One thought you may want to keep in mind is to incorporate more permanent plant types into the bed. While a selection of perennials will certainly return each year, they do disappear in winter, leaving the bed a blank hole for many months. Personally, I consider this a highly undesirable feature in an area that is so conspicuous and open to public view. Incorportaing a few smaller growing shrubs or dwarf evergreens would provide a far more permanent structure (i.e., "bones") that would provide interest during the off-season as well. There are a few hardy perennials that will provide a more evergreen presence also, and an assortment of groundcovers that offer this feature too. Some other ideas to consider: reconfigure the bed to a more naturalistic shape - a rectangular bed plunked down in the middle of an expanse of lawn looks unconnected and awkward. Get rid of the little strip of lawn running between the sidewalk and the planting bed - it serves no purpose and increases the maintenance. And perhaps mound the soil slightly and include a few landscape boulders to offer some context as well as permanence - small shrubs, low spreading perenenials and ornamental grasses look especially good creeping or cascading around these rocks. And don't rely solely on flowers to achieve results. Flowers - even those provided by so-called long blooming perennials - are very temporary. Look for a contrast of plant forms, textures and attractive foliage to provided much more long term interest than just flowers can provide.

Maybe it's my architectural training coming into play but I think there is a unnecessary association with symmetry and formality. Just because a house presents a somewhat symmetrical facade does not automatically mean it is "formal" in its architectural style. Symmetry does not dictate formality - it only provides a suitable setting if formality is desired. Lisa's home is a modified Cape Cod and this is not a formal architectural style. These started as not much more than seaside cottages with very humble and very non-formal origins. The symmetry of the plan spoke only to the ease and economy of construction as well as the ability of the home to be readily heated in winter. And there is also the consideration of the neighborhood character. Formal architectural styles tend be most often found in very urban settings and more rural/suburban locations - as this appears to be - and especially in newer neighborhoods, generally offer a mix of architectural styles with more formalized approaches being a thing of the past. Current lifestyles also lean to a more casual, informal approach and there are many good reasons a landscape should reflect the owner's lifestyle in at least as equal a measure as they do the architecture. If Lisa's style leans to the more casual or informal, then there is no need to adhere to the home's 'semi-symmetry' (the garage and drive, a totally modern day adjunct, throws any sense of symmetry to the winds, anyway) as a basis for a formal landscape. The two are not necessarily co-joined and in this case, they seem to be at definite odds. A very regular, geometric shape to the lawn is therefore not necessary, nor is a central walkway bisecting the property. If the homeowners and visitors tend to enter from the drive rather than the road, then the primary access should be from that location. I do agree that the walkway is not substantial enough to provide the feeling of welcome and entry it should evoke. Nor is it wide/substantial enough to call attention to the entry and be obvious. A redesign with a larger, solid walk called out by plantings or even a lightpost or low pillars would address that. But there's no reason it can't offer a gentle curve - in fact, a curving pathway is much more appropriate to the style Lisa hopes to engender than one that is a straight arrow or with abrupt 90 degree turns. I would not be inclined to move the Japanese maple (unless you wish to do so) but I would rethink the placement of the walkway when you do get around to replacing it with a more generously sized and solid one by pulling it out further to provide free clearance when the tree matures. Whether the walkway remains inside of the planting bed or along the edge is up to you - either way would work, but you will reduce some of the edging maintenance the lawn requires if the walkway borders the bed. I don't think widening the beds will serve to 'isolate' the house - the plantings will provide sufficient anchorage and tie it together - but you should have a good reason in mind to do so. Finally, the shape of the lawn should be determined by what you do along the far side and along the street. If you choose to add plants, a long, rectangular bed with straight edges will offer a contrast to the loosely curved beds in front of the house. To my aesthetic, this contrast would be somewhat glaring and not in context and I'd likely go with loose curves on these areas as well. The lawn would then be a bit of a free-form shape but somewhat longer than wide (depending on how deep you make the beds) and still offer adequate play area and some needed negative space. And would better fit the character of the rest of the more informal landscape elements.

Hey Mike, Ouch! Did you really need to be so harsh on me, guy? It's somewhat of a relief you weren't here from the beginning. I asked for the constructive criticism before & during the job. It's not really all that 'constructive' when you focus on telling someone all the things he or she did not do, pointing out all the things done wrong and throw out a bunch of subjective, opinionated insults in my opinion, but never offer any ideas or solutions. I hope you don't waste any of your time in this forum insulting people and calling it constructive. If your intention is really to be helpful and not hurtful, focus more on the ideas & suggestions to correct the errors and omit the meaningless comments such as 'The design is too timid' or 'A professional would show some clout' and instead share some ideas or make suggestions as the other professionals here have done. It would serve you well to read some of their posts so that you can gain a better understanding of how to be constructive with your criticism. I was a teacher for a little over 12 years before I burned out & went back to school to study horticulture. I've always really loved gardening & filling empty spaces with lots of plants, but after this job, I realized, at the age of 40, it wasn't something I could do for the next 20 years or more. (notice how I figured that out all on my own) (>‿◠)✌ So I actually pursued another dream I had for quite some time and started my own dog walking & pet sitting business. I didn't just put an ad out there on craigslist and call myself a small business owner either. I have a registered business in SF, pay my taxes & carry insurance. I celebrate 1 year in business this January! Anyway, I just wanted to share that because if I still was working as a gardener, I would have woken up this morning, read your comment, & felt like a complete failure on my birthday! Here is a link that might be useful: Golden Gate Dog Walking

tamsea, There is no "RIGHT" way. There are infinite number of ways that work. You start with figuring out what you like. Doesn't have to be specific plants, but what you like. Do you like lots of fall color? Big majestic trees? Flowering? We know you like birds. How about natives, since the birds are adapted to those already. What we have done in our yard is to try to mix zones. We have areas that will be highly shaded eventually, and we have others that are predominately shaded. We have some shrubs, and we mix large canopy trees and smaller trees that are happy in full sun or as understory trees. We have flower beds, with various species i.e gladiolus, native honeysuckle, clematis etc. But we have another area near a drainage channel that we continually add wild flowers to, along with native Iris, Louisiana Iris, and a select tree or two as well. We also try to have something in show, coming into show, of finishing a show all during the growing season. Then we have some things for winter interest as well. Sometimes it's "I want a Sugar Maples" like my significant other said, and so we ended up with two after I did enough homework. Still it's all a work in progress. Trees need to grow more. Shade is just developing. Wildflowers have been a bit slow to take hold. etc. etc. Start with figuring out what you like, ask questions, and the gaps will fill in over time. Arktrees