Thanks again for all the great suggestions. designoline6, is that summersweet clethra? A shrub that's great for this area, and one we're planning a bunch of in the back where we have wetter areas. I like how you drew it. Unfortunately, can't plant anything out that far into the front. Still thinking maybe a Japanese maple. karin1, I love the idea of perennials and bulbs and actually plan to incorporate them into the beds, but here in CT if that's all we had, the whole front would be bare for 5-6 months of the year. The grasses and a few other things do have some cool structural interest in the winter, but unless there's something evergreen in there too, it just looks desolate. The plantings will extend out at least 6-7 feet in front of the back holly row. I will check out all those that you mentioned. yardvaark, yes, the side approach is just big flat blah wall! It's awful, but also pretty much the norm around here. Sometimes looks like a face to me, with that motion light as the nose. (wreath or evergreen swag thing looks nice on there all winter.) One issue we have to consider is access to the back/side/front yards for trucks. Seems we always need tree guys to come for something, and nothing can go over the front lawn because of the septic, so we need to maintain access to the right. My solution is a row of feather reed grass-overdam, lining that right side of the driveway, not too tightly spaced. Hoping it will create not so much a total screen as a visual stop, more of a psychological screen. Also, won't be an issue with the snow that gets piled there by the plow, and we can either plan work in the yard in the late winter/spring when it's cut down, or worst case scenario a few of the grasses are trashed for a season by trucks, but nothing permanent. What do you think? As far as the grade, I think the pictures make it look like much more of a slope than it is. All of the walkway quotes we got were on the fence about needing even one step. They all priced it, but said they were pretty sure that with their measurements it should be avoided. It's really quite a nice gentle flow. I think I'm just a bad photographer! Also, with the septic in front and excellent drainage /flow in the area, doing anything to change the flow/grade in the front of the house just isn't an option. I can work around terrain and landscaping issues, but I cannot handle sewage backing up into the house or having any type of issue with the septic!! Things are just fine now, and I'm deathly afraid to do anything that might lead to a septic issue. Totally agree that everything needs to stay gently below the window level and not be too busy. So many people around here plant to fill any blank space beside the ground floor windows, and I don't like the look at all. I just want a big gentle sweepy flow. In the pictures the hose marks the edge of the walkway closest to the hose, then the walkway will be 4 feet wide off of that, so post lamp will be towards the driveway end maybe 1-2' from outside edge of walkway. Driveway and entrance have great lighting, it's just that area as you approach the end of the house (when leaving) that's dark. Picture is deceiving. 4' wide walkway will flare to 6' as it enters driveway. Given all that, I'm trying to finalize the general structure of the end of the bed on the right. This is the bed to the left of the door, just to show. Will be tweaked and added to, but general layout is okay. Might consider an upright blue-ish juniper on the corner behind the ninebark down the road, and will maybe swap out the first euonymus for a bluestar juniper. All down the road. Shot looking out front door to right. Will probably put in a red japanese maple, maybe fireglow, roughly in the tan-ish area of grass. Away from wires, kind of half-way between house and the trees on side, and as you walk up the walkway from driveway it will be dead ahead in your sight line, but in the distance. Shot of front from further back. Huge sugar maple to the right of drivway and garage. Bigger than it looks. Beautiful. Can see the little dark green dots of the feather reed grass pots. Can't plant until next week because a truck needs to deliver an Autumn Brilliance serviceberry tree to the backyard. Also can see the hay in foreground where I'm planting grass to creat a nice defined edge to the front grass rather than raggedy patchiness dribbling into the pine needles under the evergreens. SO...this is my real question...(given that nothing is changing in slope or grading), what is the basic structure of this end part of the bed? It will be about 8 feet deep. The measurement to the end of the downspout rocks is about 6 feet. (the downspout is usually extended to go to the driveway.) All those rocks will be gone and that grass triangle will be part of the plantings. I need to get something at the end of the row, against the foundation, evergreen. I think it should have some visual weight, and will grow up to roughly the brick, and softly grow a bit over the right edge of the house. A rhodo is an option, but it seems like the shape is too similar to the pieris. It would be, from doorway: big blob....lots of little blobs..then exact same shape big blob on the end. With yew it would be: big blob...lots of little blobs...then big, different shape and texture clob on the end. (Also, whole area could use some needled stuff added.) Please note this back row is just the back/base and there will be six feet-ish of low plantings, perennials, etc, extending out in front. It isn't just the "row of blobs"! Either way, I really need to figure out what's in front of the potential yew or rhododendron, something low but kind of a focal point right as you come around the corner, maybe in the general area of the end of that rock row. I was thinking maybe temporarily a small, white-blooming hydrangea. Cheap and can be moved relatively easily in a few years. Any other ideas?? Picture the row completed in the back, what should be the general arrangment of the area extending out from there, in the yard direction, on the end? (I can figure out the rest of the run, shooting for low simple, some mix of textures, etc. It's the end that I can't envision) Of course small stuff, but one round pretty thing, 3 very small roundish things? Maybe even something with height if it's airy and narrow? What about a very small open upright Japanese maple, situated back enough so that it would be possible to prune it to keep branches from impeding walkway? Of course there will be other low stuff in that area. I've got some nice white bleeding hearts and tons of ferns we can use in the area that's now grass, at least for now. The whole area on that corner needs to be the pretty, inviting, flowing, kind of open, come-this-way area. If I can just get a concept of general structure for the area, I can fill in with cheap things or transferred stuff, get the evergreen structure settled for the back, and maybe get whatever pretty little mini-accent thing for the end of that rock area, either the permanent thing or a cheaper temp thing for a few years. (of course, rocks won't actually be there. It'll just slope down.) Sorry for such a long post. I appreciate any and all thoughts. As I mentioned, we're really trying to get a basic structure decided for that area at the end, and money is tight! We have a million projects going on, and of course I'm spending all my time focusing on this, the smallest issue. We have another area that's a massive project, so maybe it's just easier to focus on this for awhile! The big project:

"I have to admit when we choose the double stairs we did not think what the purpose of the stairs or where the stairs lead to. We just liked the look of it. I am sure that violates the rule of landscaping/architecture design." Liking and having does not violate any rules. But not doing something appropriate with it once you have it would be questionable. I'm tossing out a walkway scheme that shows the staircases connected by semi-circular walkway in a classic manner as you might see in many places in the South. The point of the double staircase is not just to be functional, but to look grand. A connecting walkway develops the point. An alternative method would be a rectangular configuration, but since you're showing a semi-circular bed, I'm building on that scheme. (The position of the walk parallel to the house could be adjusted to be closer or farther from the house, but should not connect to the semi-circle in odd, slanting angles as you show. Its geometry should reflect some element that already exists.) A traditional red brick walk would look nice. My negative comment about the rock edging is because it looks rustic--like part of Granny Hinckel's Tennessee farm. Your house is much more refined so the rocks seem out of place. The solution would be a permanent walkway as an edging. That would look clean, refined and uncluttered. "One of the reason we do not want to do any hardscaping now..." There's no concern about when you do it. Your time frame is entirely up to you. We're talking about PLANNING it, which is a "must" before actual money is spent or work is attempted. It's not too early to figure out what to do... before you do any shrub planting. I look at your idea of having adjacent multiple species of shrubs as a bit like creating a conversation grouping of chairs in the living room, but instead of having a matching pair of chairs, using two that are completely different styles. It seems without purpose. People do this outdoors thinking that they're adding interest. But I think it is going to add busy-for-no-good-reason instead. On top of that, I reaffirm that there seems to be no reason to cover up architectural features, so going minimal instead of maximal seems better. A single fat shrub on each side seems plenty to me. I'd keep other plantings low and have flowers, whether perennial or annual, around the entrance ... including window boxes. They would help reaffirm the importance of the entrance. I like the lattice face and details of your porch. I wouldn't cover it with shrubs. If you think it needs more interest than a low bed of "groundcover," consider the possibility of a low placed art ornament like a sundial or some such object. I wouldn't place any type of wall-like screen, hedge or similar in front of the mudroom entrance. Architecturally, it is asking to be displayed, not covered. But a flowering tree would give that area a sense of shelter and help the house to look well-connected to its surroundings. (A matching tree could go on the left side of the house if a mirror image effect is desired.) If multiple-trunk, it would provide a filtered view of the MR entrance so that it would feel a touch more private. But it is the front of the house, so unless you wall it off, there's not going to be running-in-the-yard-naked type of privacy. A fabric awning over the MR steps could look nice.

North side: open shade in the middle of the bed...few hours of sun on each end of the bed...in the morning on one end, and in the afternoon on the other end. * Dwarf Pampass grass * Sweet Flag * Tassle Fern * Autumn Fern * Big Blue Liriope * Hostas (various, do great in the shade on a North wall) * Cleyera (fabulous glossy leaves. new growth is red, turning to green as it matures) * Lamium (Golden Anniversary, White Nancy...both varieties provide bright spots in the shade but they won't appreciate damp shade...leaves get mushy) * Ivy * Gumpo Azalea (stays compact. can't kill it. I can't, anyway.) * Camellia Japonica (Marie Bracey var.) * Vinca Minor (spreads like crazy and some people don't care for it. Personally, I like that it spreads so fast, and it has pretty lavender flowers..just cut it back when it starts to creep too far) On the South side of the house: * Nandina Domestica (mine have required virtually no care and look beautiful. I have 5 of them planted and right now they are a brilliant red. There are dwarf varieties available which stay compact and still provide that red color in the winter) * Soft Touch Holly ( stays compact and mine have been maintenance-free, with the exception of occassional watering during periods of drought last summer. very slow growers and great as a filler plant) * Blue Shore Juniper ( compact and very pretty color..have been maintenance-free and have looked magnificent all winter) I did have Wintercreeper growing on this side of the house, too, but it got some sort of borer insects and never did do well, despite application of a treatment for the bugs. I dug it up a few days ago and tossed it. I have roses growing in front of the house, by our front door, and they face due west....so I'd wager that they'd do well for you, too, in that position. I cut ours back too hard last Fall and I thought I'd killed one of them because it started oozing and didn't look well at all. Nope...it's growing like mad at the moment. Our electric lines are the only lines that don't run under ground, here. It would be a good idea to find out where yours are located because while digging a bed for my Sago Palm last year I cut into our cable line....looked just like a pine tree root. *blush* They came out and fixed it for free, but the guy said if I did it again he'd take my Sago away. LOL. Anyway, all the plants I've listed provide interest year round, with the exception of the Hostas, which die back once freezing weather sets in. They will come back, though, when it warms up again. Everything is just now in its second year...ie., it all got planted last year. We only purchased our home 2 years ago and I didn't get around to landscaping the property until last Spring. BTW, if I can figure out how to upload my pictures of the plants I've listed, I'll post them. I took pics. last fall of all my beds but they're in a file on our computer, not hosted. Good Luck and I apologize for the novella.

What a nice bonus! As to how functional it will be and what you can do with it, that will depend on not only the materials, but where you are (see directions below as to how to add this info to your profile so it posts next to your name) and how much sun/shade the greenhouse currently gets. I'd start by cleaning the walls well inside and out to get rid of any dirt or algae, and then put a high-low thermometer in it to see what kind of temperature range is there, and also check how much light seems to be going through the walls, perhaps with a light meter to contrast with its reading outside. The wall appear to be Kalwall currently, which is a material designed for optimal light transmission. It does decrease effectiveness with age. I agree that your roof can be replaced with corrugated material that has better light transmission such as the translucent form of Onduline, though if you will have plants in it in summer, you may need to also have shade cloth and good ventilation. Here's how to add your zone and general location to your profile so that it posts next to your name: Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone. If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures. Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.