need a location.. big city name .. no use recommending plants that wont work there ...

i think there are enough reflectors on the pole.. lol ...

is snow plowing an issue ... on those types of roads.. they might do it at speed ...which means a lot of landing zone ... is salt an issue ..

many peeps usually recommend you spend a year in situ ... to more fully understand al the variables involved ... have you been there during a winter?

the green house doesnt bother me at all ... but perhaps its because it was such a cloudy day .... is it different in full sun?? .. are you thinking of painting .... or ripping off old siding ....

the white window frames seem to be the issue ... and im not sure i would want.. nor could.. .. paint those.. if they are vinyl ...

any thoughts on shutters .... to get a complementary color ...

is there a walkway to the front door ... do you need one .. will anyone ever really come to that door??? .. i doubt they would be walking in from the fast road .. is the back entrance more set up as the main door???

what are the trees in the front lawn ....

more info plz...

ken

Sound reduction can be done several ways. Do you have a budget range in mind for current changes? What are the fence and landscaping regulations for a corner lot in your area?

Southern NH.

@Ken. The back entrance is up a full flight of stairs. You can see in one of the pics. Only 5 stairs at the front entrance which I would prefer people using yet it’s so open to the traffic noise I would want to snug up the trip from the driveway to the front door. And there is no walkway from the driveway to the front door. It snows and yes they salt the roads. The house is about 25-30’ sloping up from the main road

No setbacks for fence or landscaping. Budget is pretty open

No setbacks meaning you can put the fence or landscaping right on the property line.

If you want folks to use the front door, you need a sidewalk to it. Right now you have a front stoop that leads to nowhere. Based on how you decide to run it will determine the plantings around it.

tj

Love those NE stone walls. When you do paint I would paint the trim white so the windows and stairs don't jump out at you

Just so you are aware, plants really add nothing to any sound dampening........unless it is a very thick and dense border of evergreen plants. Like several hundred of meters thick. To effectively dampen sound you need a solid wall of appropriate height. Think the sound dampening concrete walls built alongside freeways. Even a wooden fence is not much of a sound baffle - not tall enough and with openings that allow sound waves to penetrate.

The large bush at the corner of the house (near the garage) looks like an impediment to anyone wanting to approach the front door. I would remove it, and install a walkway from the driveway to the front. Do visitors park on the side street or in the driveway? I see there is another of those huge bushes at the other front corner of the house...I would remove both and plant trees closer to the road, away from the house to help with privacy and noise. With some colorful plantings/flowers closer to the house, the green on the house would look fine; right now, it is just green everywhere. Nice property!

What is the monster bush on the left side of the front of the house? Is it a multi trunked bush and can it be trimmed of all the lower branches to make more of a tree shape? Will it be in the way of a walkway to the front door, so needs to be removed anyway? It looks like it has a matching monster bush on the right side.

i got the impression that the 2 huge plants on the front house corners were rhodies ... and im not sure they would take severe pruning easily ... and with the short growing season in NH ... its not going to grow back all that fast from a major cutdown ....but we can think of that later ...

i cant imagine the cost of a walkway ... with stairs from the drive the the front porch ... what.. starting easily at 10 grand??? .. and from a real estate house investment point of view.. it might not be worth the investment ...

that would then lead you to an asphalt walkway ... or stone ... but stone isnt going to be snowblower safe ...

did you ever answer if you are new here?? ... the sounds might bug a newbie.. and not even be noticed in time... i mean.. thats not an expressway ... and if its as rural as it looks ... is there even traffic on the road after dusk?? .. lets be careful not to spend wildly on fixing something that might not be broken ...

when i moved from suburbia.. to rural ... i was amazed.. that you cant here any traffic after about 7 pm ... unless you have some idiot teenage neighbor whose dad buys him every motorized toy in the universe ... thank god he grew up ...but even then.. come dark.. it was quiet ...

i suspect.. not knowing the interior layout.. guests are going to be welcomed at the back door ... and you are going to have to interior design to accomplish that with the fanfare you want ....

ken

Shrubs big enough to hide someone lurking between your car & the door are dangerous. Agree with the suggestions about adding a path to the front door.

Is the noise you hope to dampen coming from people passing at a steady pace down the highway road, or from slowing down to turn and taking off from a stop @ the side road? The latter would be a lot more difficult to dampen because that's where your driveway is and can't be fenced/walled/hedged.

If you consider a fence/wall/hedge, check local zoning to see how far onto the property the city is permitted in regard to maintaining the drainage ditch and "call before you dig" to map any utilities buried in the area. If you haven't done that yet, it's a good idea before you dig anywhere on your property. Take pics of their marks.

Curb appeal @ 40 mph is a moot point, combined with not being what you see as you come and go, so I would focus on landscaping that is visible from the driveway area first. And my fav plants are always the ones I can see out of the windows while I'm inside. Working in the kitchen or sitting on the couch, whatever window you look out of often, treat yourself to something gorgeous for that view. Far enough away from the house to see well.

Don't try to squish stuff against the house until it looks like it's being eaten. Randomly shaped flower beds more around the edges of the property, or right in the middle of a lawn, look great from the house or the road, and aren't in the way if you want to paint/powerwash, or do whatever kind of maintenance to the outside of your home.

A couple of hanging pots along the steps in the back could be cute. Shepherd hooks can also add instant height without being too bulky.

How about upgrading the house with some sound proofing, including windows? Looks like your property is right in a curve of the road too. Otherwise, I would suggest a curved driveway off the road with parking in front of the front door, but it might be a dangerous place to turn off the main road. If the limit is 40mph, you know people are driving 50-60!! I certainly wouldn't want to navigate that back stair during the winter!