Michael, without us also seeing what exists at the right side of the house, we might be offering you an incomplete assessment of what the front yard should be. I see a part of a porch-like structure over there, but not enough of it to know what could/should be done with, or around it. It's too bad the spruce isn't far enough away from the house that you could keep it for all time. While it's good for a while longer, I think it's clear that its days are numbered before you are forced into taking some kind of action. Though you've been counseled against limbing it up into the tree form, I think doing exactly that (only when the time came) would be one way for you to gain a few more years use of it. Maybe you could find a local example of a spruce with its canopy raised to the tree form to see if it would work for you... though I wouldn't at all be opposed to your then replacing it with something more workable. It's difficult to see the existing garden in the front yard, but I can see enough of its border to tell that it's working against your overall efforts to enhance the appearance of the house. The stone is so small as to look like bits of gravel (cheap looking) in comparison with the block-like stone of which the foundation is built. It would be better to edge the garden with a mowing strip embedded flush with the grade, or a right-sized stone curb if the grade was raised a few inches (I'm not making this suggestion) or plain and simple, 'Victorian edging,' which is nothing more than ending the sod with a clean cut and slightly recessed garden soil grade. Also, the geometry of the garden layout seems to me to be somewhat of the reverse it should be. I'd change it to funnel vision toward the door, not away from it. It seems to me that building an improved set of steps could make a great difference in connecting the side entrance to the front of the house. It would be better if they were widened (all the way to the foundation) and lengthened (to come forward) and a railing were added. Making those changes would make the steps easier to use and more visible. I'm all for creating the appearance of a carpet runner that sweeps from the steps to the street. You may not be able to tell from my picture, but I'm notching the walk around the corner of the house (allowing for some landscape space) in order to widen it and enhance the effect of it funneling vision toward the entrance. Stamped, colored concrete seems like it would be a practical way to construct such a feature. (Plain--un-stamped--colored concrete with a scored border is a favorite inexpensive, decorative solution.) If it were possible to further cut the curb and widen the flare on the drive, you might consider taking advantage of that opportunity, too. If not, then (though I'm not showing it in the drawing) I'd even consider building a vine covered arbor (at the parkway) over the non-public walk. It could play on your architecture and add a lot of interest that would, in turn, lead to the main house entrance. I think you could attract people toward the house entrance by surrounding the path to it with a floral display. Beginning with a couple of window boxes, you could also have a couple of patches of annuals in the ground and a flowering vine growing at the porch. It should radiate some "energy". I'm sure you could find colors that work with your new paint scheme. A floral display could be accomplished with no more than 20 square feet of annuals (and maybe some perennials) so it would a relatively easy display to maintain, especially if put on a timed drip irrigation system. I noticed when I finished drawing the small tree in the front yard that it doesn't appear to be centered between the windows, so just imagine that's where it's supposed to be... planted enough feet off of the house to have clearance from the wall... even forward enough, if necessary, so as to be centered in the yard. Around it, there is a dome-shaped outline. If you could find a small "tree" who's ultimate size would be between these two configurations, it would work to incorporate some taller greenery into the front yard. What plant? Well, we still don't know where you are so I couldn't say. For myself, I'm attracted to a small tree that has some weeping/pendulous quality about it. If there was such a thing as a dwarf sourwood, a "look" along those lines seems about right. Surely, given the height limit, you'd need to make such a tree from a plant that would normally be considered a large shrub. Old fashioned favorites that get too big for their britches might be a place to look: lilac, some Viburnums, Hydrangea paniculata and things along those lines. See what kinds of large woody shrubs grow in your neighborhood and appeal to you. I'm showing the rest of the lawn divided between grass and groundcover. But it wouldn't be hard to imagine something pretty below the tree--like a bed of hosta--as part of the front yard solution.

I have to disagree with you, Emmarene, that the slope is too large for a single groundcover. A groundcover can be the LAWN where a mowed turf grass lawn is not possible. One must just pick the groundcover that works for such a size. Some "timid" groundcovers work best for tiny places. Some more aggressive groundcovers work well only when the area is large enough, considering that mainly, one is managing EDGES. An aggressive groundcover in a small area would be a constant battle, but in a large area it can be one's best friend ... making ground green when grass can't, or won't, do it. The place to begin is finding out what others in the surrounding area (town/county, etc.) are using to solve the exact problem in their yards. Then one knows it grows in the area and is probably well suited to the size & job. If one groundcover is used predominantly over all others, then it is the groundcover to use. This is not the place to "be different," trying to express one's individuality. This is especially true if there is groundcover in use in a neighbor's yard. It would be an impossible battle trying to keep two different groundcovers from mixing at a property line. If one type of groundcover flows from one yard to the other, then there is no edge to maintain at the property line, making one's list of chores less. As an example, while risking bringing the haters out of the woodwork on account of the mere mention of it, I'll say that if this property was in Atlanta, Ga., the clear cut choice of groundcover would be English ivy, as it is the one in predominant use there for hilly and shady large areas (and some surprisingly small ones, though that is not my taste.) While many froth at the mouth at its mention, it nevertheless proves to be successfully manageable by many. (For me personally when I lived there, I considered it easy to care for, a lifesaver ... more or less worthy of worship on a grand scale, as it was the most versatile, hardest working horse in the barn.) In the typical case, since it commonly flowed from neighbor to neighbor, there was not property line trimming of it. Where it met lawn, many people were happy just to let the lawnmower be the one and only edger. Where ivy grew into the lawn, the regular mowing kept it from being noticeable at any distance. That left the only edging to be done where the ivy met paving. There, it needed to be trimmed a couple times/month during the growing season. One trimming per year kept it from climbing trees if one so chose. At back alleys and buildings, its leading edge could be sprayed with herbicide (such as Round-Up) in order to keep its advance in check. Or it could be manually cut, if one preferred. (Another advantage of it is that it was extraordinarily cheap/free/easy to create massive quantities of it, if one learned some simple propagation techniques.) Insofar as dividing groundcover from lawn, one would mark out all space that is too shady for turf grass to grow, or too hilly for it to be mowed. And then apply some simple art to it in order to come up with a dividing line that looks pleasant. In this case I would leave an "L" shape of grass next to the street and the drive, where it is neither too shady or too sloped. A radius transition between the two legs of the "L" would work well around the tree. The tree would be in the groundcover section, a visually comfortable distance away from its edge. Speaking of the tree, it is well past time to remove the scruffy looking bottom limbs from its trunk. The "shade" should not be hanging down, obscuring any front portion of the house.

You have a lovely house and a nice piece of land to work with. So much of landscaping is dependent on where you live -- the weather, soil, local pests, etc. IMO it's important to hire local people who understand local conditions, materials, etc. I suggest you figure out your budget, make a list of priorities (don't forget irrigation) then hire a local landscape designer to come up with a plan. It all adds up fast so get ready for a reality check. You can find design firms in your area, or check with near-by full-service nurseries -- many of them offer affordable landscape design services. Take your time, go on garden tours, do your homework and talk to several design firms. And have fun! It's going to be beautiful!

Plant a low groundcover around the tree--we don't know your zone but perhaps Geranium maccrorrhizum, Liriope (not L. spicata), or one of the spreading Epimediums. It's certainly not a "terrible tree" and it's great the city won't allow it to be cut down. What is the green thing to the right of the tree?