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Darling house. I would not try to move them because they are too big to successfully move. To me they are out of proportion and overgrown. I would haul them out and get some new shrubbery that will compliment and not get too big for the house.
Yeah, I can see better with those pics what's goin' on with your yard. I'd start by pulling out all the rocks and endeavors of the previous owners, and concentrate on hardscaping. Those beds look haphazard. Tailor your shapes with pavers, borders and possibly low retaining walls first.
I still think with some pruning and shaping the rhods look perfectly in proportion to your house. The smaller one can be moved, possibly to the right of the (I'm guessing) living room window to distribute the rhods across the face of the house. You can keep it tamed low. You'll then have the face of the (I'm guessing) bedroom window wall to background a better planned shrub and perennial bed.
Something to consider is a white trellis of architectural weight beneath that bedroom window, extending it to visually match the height of the living room window. This opens up a whole new set of plants or vines that can be trellis grown to complement the rhods and suitably background the planting bed. With a white arbor on the path side of the yard to match, a basic cohesive skeletal structure for your yard would be created. One caution, though: Two shrubs flanking a trellis makes a pretty symmetrical statement, and symmetry can be a trap. In this case I think it might work. Just a suggestion.
As for the grass, again your immediate impression of your own home is what's important. If your gut doesn't like it, remove it. That goes for the rhododendrons too. They don't have to be killed, but you don't have to keep anything you don't respond well to. Divide the grass in discarded containers and someone will be glad to take them.
ETA: For a low decorative centerpiece shrub (elsewhere than the house front; it needs sunlight) that has a nice look to it, I like the Gold Thread False Cypress:
I hate rhodies (sorry). Up north, I had a north facing home as well, with the rhodies in front of the house as well as in the back. They grow quite a bit but don't flower as much, no matter how much I feed it. When you trim it, it leaves an ugly woody stem with no leaves. I suggest you plant some boxwood and leave them trimmed into round pompom like shapes. Leave some space in between bushes so you could plant annuals or perennials in the summer. Yellow gerber daisies and hydrangeas love the shade. Or you could try some potted gardenias near the seating area for its fragrance, especially at night.
acccording to Wikipedia..... Miscanthus is a genus of about 15 species of perennial grasses.
I think we are in agreement that it is a grass, and not a Pampas grass, which she didnt want.
Uh, yeah....I'm not sure of the reason for your sarcasm.....But any type of miscanthus (that I've ever seen) is a beautiful plant, and I wanted them to know that they have a very desirable type of grass growing there, not some kind of invasive pest. And I figured they could read about it on the internet, find out how it grows best, how to divide it if they wanted to, etc. Just trying to be helpful.
I hate rhodies (sorry). Up north, I had a north facing home as well, with the rhodies in front of the house as well as in the back. They grow quite a bit but don't flower as much, no matter how much I feed it. When you trim it, it leaves an ugly woody stem with no leaves.
Our house is north facing, and I haven't had that problem when trimming mine, I get new growth right away. And I get a lot of blooms. In fact the darn things grow like crazy. When trimming it, trim down to the base of the leaves on a stem, not at the tops of the stems. The biggest problem I have is ice damage in the winters, which damage the leaves.
To the OP, the closer it gets to spring and summer, the more sun you will get in the front as the angle of the sun changes. So the shade you are seeing now will retreat further towards the house a bit. So you might find that only 3' or so of your foundation area is in full shade, as opposed to what you are seeing now. This will give you more options for plants, unless you have nearby trees that will shade them.
Hi, Rachel. I'm laid up so I had time to clean up your picture to give everyone a better idea of what you have. I threw out a bunch of ideas, but starting from scratch is better. If you have Photoshop you can browse the internet and paste plants.
This is assuming you keep the rhododendons, removing the smaller one. They're trimmed down using the border of the brick-to-siding as the upper horizontal edge. I can now agree, with blossoms, that they might still seem large. However, you do have to consider how their weight also balances against the huge canopy of mature trees you have there in the background and street. (I took away a lot of things on your photo. Had to get rid of those Adirondack chairs, and the flagpost. I dunno if that post is attached to the house, but it's certainly not structural and is bisecting your front door.)
Bunjee!
Thanks so much!!! Much better!! Guess I need to invest in Photoshop.
I really appreciate your time.
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and not a Pampas grass, which she didnt want.
In fact the darn things grow like crazy. When trimming it, trim down to the base of the leaves on a stem, not at the tops of the stems. The biggest problem I have is ice damage in the winters, which damage the leaves.
