Our soil is .... I think fairly nutrient deficient so a raised bed of nutrient rich soil ==>>> based on what??? .. guessing??? lets start basic ... you need to build beds ... first.. understand.. you are HIDING the foundation.. NOT PLANTING ON IT ... which is what was done previously ... and why the measly little beds.. look out of proportion to the height of the house .... begin.. by understanding.. that 2 to 3 feet AT THE FOUNDATION .... is left bare.. for house maintenance ... for you to walk back there ... as you cruise the hood.. look at well landscaped houses.. and those that bother you .. and see if you can see what i am saying ... if you do.. then you have accomplished step one [... dont you have to clean your gutters a couple times a year with those big trees?? .. or put up xmas lights.. etc ....] and then.. understand.. that you need a 6 to 8 foot bed ... plus the 2 or 3 feet left empty ... and you are talking about a near 10 foot deep bed ... again.. look around the area ... and see if you can spot this.. and whether it is pleasing to your eye.. as compared to the peeps who planted things two feet form the house 30 years ago ... and for this season ... right now.. lets focus on the front of the house.. once you perfect that.. the sides will be much easier.. right now.. you are overwhelming yourself.. to think.. you are on this.. in the next 3 months .. you arent.. at your level of knowledge ... then the issue is.. do you create a bed straight across the front.. or do we undulate it ... that is your choice.. look around the area again.. and determine what is pleasing to your eye ... or SOther if they are actually in charge.. lol ... there.. thats enough for now ... otherwise.. i will overwhelm you ... define the bed design ... and then we can talk about how to build the bed .... and then ... we can talk about plant decisions.. and actual planting ... and if you think thats all going to be done inside the next 4 to 6 weeks... good luck with that ... if it took me the entire growing season to do this... i would be a happy boy in October ... if you want it done faster.. think about hiring a professional crew ... finally .. reviewing the pix... my ideal bed would probably reach 3 to 4 feet BEYOND the porch ... curving into the walkway ... and go straight across the front of the house ... yeah.. what can i say.. lol ... i dont think the facade is wide enough to have some nice flowing curves .... without making it look hoaky .... if you are interested in making this a conversation... then lets go for it .... as for buying soil... you havent told us what your base native soil is.. so its hard to advise in that regard ... compaction can be uncompacted ... its clay i am worried about... and layering good soil above ... more facts ... and finally??? ... lol ... i dont have soil touching my brick.. so we may need to deal with that ... but not slope new soil toward the house .. etc ... and before anything... get rid of those landscape timbers... crikey.. they look one foot from the house ... double finally.. the best way to start.. and not look back.. is to rip everything out .. and get rid of it ... i dont know what inside the timbers.. but i dont like it.. and get rid of that big tub.. its ruining the natural elegance of the house and porch ... but i was thinking about some type of vines up those columns ... BTW.. what are the trees .. ?? ... we have to figure out if we need to deal with their roots .... in the new beds ... can we talk??? ... does the above.. in any way.. help you understand.. how to start ...???? ken ps:everything is too green and lush.. to presume your soil is nutrient deficient ... lets not start by making presumptions ... have your soil tested.. if you think there really is a problem.. and do understand.. plants are not children.. they will never need to be fed... you need a good soil ... and you dont make that by throwing fertilizer around .. and i think you probably have a decent soil.. but plants to not need to be fed ... i think.. at your level of understanding.. its a non-issue.. which you are spending too much time thinking about ... so focus on the ramblings above ... soil will be issue 37.. not where you start .... [thank God.. i came full circle and remembered to finish on the topic i started with ... i hate when that doenst happen .. lol]

Cathy, for what it's worth, in the Tampa area, I could show you hundreds (if not thousands) of subdivisions in all price ranges that get the "builders standard" landscape treatment. This amounts to a very narrow walk (the budget is shot by then) and smothering the entrance way (often lining both sides of the walk) with fast growing plants. These are the landscapes that show up here a few years later being detested and ripped out. These landscape designs are not created by anyone who has studied design, but by people trying to scratch a living from the earth by making something prettier today. There is little concern about quality, or tomorrow ... when these plantings will become monstrosities. This is what 98% of America lives with and has accepted as satisfactory. If one is going to put effort into improving landscaping, there's little point in aspiring to mediocrity. It's better to forge a new path.

It looks like you have some rhododendrons and azaleas - I think:) They could be much fuller and lush but I am not sure how you would accomplish that. I would take pictures to a local landscape / garden center (not a home center store - you need someone with good local knowledge) and ask for advice. You may be able to work with what you have and just revitalize them, or you may need / want something new. I had to severely cut back a rhododendron do to some work being done on the house, and it came back beautifully and much fuller - but cut back at the wrong time and you will lose next years flowers - so get local advice because I am not in your zone. If you like gardening, pull out the front of the garden and put a variety of perennials and annuals in front of what you have (after revitalized). Again, your local garden center can lead you to the easiest plants to grow and maintain in your zone.

For an entrance that is tucked back at a distance and around the corner of a garage, t's not going to look good if the walk is narrow and engulfed by plantings. In order for it to look inviting, the walk must be wide and feel spacious. If there is any way the walk can be widened, I'd do it. And then either eliminate adjacent plantings or have them be low an unobtrusive. Another thing that doesn't look good is for trees in an island to be right at, or too close, to its edge. Obviously the trees cannot be moved so the solution is to expand the size of the island. It's shape needs to loosely reflect the arrangement of trunks. Here, a circle is good. Since the island is directly in front of the entrance, of which you wouldn't want to obstruct the view, the plantings should be low. Asiatic jasmine would be perfect. It doesn't need to have additional shrubs that are tall or possibly contribute to a jumbled look. I think a small umbrella tree off of the corner of the house, with groundcover below in a circular bed to reflect the tree, would look better than some needle shaped shrubs. The foundation shrubs ought to acknowledge the existence of architectural features.