You could use some help from the LD forum on this landscaping. Since you didn't pick the hollies and aren't attached to them, I'll be blunt: for my eye there's not much you can do with paint colours or house details to distract from the very unfortunate placement of those bushes. I'm not saying they couldn't be useful if you combined them with some other landscaping (the other forum people tend to be better at foundation planting issues than I am), but on their own at that height they... are unnecessary, to put it mildly. The house has a very nice foundation, nothing to hide. Do any similar houses in your area have no foundation planting with more greenery further out in the yard instead? I might be inclined to put such a hedge perpendicular to the house if anywhere in that yard, perhaps along the side property line. Cutting them and fleshing out the beds further into the yard with more plantings in front of them might help. I think they will sprout from below if cut back, but check that on the shrubs forum perhaps, or someone on LD might know. KarinL

You're going to have to do an inspection of the liquidamber (left side of drive) to make sure it isn't lifting the driveway. It seems rather close to the fence and the drive. Roots are invasive and aggressive. You are coming up on Fall, so around November would be a good time to prune out the excess foliage on the olive trees. I'd also take out that cement divider between the two olive trees and plant below the trees with mondo grass for a lush look. I'd wait for December/January to trim back the bougainvillea. If you are lucky, you might get a frost and then the leaves will fall off. Frost is a good thing since the vine has about 3-4" thorns that are not forgiving, so you'll need to see what you are grabbing when you cut them. Wear leather gloves and you won't be punctured nearly as often as wearing cloth gloves. While the flowers are pretty, that plant is pretty aggressive on the skin and you will want to get rid of it if it is near anyway you sit, stand. Already commented on are all the cubit bushes...they need to be pulled out. Fence in front. You should look on-line to find out the set back from the property line for fences in the front. Your front wall might already be in that place; but you'll find out. Already commented on above is turning the entry-way into a useable garden space. You might consider it since the rose bushes are right next to the walk way and those thorns can be aggressive. In addition, the entry-way is semi-shaded and the wrong place for full sun-loving rose bushes. And...good luck. I like the house. You can turn it into something special.

There is an ensuing school of thought about shutters, that they must appear authentic, as if one could put them to use -- even if they are literally non-functional and would never be used. This school of thought discounts entirely that shutters have morphed to a non-functional, decorative use as a trim device. Sometimes, they are even perforated (as a corn crib would be) and would not have the slightest capability of protecting a window from weather. The net effect of using decorative (let's not even call them shutters anymore; they are "window-flankers") is that they provide a means of adding interest to an otherwise dull looking home. One might evaluate the finished appearance on the basis of whether they like the home better with them, or without ... and to heck with all those that are categorically against window-flankers under all circumstances for certain styles of architecture, or whether they are authentic. Still, one must be cognizant that window-flankers, in order to look right, must follow some rules of proportion and details, as all architectural elements do. Even the arch is not awesome in all circumstances. Wrongly applied, it can look very loopy and dorky. The purists about shutters will eventually be denigrating columns because they are no longer made out of bundles of reeds, as they once were. Get ready for it.

Those are so lovely, Susan! Love them. :) I like the idea for your house, Claudianne. I have had them at every house I’ve lived in, always the hay trough style. I found extra deep ones for my last house, and loved them, but couldn’t find that size for my current house. This is just the standard kind (and the window is set higher than our others) ... I think we got it at Home Depot. It came with the coconut fiber liner, too, which is nice — when I had the extra deep trough, I had to cut cf liner to fit. I do plant in mine, so have to change the liner yearly. (I recycle the old liner for other things.) You said you’re not planting yet, so I’ll show some holiday pics of mine, as well as planted ones. Sweet potato vines are common, but they do well in shallow souls. I currently have rosemary in there, too, but will be taking them out to plant in bigger pots next spring. I wish I could show it in context of the entire front of the house, but prefer not to for privacy reasons. I promise it looks good! And I love doing seasonal designs. :)