So I ended up leaving it mostly in my mother in laws hands. We tilled all the way to the grass line and even though I was trying to avoid a hedge look, I may get one. We did two coppertina ninebark on each side of the porch and three knockout roses on each side in front of that. I never considered myself a rose person, but these are pretty. Now I'm filling in with perennials on either side, I haven't put any of those in ground yet. I've got to get some pictures still. Thanks for all your help!

hey liz.. royal oak eh?? [from your members page] .. grew up in livonia... and bought my first house there ... first.. refer to the link .... for a suggestion as how to proceed ... linds ... did it right.. by catching us.. when we were bored out of our minds.. prior to the weather breaking ... note the pix we requested.. as well as having her define what her goals were ... and they did not end up being what she started with ... and its your use of common terms.. that is confusing you .. and us.. as to where to go with this ... e.g... evergreens... well.. that covers a wide range of things ... i THINK you are talking about conifers ... if you are.. that is where linds started .... and that is usually the backbones of the front of ones house ... but there are many other plants that are .. in essence.. evergreen ... so you need to define what you are talking about ... and technically.. conifers are NOT shrubs.. though i also called them such for decades .... but it is not helpful in defining where we want to go .... BTW .. your link doesnt work.. and that pic is not going to be helpful to anyone defining a plan ... and take a walk some evening.. and snap a pic or two.. of what other peeps have done with the front of their houses.. to help you define what you like.. and give us some guidance as to where you want to go ... you are spot on with the foundation ... when i had my first house in livonia.. i learned that 3 feet AT THE FOUNDATION .. should be left blank ... so i could get a ladder in there.. to do gutters.. paint.. xmas lights.. window washing.. etc ... and if you agree with that.. then you should 'see' that your bed is horribly out of configuration .... lol .. i just glanced up.. and i see the neighbor still has the ugly old improperly planted conifer .... and the root of your problem might be this forum.. but you never know ...... the conifer forum is much more active.. than the shrub forum.. and not every one of the peeps there.. come thru here ... so if this post dwindles.. try over there ... my best suggestion ... is to define and build some great beds.. for planting in fall .. the next proper season for planting conifers .. and trees.. as i doubt you can properly build those beds in time ... you simply should not plant such.. in the heat of summer ... but .... once you define the beds.. and add some of your annuals.. and perennials.. then we can get the backbones in place in fall ... of my 600 conifers.. about half came in the mail ... and that is how you get truly unique things.. rather than JUST what the bigboxstore offers ... well.. that and a budget.. lol .. of course .. as compared to me in adrian mi ... you have some great large upscale nurseries in the area including bordines .. english gardens.. etc ... so.. get us some better pix.. that perhaps we can photoshop ... and lets try to find some words that explain where you want to go .. oh.. i would expand that bed to about 10 feet from the house.. which would make it only 7 feet deep to work with .. it would NOT be straight across.. and we would have to figure out how to deal with what i will guess is an arcing walkway .... [any chance you want to replace that with brick as a part of the process] ... and i would insure.. that some part of the plants introduce a vertical element.. as compared to your 1950's metro detroit ranch ... good luck ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Is the 'limbed up' thing just about preventing it from taking a lot of ground space? If so, what about a columnar evergreen conifer like an emerald green arborvitae? Or something similar that'd remain green & attractive during winter, without bushing out too badly. Of course, if you want a tall naked trunk under the crown of the tree, that's not going to work out. What is it about the Purpleleaf Sandcherry that you don't like? I'm not pushing the plant, just thinking that knowing what you don't like about it might help rule out some of the other options. Richard.

Not sure where in the upstate you are, but if you are anywhere near Easley, SC, there is a large nursery there that should be able to assist you in picking out suitable plants. The name of the place is simply The Easley Nursery. Its been there a long, long time. Bill