Hi drtygrl, thanks for the comments. I didn't fully explain my intentions in my first post. I intend to remove the timbers below the yews and extend the foundation planting to be deeper and layered. Perhaps I gave the impression that I simply wanted to plant a row of 'something' against the foundation. The odd landscape area on the bank is part of a section of the landscape that's not visible in the photos. There are wooden/brick steps that lead from the upper level of the yard to the level where the front door is located. (It currently needs some repair work--we put it in over twenty years ago.) There is a bed to the left of the steps that includes pink spirea, iris, day lilies, phlox,... It extends out to the left to include and camoflauge the location of our well cap, which is oddly placed at the top of the slope (in the lamb's ear area). That area also extends on the right side of the steps, where there is another pink spirea down in front of the wall, the pachysandra which you see peeking out in the photo, and other perennials, which extend along the edge of our weirdly shaped driveway to the sidewalk. When we built the stone wall we removed a cureved area of landscaping that we used to have on the upper level that softened the look of the timbers under the yews and curved toward the planting I just described. We also removed one or two yews that were to the right side of the front window at that time. We never got around to putting anything back in that space. I guess that's part of what I'm asking about now. The tree in front of the house is a small variety of magnolia.

Here in central Pa, there are unfortunately many deserted, ruined farmsteads. Unfortunate in that so much of the beautiful farmland is being "developed". It seems so rampant that very soon this will all disappear. Only subdivisions and malls for miles in any direction. Your home and property are beautiful and that the barn "ruin" was left is truly amazing. You've obviously worked hard to achieve all that is presented in your pictures. It's beautiful! Many years ago the city of Philadelphia discovered the foundations of Ben Franklin's home - only the foundation. Because they couldn't possibly reconstruct the home, they erected an "outline" in steel of the home's dimensions. Along that line, I was wondering if placing some trellis panels between some of the post footings to provide a shelter and an impression of barn walls - perhaps to block winter prevailing winds. There are pictures of old barns and their interiors on the web. I searched and found pix of walls and doors of stalls that would make useful, complementary trellis panels - not the usual 6x6 squares or diamonds. Also some pictures show uprights that have "y"-shaped brackets at the top evidently to support a roof overhang. I'm certainly not suggesting that the whole outline be placed, just an appropriate area, perhaps to view the gardens in winter or on a sultry summer day. Since many barn ruins are seen falling down at the edges of meadows, I wondered if native plants would help the mood like Virginia creeper or native scarlet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) or clematis on the trellises, or clambering over the footings, Alleghany spurge for ground cover, etc. There are so many thoughtful responses here from experienced, creative people for your consideration. What an engaging way to spend a long cold winter. I hope you'll post updates on what you decided to do and the project's progress.

My first thought was similar to T2D's and Ken's, that adding shrubs to your current bed, which is relatively narrow, won't be enough to balance the size of your lovely colonial. I think you want to broaden your approach to the issue, though this may be way more info than you want. ;>) Before planting woody plants, you will want to do a general front yard plan so that you don't later have move things (much more difficult with woody plants than perennials.) So here are some general questions to consider: - How do you (or will you) use the front yard? for example mostly to frame the house, or for touch football games or will you want a front yard seating area eventually, etc -Where do people need to be able to walk to get to the house from the street, from the driveway, does the mailman or paper delivery person cut across the lawn? - Will you want to be able to easily get around the corners of the house into the side and back yard, for access to utilities or with yard equipment? - Do you want to block any views or be sure to leave any sight lines such as to or from the deck or porch or a neighboring structure? -Do you want shade for any of your outdoor areas? -Does your dog have particular paths s/he uses where you don't want to plant? I would begin by figuring out where you want your walkways and access to be so that you can plant around their eventual location. Be sure to plan walkways wide enough for two people to walk abreast to look welcoming and access wide enough to get whatever needed through the space. You don't need to actually do any of these right now, just know where they will go. Then widen your current foundation planting. If needed it can go on both sides of the walkway across from the driveway to the door. Be sure not to plant anything so close to the house that its eventual size will interfere with maintenance of the house. For my old cape (much lower than yours) my beds tend to be 10 feet or more wide, and the shop/barn, which has a similar mass and height to your house, has beds wider than that, along with large trees to frame it. Once you have figured out some of these general questions and done some general planning, you are ready to start to answer your original question. My inclination would be to leave a large sweep of lawn between the house and the road (unlike Ken's beautiful yard, but very different house and setting.) I would probably place a large tree (sugar maple, blue spruce, etc) off the corner of the house, 30 or more feet out, depending on its eventual size - something that will have some mass to balance the house and sort of frame it. Traditional with your style of house is sugar maples out by the road, which is a look that I find appealing. Be sure that anything large that you plant is not going to interfere with overhead wires over the long term. I'd also probably place a smaller ornamental tree with nice branching structure on the opposite side of the house from the larger tree and closer to the house, though still more than half the eventually width of the tree away from wires or the house. I like T2D's suggestion of a hardier Japanese maple (Emperor I would be my choice for you,) or some other ideas include paperbark maple (Acer griseum), Stewartia, red-flowering buckeye, crabapple, a hardy clone of redbud (I have one and there are some in Plymouth at PSU) or dogwood. I have both Kousa dogwoods and pagoda dogwoods and there is a thriving red-flowered buckeye at my local school. Pagoda dogwood in spring: From garden photos 07 and in August the birds love the berries From garden photos 07 Also consider spire-shaped trees closer to the house such as a columnar gingko (but still keeping in mind the eventual width.) These will help ground the house without blocking the nice architecture. Think about adding a large bed with small trees, shrubs, and perennials close to the road (but far enough back that the plows wouldn't interfere with it.) From the road, these plants will look relatively larger and will help ground the house. In the bed near the house, one way to add height would include clematis (particularly C. Stolwijk Gold which has blue flowers in spring and gold foliage - can get from http://hummingbirdfarm.net/clematis.htm when they open their online ordering later on) or other vines like native honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) on a trellis or obelisk or on a wire framework up your porch pillars, or even growing into a large shrub. Large spring-blooming shrubs might include traditional lilacs (grow slowly, so get larger ones if you can afford them,) some of the larger hardy rhododendrons such as Roseum Elegans or PJM (red foliage tints and medium leaf size), some of the native viburnums, hardy magnolias, Amalanchiers (shadblow is one of the common names), chokeberry (Aronia), high bush blueberries or a variagated leaf red-twigged dogwood which will have multiseason interest unlike the regular green leaved ones which are really only nice in winter. There is a lime-foliaged Philadelphus (mock orange) and a variety of dark and variagated foliaged weigela. Golden/charteuse elderberry (Sambucus Southerland Gold) has multiseason interest as do some of the dark-leaved varieties like Black Beauty or Black Lace. There are a couple of forsythia to look into with gold or variagated foliage: Fiesta, Kumson, Evergold' and 'Gold Leaf' AKAGoldleaf, though you may not get flowers except below the snow line. Look into conifers - I know there are some shrub-sized selections of blue spruce, but I have had some issues with bud worm killing back new growth. I don't have much in the way of deer issues usually since I am in a rural enough area that there is plenty else for them to eat, so you will have to talk to the neighbors and nursery folks near you about what is less likely to be eaten or plan to have deer avoidance strategies such as spraying or black bird netting over vulnerable shrubs. I can tell you that in my neighborhood both arborvitae and yew are deer candy and so you probably want to avoid them. Here is the 2012 USDA zone map. http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ If you click on NH you will get a larger image of NH and can probably figure out if you are still in zone 4. I am north of Concord in the Merrimack Valley and am in zone 5a, but there is a lot of zone 5b north of me, so you may find that your zone designation has changed. That will help you select plants. I know you commented that you don't need winter interest due to snow depth, and I used to feel that way also. Then I though about all those months when it isn't the growing season, but there also isn't much snow as well as years like this one with little snowfall. So what most people consider winter interest I consider late fall (Nov. and Dec) as well as early spring (March or April) interest and I do plant for that. T2D's suggestion of visiting nurseries to see what is available in spring is a good one. I tend to plan for general shapes or sizes and types of plants (evergreen conifer, or rhododendron, or deciduous shrub with gold leaves) and then visit area nurseries and find what appeals to me that fits my requirements and is available. Driving around established neighborhoods both now and in the growing season is also a good strategy. Find areas with architecture similar to yours and see what appeals to you, both in plants types and placement. In gardening season if folks are out in the yard, they are often happy to tell you about what they have planted if you ask. Besides Plymouth State (one of the grounds workers used to put up a weekly what's blooming on the web and do periodic plant walks, but I don't know if he still does), Dartmouth may have an arboretum that you can visit for ideas as well if either of those are close to you. Fnally, consider asking some version of this question on the New England forum, or just go over there and browse. You will find that there are some great gardeners there with a lot of expertise. Check out some of T2D's photos of her garden in various posts.

It's a bit late to consider now, but most of the west coast is very heavily populated with an assortment of wonderful nurseries and garden centers and unless you are located in a particularly remote area or looking for something rare or unique, there really isn't much need to use mail order. 'Magic Carpet' spiraea is a hugely popular plant and is carried everywhere in spring when the colorful new growth is showing - they were even selling it at my local grocery store!! And I will second the comments about pruning back. It can be done at any time and to quite a severe degree. Since I really dislike the flowers on this plant (much prefer the foliage effect), I shear it back anytime it sets buds, several times a season. I also cut it back hard in late winter to keep size in check. Spiraeas are extremely forgiving - large unruly ones can be cut back nearly to the ground without concern and respond with new growth promptly.