"...do nurseries have landscape designers to work with or how would I go about finding one?" While you could benefit from working with the right designer, the wrong designer could as easily take you in the wrong direction. Many designers lean toward over-planting and designers that work for nurseries are often in the business of convincing you that the more plants you use, the better. You must be clear on your own overall goals and interests. If you see landscape work that you like you can inquire to find out who designed it. If you're near an urban area where there are landscape architects and designers, you could inquire to see examples of their work. You could also try calling a landscape architectural office that does commercial work and inquire if there is anyone doing residential work on the side. These days, there are also online designers, but to use them you would need to be willing to collect and supply raw data (mainly measurements and photographs.) The picture I made is intended to get you started in a direction, not be the "end all, be all." I'm sure other planting details could be added to spice it up a little... maybe some trellises with vines or climbing roses or something. The trees I painted are modeled after Saucer Magnolia (Magnolia soulangeana) of which there are many cultivars. (I'd lean toward a smaller ultimate size.) But there are other possibilities depending on the "flavor" that strikes you and if they grow well and are available in your area: PG Hydrangea, California Buckeye, Photinia*, Snowball Viburnum (macrocephalum), Burning Bush (Euonymus alatus), Weeping Yaupon Holly (as long as they are female and you have a male nearby) as some examples. Whatever you pick, I'd grow it as a multi-trunk tree form and control the trunk structure from youth to create the desirable spread. *If Photinia fraserii grows well, it's a beautiful blooming tree if the top is unclipped. In some places it is prone to disease, in which case it shouldn't be considered. On the left where the drive appears to be elevated, I'd use a groundcover that is tall enough to come slightly above the level of drive. Variegated Solomon's Seal would be an example. At the porch, I'd use something that was lower. A solid bed of variegated Liriope could look nice.

I see there is a public sidewalk so your guests will be fine. Good question about a walk to the driveway - will you need that? If so, that could anchor/shape your plan on that side. I think the question that is pestering me is whether this house needs foundation planting at all. And if so, if whether roses (if those are the roses photoshopped in there) perform this function well. Only under that arched window is it clear to me that a plant would be a good thing. Other than that, I might consider pulling the beds away from the house. Sometimes it helps to think instead of what lawn shape you want. You sound as if you change houses often. If you plan a resale, then uninspired is fine. If you plan to be here a while, then at least get plants you like... you can always move them around a bit. I agree a visit to a couple of local nurseries would be your best starting point. Finally, that tree is nice but might be a little close to the house. KarinL

Congratulations on the new house, ontheairship. I know nothing about gardening in your climate, so I won't try to suggest plants. However, since it will help other members to know your hardiness zone (there are five in Florida), please tell us (generally) where you live, or look up your zone here: http://www.garden.org/zipzone/index.php It will also help to know which direction the house faces, how much sun the beds get (on both sides of the front yard), and whether the lawn includes any of the invasive types of grass like Bermuda. The palm is directly in front of your front door. You want people to be able to see your front door (which is already difficult, because it's set at the corner of the house, and in a narrow recess to boot), so remove the palm. Remove it now, because it will only get larger. [The shrub closest to the front door is also trying to hide the door.] Most on this forum dislike that type of edger and consider them out-of-date. The white color makes them stand out from the landscaping, but the narrow white lines aren't to scale with your house. They don't lend themselves to curves, so you're either stuck with right angles (not necessarily a bad thing, but limiting) or awkward shapes (like the attempt to "curve" the front bed). Consider also the two beds in the foreground of the final photo: a rectangle and a tiny circle, just inches apart. If it weren't for those edgers, the beds could be combined. Obviously you already own the current edgers, and replacing them with another type of edger will involve an expense. Along the front walk, the edgers seem too close and too busy. For that and other reasons, I would eliminate the narrow bed alongside the garage. The front walk is already narrow, so replace the bed with cement (of course, the older and newer cement likely won't match). If you can afford it, replace the entire walkway: widen it to at least the outer edge of the doorway recess; round the outer corner where the walkway turns around the corner of the garage. The white rock collects weeds and doesn't stay white. Decide how you feel about that. Consider asking the Florida Gardening forum whether a clean rock bed is possible, and if so, the best way to go about it. If you decide to get rid of the edgers and rock, Craigslist is a possibility.

Hi all, for some reason I cannot access my old username threedogsmom so I am back to update you on what I have done so far. After moving in an living there for a bit, there is more sun than originally thought in the front yard, so I have planted a variety of evergreens, small trees, and shrubs with a few of the hostas I brought along sprinkled in. Once I have the mulch down (in next 2 weeks) I will post a few pics. I went with the first mock-up drawing in the post above, using an undulating edge for the front yard bed to break up the linear front of the house. We sourced rocks on our property to make the edge with, so it appears like a natural extension of the rock retaining wall. The color scheme overall focuses on burgundy, blue and yellow foliage/needles, with some greens mixed in there as well. Flowering shrubs are in the reddish-magenta color. For small trees, I added a Wolf Eyes dogwood, a Saratoga gingko, a Black Dragon Cryptomeria, and a dwarf columnar blue spruce, as well as a Rising Sun Redbud across the driveway on the other side. In the front entry nook to the left, I filled in with a dwarf Baby Lace japanese maple, 3 blue star junipers, and 5 golden sedges to set the color scheme. Across the walkway, there are 2 June hostas, 3 dwarf barberries, 3 Liberty hostas, Mr Bowling Ball and Fire Chief arborvitae, Amber moon astilbe, a magenta pink hydrangea, Lemon Beauty lonicera, 3 lemon thread mops, a dwarf golden hinoki cypress, purple leaf sand cherry, 2 red drift roses, 2 blue rug junipers to hang over the rock wall, daylilies, 3 dwarf Buzz buddleias interspersed with variegated liriope, golden barberry, 2 Beyond Blue fescue clumps and a Standing Ovation grass. So your eye will see repetition of the red/burgundy, then yellows, then blues as you move around the garden bed. I think it will mature very nicely as time goes on and should offer nice color and structure all year long while still being low maintenance. Pics to follow in a few weeks - working on the mulching this weekend!!