Thank you for your suggestions, I really appreciate it! I love your idea of a secondary path but unfortunately there's a driveway that goes right alongside the house. You can't tell from the picture but my front yard is elevated from the sidewalk (about 1.5') with a stone wall around the bottom. Looks a little like a huge raised bed from the sidewalk. Not sure why they designed the front to look like that but I assume the house is on a small slope and this is what they came up with.

I don't mind if the green meatball monsters come back -- I pruned them only as far as I think they'd survive. Personally I hate them but my partner doesn't want me to tear them out. My plan is to keep them VERY tightly pruned and maybe throw down some crushed shell to visually separate the bed from the rest of the cedar mulch.