Is this area full sun? The plants you mention will probably grow there, but you're right, you can't fit much in 2' of space. Also, they will be brown sticks in winter, but you don't mention if this is important to you. Maybe you could add a couple of dwarf evergreens to the list?

Mango Tango potentilla is indeed a small well-behaved shrub, but as saypoint says, it's an unattractive bunch of sticks in the winter. In fact, it's slow to leaf out (at least for me) so it's unattractive in the spring as well.

Have you given thought to creating a bed on the other side of the sidewalk, and leaving that under-two-foot strip bare, or planting with some small annuals?

Builders just seem to love creating these awkward beds. My house has a similar bed (though I have a front entry garage and this bed runs along the garage to the front door). The previous owners stuck in a row of Japanese hollies and tightly clipped them into a tiny hedge. Not my style! I have been thinking about what to replace them with. I will likely go with perennials (evergreen/semi-evergreen or winter interest would be good) with no shrubs.

I don't know much about Potentilla. I don't know of any shrubs that you can fit into a two foot deep bed that you would not have to constantly prune. If you did, I am not sure that a 16" x 16" shrub would make much impact on your landscape. If you wanted a more standard looking foundation type planting, I would suggest extending the planting bed to the other side of the walk.

If replacing the walk is a potential, check out the link below for some ideas.

- Brent

Here is a link that might be useful: Renegade Gardener - Project #2: Dream Job

The idea to leave the 2' strip and create a nice bed on the other side of the walkway is an excellent idea. You will love it in the future when you need to do any maintenance work on this side of the house - also less likely for bugs and critters to live immediately next to your house, less potential of collected water and moisture problems as well.

May I also cast a vote for planting on the OTHER side of the walk and simply mulching the 2 foot wide strip, perhaps putting in some perennials if necessary. You can make a sweeping bed that takes in the walk, possibly. Two feet isn't room for any shrub to really look or feel good and what's the point, really? You have lovely brick there that helps "ground" the house.

Patty

You could always put an evergreen groundcover in the narrow strip, instead of mulch.

I may someday do something on the other side but I have already ripped up the sod in this small area so I need something there. What is evergreen groundcover?

Evergreen groundcover; some are shown here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Groundcover

I like Brent's link. Especially the tree the landscaper put in front of the house. (snark, snark) Really, though, that path is awesome.

You could do an evergreen groundcover or larger evergreen perennials. They do exist--there just aren't many of them. Berengia should work in Iowa, for instance. Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans, a groundcover) gets some height when it blooms.

I'd put a larger bed on the other side, like Patty said, and concentrate my attention there. (No bushes unless you want to have to shovel snow over them, though...)

You could also use climbers or espaliered plants.

What are some possibilities with the windows as they are? Not criticizing--curious. I have a weakness for climbers, so that was my first thought, but when I saw the windows, I thought (s)he'd end up having to trim constantly or not having a satifactory coverage...

After a few hours at our local store I decided to go with a few Boxwood's.

Boxwoods? *sigh*
Patty

If this is full sun, can you take the boxwoods back? Seriously.

Since this is Iowa, I assume you get pretty cold during the winter. You can grow hardy boxwood in zone 5, but they need careful siting. The big thing is to keep them out of both sun and wind during the winter, when the ground is frozen and they can't get any moisture. If they aren't protected, they fry. Fried boxwood is ugly, and it grows slowly enough that it can take almost all summer to recover. If the site is truly inhospitable, it will look bad almost always. Yes, you can bundle them up in burlap, but that's barely an improvement over the potentilla.

If this is the north side of the house, and there is something to break the wind, ignore that paragraph.

My first thought also was to espalier something on the brick. Since those look like garage windows, I wouldn't get too upset about covering them up a bit unless the garage is used as a workshop.

Did you buy those boxwoods at Home Depot? They're notorious around here for bringing in things which have no business being sold in this zone.

I still say mulch that area and forget trying to wedge shrubs into that tiny space, even if they *are* zone-appropriate. It's not good for the shrubs; they just can't thrive in so little space. And the house doesn't need anything in front of the foundation - the brick takes care of that.

Other than the zone issue, the boxwoods may work as far as growing in that spot. It doesn't look like full sun to me for some reason, but that could just be seasonal due to the grass looking good. Given the narrowness of the strip, you do need something you can keep clipped and that doesn't grow excessively in each season. I actually have an even narrower bed along a sidewalk in the back yard where I have just removed all the deciduous shrubs and most of the perennials and made it almost all columnar and dwarf conifers, and that is not only because I have succumbed to a conifer obsession this year. They are simply more practical as they won't reach out and try to knock my long-suffering DH off his motorcycle as he takes it out. Conifers would be another option that might work for this strip of yours, although depending on whether it is sun or part shade your selection would be much different.

From a landscaping point of view, however, it is beyond odd that you've chosen to landscape the one spot on this property that does not need it. This wall is, as has been pointed out, perfectly attractive without any landscaping other than grass and will only become uglier with an unimaginative and poorly designed planting. The back wall, on the other hand, and the surrounding area which leaves you bare to the scrutiny of your neighbours at all times, are screaming out for plant cover.

The fact that you've already torn out the sod is not an irretrievable error, and you need not compound it by going ahead with the second error of continuing with a bad plan. You can put sod back down or reseed (though to explain this to DH/DW might not be the easiest thing in the world). And the thing is that boxwood will still leave you with a large surface of dirt underneath them, which will spill onto the walkway and grow weeds like crazy. If you go ahead with this planting, you should still look into groundcovers. Ask at your local nursery what they are (nursery/garden centre, not home depot). Or search these forums for the word "groundcover."