That's a pretty house. How about some trees and some flowers. And get rid of the red mulch!

I really don't care for the shutters. They take up too much room of your nice house which has a statement of it's own without them. I'd spend the money on beefing up the door, which seems small to me. And/or add some trim to the windows and door to draw attention to them. Put in a couple of staggered trees out front in the area of the large window on the right. Those bushes are going to end up being too much, be sure to trim them out as the grow to see your cute porch. Perhaps another planting spot near and along the walkway. Not sure about a tree on the left, but depending upon where you live, nice shade for sitting outside.

Thank you. I really have no idea where to start. I've spent some time cleaning weeds and removing old red mulch. So I figure I'd keep going and finally improve this situation, just have to make a plan..

I would remove the shutters, paint the front door a pretty teal, green or navy. Enlarge the light fixtures on either side of the garage and paint the garage door to match the beige siding.

Then mound and curve the landscaping on the right farther away from the building and include a larger taller ornamental tree that blooms to soften the edge. Not sure of your area but a weeping cherry or a flowering pear or red maple maybe to add color.

Is your siding beige or gray?

A nice tree in front and extending the beds in front of the walkway in a curvy fashion down part of the driveway will add more color and depth.

Fall is a great time for planting in most areas. Most landscape designers will tell you to plant an "anchor" tree to start the process. If you draw an imaginary line from front, right-hand corner of your house, to the front, right-hand corner of your lot, you should plant a tree about 2/3 of the way to the corner. This keeps your house from seemingly "floating" in the middle of your lot. From there, you can add a bed around the tree, as well.

Your state's university system may have a gardening extension program, or a horticulture group may have an online database of trees, shrubs and other plants suitable to your zone. Many have user-friendly search features you can cater to your planting needs.

I recommend paying attention to the off-season visual interest of your landscaping, too. Every plant looks great when it blooms, or for a few weeks in the fall, but you'll want to add interest and variety for the other seasons, too, in terms of their shapes, "winter" features, and so on.

Looks like what you have in terms of landscaping is fine, just needs some time to mature a bit. You can fill in with some flowering plants and I would definitely add at least one tree in the front right. If you are in the south, a magnolia or oak would be pretty. Some varieties of oak will grow faster than others. Bradford pears are also popular for the abundance of white spring flowers.

I'm not sure about the shutters, but if you keep them another color would really help. I would start by painting the garage door and the siding on the front porch the same beige as the siding on the right and in the gable (or another color if you want a change) The chalky white is glaring and you don't really have enough siding to need multiple colors. You can leave the trim and column white so they stand out a bit.

Depending on how that doorway is constructed, you might be able to change out the door and sidelights and put in something with some glass. Or is that all siding and not sidelight panels? That could get into a larger project -- in which case you may want to work on some trick to fool the eye. The beige paint with a green door would soften the contrast. Then put a planter with lots of green to the left (both sides of the door if there is room). You want lots of green and color variation, whether you go for flowering plants (we often use impatients on our porch) or just foilage (sweet potato vine in purple and lime green, a smaller grass in the back, a vine in the front.

If plants aren't your thing, you could look for other possibilities for that space. The idea would be to use some green to tie it in with the door and/or color and texture to draw your eye so you see the space as one and don't see the area as a small door in the middle of a chalk white slab.

If you keep the shutters, I would paint them black, dark green or possibly navy or grey -- depending in part on what you decide to do with the other choices (siding, door, etc)..

Larger fixture either side of the garage would be nice. What kind of lighting do you have over the porch and front door? You have a space for another lantern or some nice house numbers to the left of the door. Those would also help beef up the entry.

Thanks all!

you landscape the land... not decorate it.. under that theory.. you might get a wider array of suggestions.. in the landscape forum.. the conifer forum.. the tree forum .. along with the perennial/annuals forums ... throw in the shrub forum also ....

your base problem from that viewpoint.. is wrapped around the idea.. that foundation plantings are planted... to HIDE the foundation ... NOT ON THE FOUNDATION ...

in my eye ... you have a 8 to 15 foot tall house ... and you have garden beds about .. what looks like.. 3 feet wide ... its out of scale.. and out of proportion .. and that is why.. it looks all wrong to my eye ...

so if you want to change or manipulate all that.... you need other forums ...

[drive around the area... and notice houses that have wider beds ... and more interesting plantings.. and see if you can 'see' what i mean]

now.. what really cracks me up ... i just realized.. the mulch matches the shutters and door ... and frankly.. i think those.. are battling the brick color ... but this is more of a decor issue.. and i would defer to these peeps.. in this regard ... i know what i like when i see it.. but i never figured out how to define such.. other than to steal a neighbors inspired decision .. lol ...

along these lines.. you might want to think about working the garage door into the scheme .. somehow ... that big white door is a polar ice cap of whiteness ... kinda drowning out everything else ...

and finally.. back to the landscape... you have no vertical accents ... again.. reinforcing its squatness ...

i wish you luck...

ken

Looks as though the sun shines on the face of your home. You might want to consider a shade tree with planting bed beneath and charcoal grey shutters.

Cute house!
Another vote for losing the shutters, better lights, and changing mulch color.
Normally I'm in the camp of painting the garage door to match the siding, but in this case I would keep it as is I think, or at least wait until other changes were made before I decided to paint it.
Would like to see a more impressive/inviting front door.
Definitely need some trees. What style of gardening appeals to you? Very tailored English style, cottage-y, woodland, etc? Where are you located?

What Beverly drew up is perfect.

What about a small deciduous tree centered with the rails about 20 feet from the house and then put a big tree, as depicted closer to the curb aligned with the ball shrub put there. Your other shrubbery are going to grow and they will fill in and you will need no more. Just add in some seasonal bedding plants until that time. I would not put that ball shrub at the corner, but that is JMHO. I like corners to take place smoothly.