It does so like you are a new gardener. Plants are not that flexible about their sun needs. Also, look at what the neighbors have -- those are things that do well in your area.

Anonymous wrote:Take a photo and bring it to merrifield garden center and ask their folks for some suggestions... Let them know light, soil etc... The have a huge selection and are helpful

+1. When new people move into our neighborhood, they do what you did. usually they go with small evergreen shrubs placed 4-5 feet apart and some mulch. Its a clean updated look.

Op you can plant during the summer, you just have to water properly.

Anonymous wrote:
The front yard is not huge but I'm in a colonial so some decent space. The beds are already cut and I'd like to reuse them as-is. There is s lot of space for planting. I'd like to hide two basement windows with something larger than a hosta or something. I prefer perennials and use mulch.

It sounds like you mostly want the garden space to be for appearance from the street/sidewalk?

If I were you, I would put in annuals for this year, while I was thinking about what I wanted longer-term. I would walk around the neighborhood and see what other people had that I liked/didn't like the looks of, and I would go to established gardens like the botanic garden, the national arboretum, and so on.

On the other hand, if that's more thought than you want to put into it, and you just want something there now, then you should go to one of the garden centers and ask them for an instant landscape design except for no azaleas.

We had a landscape designer make a plan for our whole big yard. It cost a few hundred dollars, but really helped with the "now what" factor after ripping out overgrown boxwoods and deer eaten azaleas. Our front bed is a mix of shrubs like hydrangea and viburnum with perennials in front of those like echinacea, black eyed Susan, and Russian sage.

It is amazing the difference getting rif of old shrubs makes.

Take a photo and bring it to merrifield garden center and ask their folks for some suggestions... Let them know light, soil etc... The have a huge selection and are helpful

sounds like you don't really know what you are doing.

I hate when new neighbors move in to CCDC and can't wait to make their mark on their property by cutting down all the mature trees and sometimes-valuable landscaping ( like a mature japanese maple) and replace it with shit from Lowes.

Anonymous wrote:How big is your front yard? How much sun does it get? What kind of plants do you like? How much work do you want to put into your front yard? What do you want the plants in your front yard to do?

The front yard is not huge but I'm in a colonial so some decent space. The beds are already cut and I'd like to reuse them as-is. There is s lot of space for planting. I'd like to hide two basement windows with something larger than a hosta or something. I prefer perennials and use mulch.

Anonymous wrote:Oh...so many ideas, OP. Yes, we need to know about how much sun your front garden area gets.

I hope bright, intense sunshine because that's become my specialty!

You could get a big tray of vincas...get some that are nearly ready to bloom and plant those...also consider two big urns of flowers at your front door. I cheat and get hanging arrangements with variety of colors, heights (some cascading) and blooms and snip off the hanging apparatus. Bam. Done.

I have full sun in the front. Currently have about five peonies in bloom about five hydrangeas filling out now. Two large trees in the yard with bulbs plants around them in various blooming times (daffodils then tulips and now iris).

Anonymous wrote:but they were in bloom! I totally get when it's a brown shriveled mess or a scraggley shrub, but those 5 seconds when they are in bloom, they are glorious!

Nah, there were a lot of very large azaleas and some other very old shrubs.

Oh...so many ideas, OP. Yes, we need to know about how much sun your front garden area gets.

I hope bright, intense sunshine because that's become my specialty!

You could get a big tray of vincas...get some that are nearly ready to bloom and plant those...also consider two big urns of flowers at your front door. I cheat and get hanging arrangements with variety of colors, heights (some cascading) and blooms and snip off the hanging apparatus. Bam. Done.

but they were in bloom! I totally get when it's a brown shriveled mess or a scraggley shrub, but those 5 seconds when they are in bloom, they are glorious!

You could probably put dahlias in now and see how you like them--they are sort of annual.

How big is your front yard? How much sun does it get? What kind of plants do you like? How much work do you want to put into your front yard? What do you want the plants in your front yard to do?

...an impulsive move after work today. We have no plan for replanting but need to do it quickly before it is so so hot. Where can I get recommendations for plant selection? (I am the OP azalea hater in Arlington.)