You can do that with cheap annuals now like the impatients; or you can scratch in some seeds. I am still not clear on how much shade you have. You and your child could plant some sun flower seeds or zinnias if you have sun. I can still remember picking out a tuberous begonia at a greenhouse when I was a child. My mother would buy bedding plants for 35 cents a dozen in San Diego. I took bouquets of orange and yellow big marigolds to school for my second grade teacher. If I can remember that, it made an impression because I have a Medicare card. If they don't do well you'll know that you need amendments. Garden centers are full of 4 and 6 packs for about $2. You could also buy some very big pots and have little container gardens. Little pots have to be watered often and are a pain unless you fiddle in your garden every day. Containers need a good soil less mix not the cheap stuff. You could start some perennials from seed; it will take them a year or more to bloom. It depends or whether you want to work in your garden as a hobby and enjoy the process or hire people to create a beautiful area for you with not much labor on your part. Several of us here like the process but I for one don't have a show place. I get my exercise and entertain myself; I plant pink roses next to orange azaleas. If you get it landscaped do it in the fall. My friend's son built a new house and the landscaper put in a ton of young trees in midsummer that had to be watered all summer; many died. He got his job done and they were container plants, but he left busy people a chore. Mid summer is hard on new plants.

Lots of good advice above. Here is my 2 cents for dealing with what many consider to be the second worst tree (after walnuts) to have in a spot where you want to garden. Norway mables are on the invasives list here in Illinois. Our village no longer plants them as parkway trees because they create too many volunteers that crowd out better trees, such as our native Burr Oaks. Ultimately you should get rid of those trees, because they are always going to be a huge problem. I suggest that you do it with a long range plan. First, get some vines growing up the spite fence between you and your neighbor. In due course, you can add a trellis or pergola for them to grow on to cut off the neighbors' view. When that is in place, take down the trees. But be careful what vines you plant because a lot of them are very agressive. Search in the forum on "vines for shade" for ideas on what to plant and what not to plant. Long range, climbing hydrangea will be a very good choice. However, that vine will seem to do nothing for about 3 years while it establishes its roots, after which it will climb slowing for another couple of years before it finally takes off. Be sure to attach some wires or cord to the fence for it to climb on, because its arial roots won't be able to attach to the wood fence. In the meantime, if you really have sun there from 7 to noon, you have good conditions for planting one or more "understory" trees. Cornus mas (a very easily grown dogwood that is one of the first trees to bloom in spring and that can be cut for winter forcing) is moderately priced and grows fast to about 20 feet. It can be easily trained as a hedge, and will do well in full sun after the maples come down. While you are waiting for all of this to grow up, thin out the mables. A good tree pruner can do this to create more mass on your neighbor's side while giving you lots more sun on your side. Down below, get your ground covers started, being sure to pick plants that will continue to do well after the maples come down. Any kind of hosta will grow in the sun you describe, although if they don't receive afternoon shade from the plantings between you and the spite fence, they will need to be replaced when the maples come down. Remember that the more water and food you give to hostas, the more delectible they become to slugs. Check out the hosta forum for tips on best selections. Then look for a neighbor who is surfeiting in hostas and will agree to supply you with what you need in return for help dividing them. Indeed, your best bet for all of the plantings you need except trees, is to seek out a local gardening mentor (probably an older person who is beginning to have some mobility problems) who would be willing to give you all of the advice and divisions you need in exchange for a smile, a chat and some help with the work. Ferns are not a great idea because they won't be able to take the sun once the maples are gone. Also, they need a lot of water and will have trouble competing with maple roots. Once the mables are gone, if you spot will have full morning sun followed by shade from afternoon sun, you will have a spot where you can grow a huge variety of plants.

Thanks for the photos. Generally, the order of doing things is first hardscape and then plants. So with that in mind, the first step I'd take would be the walk which currently is too narrow for comfort and needs to be solid and at least the width of the steps rather than single stepping stones to look friendly and welcoming. It can be just large sized concrete pavers placed touching side by side and front to back to make a solid walk or you can do a course of brick edging with an edge. Stepping stones like you have now are fine for within the garden, but the approach walk should be easy walking (so an 80 year-old grandmother can walk it comfortably.) I would run it out to the street and to where ever you leave your car. I also wouldn't plant anything other than grass or a heavy layer of mulch (perhaps with an easy groundcover) within about 12 feet of the house if you are likely to be putting in a porch in the next couple of years since you need to leave room not only for the porch itself but also at least 5 or 6 feet for workers and equipment, and even then plants will be trampled. No woody plants (shrubs or trees) over or near the edges of the septic, so do you know where the limits of the septic are? You will want a limited palette of plants here so that it doesn't look too weedy or overgrown or require too much maintenance. I would also limit your flower colors to three or four besides green. To my mind most of Bluestone's gardens have a whole lot of different plants, with one or two of each, which will be more difficult to keep looking good. With many types, you will need to be deadheading and trimming a lot compared to a fewer number of varieties that bloom for longer times and don't look terrible at any point. Although I can't see the details of the plans in the Roy Diblik books, I can see repeats of plants in loose groupings, and in general I would suggest this style of planting. Comments on gardenweed's plant list: IME Euphorbia, black-eyed Susan, and tall garden Phlox seed around quite a bit if not deadheaded, so I would avoid them if you won't be around enough to deadhead. Many Phlox are susceptible to mildew, so be sure to get one that says it is mildew resistant if you use these such as 'David'. I would be inclined to use the category of plants that never look terrible - there's a thread of those on the perennials forum that you might consider. Here is a list of plants that I'd use in a garden that only gets visited on weekends. They all have nice foliage all season and several retain evergreen foliage all winter as well. They are tolerant of dry conditions, so if you can't water they should be OK without regular rain as long as the garden is well-mulched (which is needed for weed control anyway), thugh you may want to water once a month if really dry. The garden will still need some attention every weekend (think half an hour or less to pull weeds when small and cut off dead flowers), but I don't think will get out of control if you take that time each week. If you don't want to do that, plant lawn and hire someone to mow it for you since that is the easiest option. To allow access for maintenance, add stepping stone paths every 3'-4' across the garden. Short plants for the edge of the walkway and along the road, planted in groups of three in triangles to give you good masses: Veronica 'Georgia Blue' (Dark green foliage that picks up mahogany hues in winter and deep blue spring flowers) Iberis 'Purity' (evergreen foliage and white spring flowers) Dianthus 'Greystone' (white spring flowers with silvery-green foliage that remains in winter) Sedum 'Angelina' (yellow-orange foliage and yellow flowers) Medium plants to use in the space between the short and tall plants, groups of 3 or 5: Campanula persicifolia - cultivars are various shades between white and medium blue-purple - late spring flowers into the summer, especially if deadheaded Helenium 'Mardi gras' - orange and yellow flowers in July and August Dark-leafed Penstemon such as 'Dark Towers' or 'Mystica' White or light violet flowers in spring Echinacea purpurea/purple coneflower - pinky-purple daisies in summer Siberian Iris - spring flowers in shades of blue or white Tall plants (3'-4' for the back of the garden closest to the house and the edges of the property) All are large enough to plant as singles, though depending on the selection of those I've just given a genus of, some may be short enough to include in the middle height section: Aster 'Lady in Black' reddish foliage and tiny white flowers Aster x frikartii 'Monch' OR Aster laevis 'Blue Bird' or Aster 'October Skies' Baptisia some of these are a bit smaller and so might go into the medium category - late spring flowers in white, blue, yellow or some are maroonish Hydrangea paniculata 'Bobo' or 'Dharuma' (shrub with white flowers starting in July that slowly change to pink late summer into autumn) Physocarpus 'Tiny Wine'/ninebark Amsonia hubrichtii/Arkansas bluestar blue spring flowers with feathery foliage that turns gold in autumn Caryopteris divericata 'Snow Fairy' Green and white variegated foliage with blue fall flowers Perovskia atriplicifolia/Russian sage frost, fine-textured foliage and blue-purple flowers in summer Tall garden Phlox - be sure to check that it's mildew resistant - flowers in August and into September if deadheaded

1) I think you need some matching mounding shapes on the opposite corner by that cone shaped conifer. 2) I have had plain old-fashioned annabelle hydrangeas growing in such a space. Michael Dirr, the shrub guru, claims he's seen them growing in very dark dry shade, so I tried it in a bad spot. Their form was open-ish rather than dense and full, flowers were sparse, but they were cheap and green & filled up the hole very nicely with a different texture. They add a bit of loose height to a naturalistic grouping of hosta, ferns, variegated Solomon's Seal, a carex for linear shape, all over a base of plain green sedum. The carex and sedum stay green all winter for me, with the hydrangea flower heads persisting above. My planting is very informal...a sheared yew and one of the larger hosta, or a mass of a medium-sized one, would give a more tailored look if that is your preference. Pachysandra or epimedium would also offer a tailored evergreen groundcover, even if originally in just a single patch in your white gravel while you wait for them to grow enough to spread further. Oh, and you could put a bright vase shaped hosta in your urn beside your door, if you want to repeat that shape and integrate the urn. But do trouble to shop a proper nursery to choose from the 100's of varieties of hosta. The hosta board here would be able to suggest a vendor in your area who has a display garden, and there are excellent online hosta specialists who mail order very fine plants, but I strongly recommend against buying hosta from the big boxes, though I think they're fine for simplest hydrangeas or ordinary yews. Hosta have some disease issues being spread by cheapo irreputable vendors, and you want strong plants that haven't been prematurely forced into weak growth.