows would clearly be in that directions. There's not room for such a plant and it's not necessary. The shrubs I"m showing below windows come to the bottom of the sill so they surely are large enough to do the job ... but then, they're generic. I don't know where you're located and shrubs would need to be selected according to your climate. It looks like the shrubs near the porch would work if someone would let them grow taller. There would be many option for shrubs this size in any locality.

Seems to me you do have 3 large projects here & they should be tackled in certain order to prevent wasted money & time. 1st project = large evergreen. Get an arborist to look at it & give you options. Determine what your liability is if it does fall & take out power lines. Answer to that might determine fate of tree but whatever you do to it will dramatically affect any landscape plan. Maybe it needs only to be limbed up & thinned out. NO topping to make shorter! It looks like a tree or shrub is in front of it too. 2nd project = widen driveway & figure out what kind or if a retaining wall will be needed or achieve the look you want. 3rd project & the fun one = create an appealing front yard! In this project my advice it to move those Rose of Sharon tree standards away from the house. In their natural state they are fairly large shrubs but easily pruned. They just look too close to house In that narrow bed. I’d also advise making a much larger planting bed in front of the house - you’ve got lots of room for a big curved bed to fill with all of the kinds of plants you mentioned you like. Those Rose of Sharon trees can be part of that bed. But, you need to know what the fate of big evergreen tree will be before you can plan the bed & also the retaining wall - where is it etc. So, that’s my advice - 3 steps in most useful order. 🌸

I just did composite decking. don't cheap out. I got really primo TimberTech Azek Vintage Collection. I originally chose Cypress, but they were out of stock like, forever, so I decided to pivot and go with what I thought was dark brown instead. I went with "English Walnut". I saw BIG samples of these in the store, where they had built a mini-patio out of different materials, so you could really get a good feel for them. But those mini patios were displayed indoors, and unfortunately, that same material when viewed outdoors turned out way more pale and drab. I wish I had chosen the one in the middle: "Mahogany", since it's so much warmer. (I took these sample pics in weird light. Trust me that the porch in the 2nd pic really is English Walnut. It changes drastically in different light.) BUT, this material is beautiful. Far superior to all of the competitors (Trex looks insanely fake compared to this stuff). also: this material is GRIPPY, even when it's completely wet. And it's so easy to sweep clean. Once I add railing and some planters and stuff, I honestly think I'm going to love this porch. MY ADVICE: I wish I had gone for a two tone effect, where only the top is composite and the sides are real wood painted to match the house siding or trim (like below). Building the whole porch out of all one material looks very one-note boring. It's the tops that you need to be really durable anyway, the sides don't take a beating. It might cost a little less too. ADVICE #2: Don't trust online photos, especially the marketing ones. Buy a whole bunch of the boards well before the project starts, and lay it out over your existing porch. View it during different times of the day to see if you really like the color. I wish I had done that!