I'm becoming an osmanthus fragrans fan...evergreen shrubs that you can either hedge or let grow naturally, with fragrant flowers in spring and/or fall, and new growth that is red or burgundy. The flowers even come in different colors--white, orange, or yellow, I believe (although they're fairly small). They're pretty much carefree as well, besides trimming. They do fine with part shade, and like morning sun best. The only issue is that you have to be careful with your variety...some can grow up to 20' tall. Since they won't be in full sun, that will help restrict the growth too.

There are hundreds of other options, and many more people better qualified than I to give them. I'm sure someone will chime in soon with more choices!...azaleas, pieris, knockout roses, aucuba, hydrangeas...it's wonderful state in which to garden! Welcome!

Here is a link that might be useful: Osmanthus Link

You could spot two crapemyrtles on the corner of the deck and the corner of the garage and extend the downspot onto the lawn. Around the crapemyrtle by the deck you could plant 3 flowering deciduous shrubs, i.e. spirea, hydrangea, honeysuckle, butterfly bush, etc. that grow to about 5', then along the deck either holly or boxwood staggered, in the garage corner something with height, a weeping evergreen spruce, fir, then around the back of the garage possibly cotoneaster horizontalis staggered.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

I would put Gardenias in front of the deck. 'August Beauty' grows to 5'; 'Daisy' - 3'; 'Radicans' - 1'. I got mine from Lowes.

I would also put some Camellias near the air conditioner. They get pretty tall but are slow growing and you just have a whole lot of brick on that wall anyway.

You could also put azaleas near the deck and lorapetalum near the a/c or you could put a mix of all of the above they are part/sun plants. Home depot usually gets a good collection of Camellia's in by June. Knockout roses are sun loving and extremely thorny...but you could put them in front of your house. Good Luck.

I wouldn't worry about the sun leaving by 1pm since so many things do well with morning sun and afternoon shade.

Any bushes that get too big can be trimmed or replaced every 5-10 years. I know, I know you didn't plan on doing that much work but the truth is you will be planting and replanting stuff anyway - gardens never stay the same one year to the next. If trees or shrubs give you what you want while they are younger you can either try to find dwarf varieties or just replace them when they get too big.

I tend to enjoy outdoors/decks during the winter so I would plan on stuff around the deck to be winter performing - either color, bloom/fragrance or winter interest due to form. There are also plenty of tropicals that can be overwintered in the ground here - palms, fatsia, bananas, loquat, citrus. You have to protect some of them if you want fruit but they will survive just fine without protection and can make a warm winter day seem like a minivacation.

If it were my yard I would put in a few more specimen trees (small) and then fill the rest of the beds with perennials, annuals and herbs. I wouldn't make it mostly trees or strictly perennials - I like to stay flexible and try to have something blooming all the time (very do-able).

All Carolina yards should have at least one: Camelia, Azalea, Daphne odora, and Gardenia.

Thanks for the comments so far... I have a small wooded area directly to the cameras back that will allow me to add a bit more diversity, but what are your thoughts on this....

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From left to right...

* A Muhly Grass (mainly at my wifes request)
* Krume azaleas
* Boxwoods
* A Hairy Lauder's Walking stick with a ground cover... blue juniper?
* Gardenias
* Gumpo azaleas at the feet of a Heritage River Birch
* Mountain Laurel at the side of the deck

Thoughts?

That wall really stands out now but otherwise looks good. If you minus the Krume azalea next to the boxwood and add a Camellia there that would fix the big blank wall. You might want to add Grace Ward Lithodora in front of those gardenias. I just bought some and I just can't stop looking at them, gorgeous blue, low-growing, supposed to bloom until fall.

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Grace Ward' Lithodora

Lithodora will probably work if he's got sand- with clay i don't know that it will hold up. I killed several before i put them in big planters. They really like drainage. There are some good alternative plants, though- creeping heliotrope would work, as would a lot of the verbenas to give low growing constant color through the seasons. If it were me, i'd mix it up a it more and not plant so many of the same thing next to each other. The strength in that is that if you lose one bush you don't have a hard to impossible hole to fill with a matching size & variety left there. Not to mention diseases & pests have a harder time getting a foothold when you don't have a monoculture. Just a thought. I'd vary the height a little more, too. The eye enjoys moving up and down a bit. Be aware that unless you pick dwarf cultivars azaleas nor gardenias will stay that small- do you want to meatball all of your plants several times a yr? Better to make sure you pick varieties for their max size and then you don't have to spend tons of time and frustration fighting the bushes' natural urge to get bigger. I know it's the predominant 'style' around here, but it doesn't mean it has to or even should be done that way.

Boxwoods?....(sigh)

Well, they would serve their purpose there. But there are some viburnum choices that are very hedge friendly and also add flowers, fragrance, or berries for the birds as a bonus. I just think boxwoods are a little...well, boring. And too overplanted. Formal gardens--great. Small hedges (like here), OK. But just as an option, there are lots of other neat evergreens that are trimmer-friendly and that don't look exactly the same almost every day of the year.

But they are a tough little shrub!...I've gotta respect them.

You are in the Carolina's now. No Crapemyrtles? Problem is most of all the plants you chose bloom in the spring, nothing for the summer when you are out of doors? Unless you were sitting outside today. All evergreen adds little dimension.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials

"No Crapemyrtles?" I have 5 along my driveway and roses out front.

Most of these are for screening things I don't want to see. I plan on using other items in the "wooded" area at the back of the lot.

The beds are curved to allow for some annual/bulb plantings for seasonal interest.

Keep the comments coming though. I love the new ideas and challenges. After next weekend these beds will be planted.

The Encore azaleas are worth looking into. I have 2 that are 8 years old and about 3.5 x 3.5, Autumn Amethyst. Encore azaleas come in several colors and habits. Mine are blooming profusely this spring and always bloom very well in the fall, sometimes into Nov. Serissa foetida is another shrub to look into. Don't be put off by the name -- I have never detected a bad small from one. They are dainty evergreen plants that get to about 4' by 4' and have a very pleasing habit when left untrimmed, but also tolerate trimming well. I agree with Tammy about mixing things up a bit so that everything's not marching in a line. Muhly grass is an excellent choice, if used as a specimen plant or in small groups. They don't require trimming (in fact they don't like it), and they are spectacular when they bloom in the fall.

Here's a pic of one of my Encores:
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If your wife wants the pink muhly grass, she should know that a single one doesn't look like much - they are spectacular in late summer/fall in drifts of 5 or more. There are grasses that look good as a single specimen, but they do vary in height (2-8'), so better she decide on that and then ask.

I agree with the idea of a couple of camellias, picking between the sasanquas/early japonicas to get the early winter blooms, and then a later flowering japonica to get the spring blooms. I would avoid the whites as all I have seen look REALLY ratty after rain, but a dark red or pink could look very good against the bricks.

BTW, it's HARRY Lauder's Walking Stick for the hazel - he was a well-know British comedian of the early 20th century who had a cane from this cultivar. They can get a little wide and you need to be careful about taking off shoots from the understock, since it is grafted, but it would be a good choice for the corner. For the ground cover under it, I might go with something that can take more shade than junipers - the shade would become quite dense as the hazel grew. If you like the look, then go ahead, but be aware you might have to replace them in a few years. What about a Spreading Japanese Plum Yew? It will stay pretty low, spread out, and take more shade than the juniper would like. Or, you could underplant with shade perennials - Hostas, ferns, toad-lilies (ignore the name, which comes from spots on the leaves and flowers, they are very pretty autumn-flowering, arching plants), etc.. Hellebore is another possibility, neat mounds (approximately 2' x 3' when mature) of dark green foliage of clustered leaflets until Feb. or so, when you cut them back so the flowers show off, in shades ranging from white to dark purple, clear to spotted. They flower until about now - or the colored bracts show off until about now - and then the leaves grow up and hide them. They CAN reseed, but not invasively, and, if your flower colors are mixed, you might get new colors. It might be nice under the birch as well, as river birches are water-hogs and provide very DRY dry-shade, which hellebores can take, although they appreciate watering, too.

Gardenias sound good, but pick for mature height as some cultivars can be (slowly, I grant) up to 6-7' tall, which I think may be taller than you want.

If you go with the Encore Azaleas, pick for mature size as well as color of bloom - they range from an expected 4' to almost 6', with equal spread.

Another plant to think about is Loropetalum - there is a green-leaf, white-flowering variety as well as the purple-leaved cultivars, with pink flowers, which range in height from 6' to 15'. 3 new forms were just released - I forget the names, but they are all more compact, supposedly staying at under 5' when mature, with a very dark purple-leafed one with RED flowers, another with pink flowers and a green/white form. They can all take hard pruning.

We have 1 pink muhly grass and we love the way it looks, I'm sure it's even better en masse but I think you should try it. We have a viburnum that's evergreen with clusters of tiny flowers in early spring and dark blue berries in winter. I think what we have is David viburnum which would probably give you the same look as the boxwoods. It looks like you already have 3 boxwoods, if you get 2 evergreen viburnums(some are deciduous) that would still work.
Here's a pink Camellia japonica 'Ave Marie' which bloomed in February. There's also 'Pink Sensation' with similiar blooms.
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Morning sun/afternoon shade: Perfect conditions for Hydrangea, Fothergilla, Abelia, Loropetalum, Illicium, much better choices than boxwoods. With all due respect, I do not like your proposed photoshop rendering. It's way too symmetrical for my taste. Envision something like a dwarf oakleaf hydrangea on either side of the steps to anchor the beds. That's all the symmetry you need. Vary the rest.

On the gabled end of the house where the AC unit is, the big expanse of wall is calling for something with height. I would plant a small tree far enough away from the foundation so that it isn't a nuisance (Styrax, Crape Myrtle, Halesia, etc). I really think that's all you need there...your AC units are already nicely screened.

I know that it isn't what you all would do, but here is the "finished" product...

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So what did you end up putting in? Can you give us a L to R of the plants?

I have a feeling they are all boxwoods? :(

From left to right there are 52 box woods...

No actually it is nearly exactly what I posted above...

1 Purple Muhley Grass

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4 George L Taber Azaleas

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12 Small Boxwoods to protect the AC units

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4 Blue Rug junipers (to be removed in a couple of years) and a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick (grafted)

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A Big Blue Liriope you can't see

8 White flowering Indian Hawthorne across the front of the deck

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6 Autumn Carnival Encore Azalea's around a River Birch

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3 Temple Bells Andromeda around the side of the deck

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The Indian Hawthorns will look great when they fill in and bloom their heads off (like they are right now). If it were me, I would take advantage of their dense growth and sneak pots of fancy tall colored bloomers into their branches so that something taller and showier was constantly in bloom. They make such a dense tangle of branches that you won't see the ground or mulch below them (keeps weeds to a minimum also), but they only bloom for a short while. That is why, after they are done, I'd stick medium sized pots of tall fragrant stuff like asiatic lilies - something to get the color and aroma up near my nose while I sat on my deck.

Yay glad to hear they were not all boxwoods! My eyes were playing tricks on me since it was a full shot of the whole backyard. Are you considering planting a shade tree or any other tree in the lawn?

These "photos" are actually 2 photos, photoshopped together as I can't get far enough back to get a clean shot of the whole house due to the wooded area behind the house. My entire backyard in in shade except for about 4 hours between 10 and 2, only between 11 and 1 does the entire lawn get sun at once.

Well I figured it was time for an update. It has been 14 months since that bed went in EVERYTHING has already been pruned at least once and the River Birch EXPLODED. Please take a look at in in the 4/20/08 post above.

Here are some new pictures from the yard...

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Everything below is new since this project too...

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