It's better if you post the picture directly into the thread.

I realize I'm being premature with my suggestions, in view of all the preliminary steps that need to be taken, but just as food for thought I'd like to suggest some plantings of older roses for this older house. I'm thinking for instance of hybrid musks that make large, graceful bushes, some of which can even be used as climbers (Lavender Lassie comes to mind or Cornelia) in order to soften the rather tall facade of the house. Toward the street, above the new proposed retaining wall shorter roses, such as polyanthas, could be interspersed with daylilies and other companion plants for a colorful and low-maintenance display. I would also consider some strategically placed evergreens to give structure to the plantings and to provide interest in the winter. You might want to investigate on-line nurseries that have a good reputation such as Palatine, Pickering and Roses Unlimited to give you an idea of what kind of roses I'm talking about. These roses are much hardier and more disease-resistant than hybrid teas or floribundas, and have much more attractive bushes.

Karin, it's interesting and enlightening to read what others think of our house and landscape, even if we may not agree or take up some suggestions. We live in an area where we don't have a large number of options for landscape/garden design, unfortunately! So no worries about me being offended by criticism/suggestions, etc. We appreciate the help and we will work to think about each decision in terms of its purpose. We originally had purposes in mind for each bed in our backyard, though it may not look like it now - with the exception of the hydrangeas along the back fence. They were originally planted behind our garage (where the pool equipment enclosure is now). When we put in the pool, we moved them to the side bed (which didn't exist before the pool) along the fence, but the neighbor's black walnut tree hampered their growth. So rather than throw them away, we made a new bed along the back, sort of a temporary spot until we figure out what to do with the rest of the beds. I won't bore you or anyone else by enumerating the purposes of the other beds in the back, but just want to add that we also did have more visual interest and contrast in flower, foliage, and form - but many of those plants didn't survive. We've been in a sort of holding pattern back there for a couple years - and I'm looking forward to improving that landscape. But back to the front yard/landscape. One of our goals for changes remains to revise the long bed along the drive for the dual purposes of easier maintenance and including more variety in its plants to provide more interest in months other than July. Another goal is to revise the small bed near the side steps to make it better looking (instead of a hodgepodge of plants, as it is now) and as a memorial garden for our daughter, with beautiful plantings. We also still want to improve the visual impact/visibility of the front door. To me, that is a separate goal from emphasizing the front entrance, if by entrance one means the wide front steps (which aren't truly the entrance to the house, but visually they do give that impression). We understand the goals of Laag's ideas about beds in front of the steps and a wide path from the driveway to the steps/porch. But in terms of practicality, we don't want people to stop midway up our driveway and walk up the path, because then they block the entire driveway. Also, the steps are covered with snow for the entire winter (it's too expensive to pay to have them cleared each time it snows), and a walkway would also be covered in snow, so the practical function of a walkway beginning partway up the driveway wouldn't apply during those months. I've been bothered for a while by the sense of imbalance between the long driveway bed and the expanse of grass on the other side of the drive, so another purpose of making changes is to see if we can balance that. Laag's suggestion about a grassed area in the long bed was so helpful - I just don't know whether that is enough to achieve balance, or if we will need a bed under the birches. A new purpose resulted from a number of comments here, and that is to soften the impact of the veranda wall. I think we are just so used to how our house looks that we don't see it for how it really appears. You all have opened our eyes to this issue! I haven't been in the back yards of the houses above us (in the back) to see what they can see of our back yard. It "feels" private in our back yard most of the time, probably due to the fence, but I still don't do any skinny-dipping. ;-) The front feels very public to me (it's a busy street and in the spring/summer/fall, a very busy golf course), with the exception of the veranda. On the rare occasions when we are seated there (it's usually too hot/buggy/raining/cold), we have at least the illusion of privacy behind that fortress wall - though with close neighbors, we have to watch how loudly we talk. My sister mused aloud a few years ago about the idea of putting a hedge across the front of the yard (on the lawn on the house side of the sidewalk, if you're facing away from the house) to screen the street and provide more of a sense of privacy. A neighbor a couple of houses down has a partial bridal wreath hedge in the yard and she was noting that at the time. I'll update as we get further along in this process; meanwhile, if anyone has more comments/suggestions, we're very happy to have them.

You need to show the left side of the house to incorporate a landscape design that will work for the entire yard. Some suggestions: --Forget the idea of putting in a lawn that you have to maintain. This is a perfect amount of space for a perennial garden with all native plants that will look attractive year round. Go to a small garden center with your photographs and ask them to give you a plan for the space. --Very tall plants on the side will look very strange given the small amount of space. However, what a good design will do is give you a barrier that separates the space. Again, a design, and not just plopping down plants, have to work with what you have and what's next door. Look how well the house next door to this one is well screened just with a mix of middle-sized and low plantings--grasses, shrubs, ground covers--as well as hardscaping. The most important thing is to have a plan. But you have to find out what planting zone you're in and the lighting and soil conditions you have.