yes, it is heavier. This house is similar to the house the DH and I just sold. It had a raised concrete patio in front of the house. I didn't know how to landscape in front of that PIA :o) and I don't know how to landscape in front of this one either. I don't know how this owner feels about their patio, but I didn't want plants large enough that they would obscure the view. Also didn't want the predictable symmetry of two same-size pyramidal evergreens on each side of the house. As I said above, I'm no designer. I'm just playing around with pictures, trying to keep reality in mind. To be real honest, if it were me, I'd never plant the large shrub by the corner of the house, just because I'm onery and it's one of those things that "everybody" does, so I wouldn't! That, and we had to cut down two at our previous home 'cuz they had grown to well over 30 feet high. Needless to say that they dwarfed our little ranch/tract home, a house that already sat on a hill. It was atrocious. Anyhow, thanks for the notice re: balance or lack thereof. I'll leave that to the homeowner, but I would love a suggested solution to landscaping around those darned patios. I don't have one anymore, but I'd still like to know. Moon

You have a big job ahead! You must be excited. It is difficult to pick colors for someone else. Are you keeping your furniture and artwork? Also, I find it hard to see true colors with harsh overhead lighting. Lamplight is much more flattering to people and things. So many people are painting everything gray. It gives a home a very cool feeling. I do not ever recommend gray because I prefer warmth. It appears that you also like warmer colors. I would go with something less yellow. My " go to" color is SW Kilim Beige.

The first thing you need to do is reconfigure that walkway. The landing at the base of the steps is skimpy and awkward, demanding an immediate left turn. And the walkway itself is far too narrow. Should be at least 4' wide....5' is even better. Once a proper walkway is defined and sited, you can/should increase the width of the planting beds, especially on the walkway side, to accomodate better plantings. Anything you do now afa the plantings are concerned will have to be redone or possibly replaced once the walkway is restructured so save your time, effort and $$ and address that before you do anything else. Moving, adding or replacing shrubs/trees now is just applying a bandaid to a poor design situation.

First of all KUDOS to you!! I have rock mulch all around my house and it has taken me years to get rid of it in some spots. Of course I'm not as dedicated as you obviously were. Really amazing that you were willing to take the time to do that. Give yourself a big pat on the back!! In IL, I wouldn't plant stuff up close to the house, It holds moisture against the house, in many forms, including snow. Haven for all kinds of bugs that get into the house. I'd leave at least three feet between the house and anything I planted. You might want to start out with the less expensive smaller plants, but make sure to check how big they get at maturity. Below is a link to the MO Botantical Gardens "PlantFinder" search engine. You can look up most of the plants that would grow well in your zone and find out the real deal about them. Give your baby plantings room to grow. Easier to fill in between shrubs with annual flowers than rip out overgrown stuff. Ask me how I know . . . https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plantfinder/plantfindersearch.aspx Maybe walk around your neighborhood and take pictures of houses you like the landscaping of, and copy some ideas from that. That's what I did when I moved into my first house, for ideas on landscaping. I took nightly walks and got a lot of ideas from peering into neighbors yards . . . Check out some books from the library, there are lots of books on how to basically landscape a basic home. My favorite, probably out of print, is Cass Turnbull's handbook. She goes into not just how to design your plantings, but how to maintain them too. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-complete-guide-to-landscape-design-renovation-and-maintenance-a-practical-handbook-for-the-home-landscape-gardener_cass-turnbull/389930/item/391485/?gclid=CjwKCAjwrPCGBhALEiwAUl9X0_79Z7hoPI67oemQK8eqUFYDEz_xHv3F_eRviJaKq4gNPhsTl3Z0GRoCO00QAvD_BwE#idiq=391485&edition=2871674 Another older book I used was "Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Home Landscaping." In general, think big swaths, not tiny little edges against the house. Most people don't look at the whole landscape, the lay of the land when landscaping, they just throw plants right up against the house. Look at your yard as a whole. It's even hard to recommend things just from the sectional photos you posted. Obviously you're going to do something about that weird "C" shaped bed in front of the house. It's unnecessarily difficult to mow around. As for "something with some height" I would recommend looking into some type of viburnum shrubs. The question is, are you going to a nice professional nursery or a big box store. If you go to a big real nursery, there might be someone there who could help you find the kinds of plants you are looking for. I know last time I visited such a place, a lovely woman helped me find the perfect tree for my yard . . . You might consider a rose trained against a trellis between your front windows. Just a thought. And here I'm breaking my rule about not having plants up against the house . . . ! Here are some lovely shrubs that I've dealt with that keep themselves tidy--weigela "Wine and roses" "Margic Carpet" spirea, "Miss Kim" lilac, Gold mound arborvitae, dwarf mugo pine, dwarf fothergilla. I also love the landscape roses, but that's me . . . One kind of hosta alone is sad, a whole selection of different colors and leaf shapes is cool. No go if you have deer browsing . . . I agree though, the purpose of landscaping up against the house is for your pleasure. Curb appeal is just al little welcoming thing at the entrance. Can be a simple planter with red geraniums. The rest is what you want to see and enjoy. From the street, you want big structural elements, well away from the house, but places so they don't impede the view in or out. Unless you want a lot of privacy in the front . . . There's really no reason to obstruct the view of the front of your house with a lot of heavy maintenance shrubs, etc.