emmarene - Thank you- I loved the suggestion for Iberis; have never grown (or noticed it). It sounds wonderful and I will be looking for some. You're right about the size - my hydrangeas to the left of the front door are 6' wide and they're brushing the side of the house. Yes, I think I could be happy with only perennials. However, I have learned to listen to the expertise on this forum. Most of my favorite features in our kitchen came from suggestions and input here. mad_gallica - I went outside and measured the add'l 5 feet and yes, the difference is not significant. Thank you for the clear direction. I like your suggestions but will need help on shrubs. I'm starting to get quite embarrassed about asking DH to start so close to the house. (Nothing worse than wasted time and effort, especially when the specs change-just not fair to him). Goal is to improve upon what we have. Today, driving around, I saw so many planting combinations which I disliked. What we have currently - single row - works. Here's a fall shot. What we put in should be much better (and yes, visible from the circle/street). You can see that I'm trying to fill in empty spaces here (below the windows). Dug up so far is around 7 yards; we can buy a combination of screened loam and compost for $30/yard. My thinking now is to fill the existing hole; leave a strip (of rocky soil), and then start digging again. I still want to plant bulbs and perennials easily, so we'll continue the process of removal and fill. I still stand by my definition of rocky! Soil samples from the yard are barely a few inches deep, when I collect them. Digging a new hole can take 30 minutes for a new gallon perennial (used to use my mantis at times, too). But yes, if we're planting shrubs, with the backhoe, the process should be quite easy going forward (happy thought). Some of the rocks which were removed when we extended our foundation a few years ago are as large as 4' x 3' x 3'+, not negligible :) (Our contractor wanted to take them away 'for us' but I thanked him and said we would like to keep them). I have Chief Architect and also Sketchup; will make a scale drawing with a 10+ foot bed. (Excellent suggestion). Then will solicit input for shrubs.

We wouldn't know where a sidewalk would go until knowing where the road, drive and parking is. And your picture is distant to show it. Even if you don't have a sidewalk, you should at least have a landing. It would be several feet deep (front to back) and the full width of your porch.

Agree with Laceyvail that the bed does not fit the house and needs to be much deeper in order to hold plants that fit the house. What is the black pipe? If it's sewer cleanout (or probably anything else), it doesn't need to be sticking up like that. Unless you are really trying to hide the entrance, I wouldn't place all the shrubbery to the right of the garage. It's an obstruction to the view and looks cluttered. A smallish tree off of the corner of the garage would allow the view below to continue, and still give a sheltered/protected look to the garage area. Whether it's a single or multi-trunk would be up to you. The plants are not specific, but are suggestions for forms, sizes placement and general organization. You can choose the plants according to your climactic conditions that make it work. I don't think that using gravel in the beds instead of plants is ultimately going to help with appearance. Gravel -- and weed barrier -- unfortunately, are not solutions to weeds. That takes eradication at the creation of the bed, rigorous policing during the first couple of years and then a more moderate periodic checking. Preen weed preventer, on a rigorous schedule (according to directions) helps considerably, especially during the first couple of years.

It will help to post a picture of the whole house from the street