There are plenty of ways to handle this sort of boring and uniform neighborhood generic landscape without destroying the overall caharacter or openness of the landscape. Scaling down the lawn area via adding more planting area can be accomplished sensitively if done with an eye to working with the long predominantly horizontal lines of the house, using plantings in mass and in varied height layers, using plantings as architectural masses with contrasting forms/textures/colors, etc. Unfortunately you'll tend to find that most homeowners in such tracts aren't going to want to spend the kind of money it may take to make an attractive change. Simple things like adding saw cut patterns and concrete stains to break up huge driveways, or removing bands of concrete and replacing with planted turf-block or decorative brick/stone/tile pavers is one way to play down expansive driveways. Front yards can be made more interesting by creating semi-enclosed entry courtyards at the entry with enlarged paving/walkways that provide additional usable space for people and reinforced with some plantings at the perimeter that can provide views of garden plantings from both the street and from inside the house, while leaving the majority of the front lawn intact and visually aligned with the neighbors. I've often used several of these devices to update the standard tract home landscape here in SF Bay Area gardens, in some cases losing the lawns entirely. Another approach might be to eliminate the typical foundation shrub plantings, and instead push the planting areas out to the street, thereby enclosing a large sweep of lawn at the house and putting the garden on view from inside the house, at the same time as giving a bit of privacy or at least visual separation from the street.

Thanks so much for taking the time to create this image! It's quite helpful to see what it would look like. I agree that a mansard roof can be an issue. We were thinking of making the roof the same as that of the solarium (as seen to the left of the house). It's like a mini version of a mansard. Also although the idea of heating the driveway is a practical one and less expensive, it doesn't address the aesthetic issue of the steep driveway. We're hoping to come up with a plan that will incorporate a new garage and some surrounding landscape for both safety and aesthetic reasons.

Thank you Maire Cate! It is awful how this is affecting some of our elderly. I have had several conversations regarding this with medical personnel, facility personnel, etc. It is really hard on this group. I am so thankful the restrictions are easing up a bit! Dad has had two psychological evaluations (due to some very confusing conversations, etc. we were worried) once in the hospital and now in the facility he is in. He does not have dementia, but the CONFUSION caused by this pandemic can play havoc with their mental state. Thankfully, in this new facility, the psychologist is the director of a local geriatric program so we are happy for his input. Dad has about 80 more days for rehab and then we will decide what happens. I really do not see him going back to assisted living, but maybe he will prove me wrong! That's another bad thing, with the restrictions, we were not able to visit facilities before we moved him! It all fell into place though, this facility was the only one where we knew someone who had recently had a family member there and the only facility that had a private room open. I think it was meant to be.

in my ground freeze MI ... you could throw a daylily with barely any soil on it on the driveway for all of winter .. and probably even run it over a few times.. or hit it with the snowblower ... and you probably wouldnt kill it ... so just dont worry about them ... so just clean them up .. and thats it... whether or not they will bloom.. is left to fate .. there is nothing i can think you could do .. to insure such ... ken