The glaciers brought me all kinds of interesting soils, and it changes VERY abruptly. I guess some of it could have been due to farming in the 19th and early 20th century, but my yard was never graded or leveled or anything like that. I have sandy/gravelly soil, sandy loam, true loam soil, heavy dense clay. The only major soil type I lack is an organically based muck type soil. There are places in my yard where I can stand with one foot on heavy clay and the other on sandy loam. I think this is the work of the glaciers, I don't think it was human intervention. Yes, I like the idea of Mountain Laurel as well. I saw some very attractive ones in bloom about 2 weeks ago at a local nursery. They are not common here because our soils do run in the neutral range, and aren't acidic enough without intervention. Oakleaf Hydrangea also --something like 'Snow Queen' would be nice. Blueberries -- well, I already have 22 of those in another area, so probably not there, but yes, I think they are a fine ornamental, mine generally have excellent fall color, burgundy to red with just a little yellow and orange highlight. Possibly some azaleas of some type, I have a pink deciduous one in another area that is nice. Thank you so much for the suggestions.

Since I'm not familiar with Zone 5 I can't suggest specific plants and what works in one area may not work in another (even within a few blocks!). I will say that deer shy away from odors and textures. Herbs and plants that have strong odors are generally deer resistant. Crinkly, velvety, spiky leaves tend to be resistant but their flowers may be eaten. Lastly, the plants that are resistant may be less so in the shade. They seem to be more vulnerable (less smelly I guess). Whatever you plant, protect them until the roots are established. First, plants are, again, more vulnerable at planting and deer will try them. Secondly, deer pull at plants rather than taking a bite, thus pulling plants out of the ground. Here's a good article about deer "proofing" your yard. Best of luck. Here is a link that might be useful: Deer

Well, I can help you with a couple of sources of relatively inexpensive plants in quantity. Personally, I'd leave at least some of the swamp azaleas, since I love the flowers (especially the scent) and they've got decent fall color. You could try growing some of the more shade-tolerant clematis over them to add longer season interest. Turning in some good compost for the whole best before you plant and then mulching with an organic mulch like compost or shredded bark mulch will help preserve moisture and over time improve the sandy soil. You will still need to water to get your plants through the first year in your sandy soil. I'd probably put in a mix of shrubs, with some evergreens and some deciduous so that I'd have a variety of textures, colors, flowers and fruit. You could also add some long-season perennials and grasses if you like. I don't know if any of these are deer resistant, but there are websites that list deer resistant plants, as well as sprays you can use. From what I've read, how bad your deer browsing is depends on what other food sources are available and training the deer through aversion to stay away. Most plants will be browsed by deer at some point if they are hungry enough. (We have lots of deer, but also lots of undeveloped wooded land for food sources so the deer pretty much stay away from our cultivated plants.) Some general ideas to check out include shrub dogwoods with red or yellow twigs, white flowers and berries, some with variegated leaves. Some are small enough for your requirements and all can be trimmed yearly for best color and to keep smaller. (Cornus alba, C. sericea, and C. sanguinea) Fothergilla has a couple of cultivars that are close to your size requirements, and they have spring flowers, nice slightly blue-green foliage, and pretty fall colors. Some of the clethras are small and they like shade. If any of your areas are damp, they like damp to ordinary soil and have nice white summer flowers. Rugosa roses would do OK in the sunnier end of your part shade and have trouble free foliage, lovely scent, colorful hips, and there are several selections with different color for fall foliage and flowers. They thrive in sand. There's a PJM type of rhododendron called 'Checkmate' that stays small, has magenta spring flowers, nice small evergreen leaves that turn maroon in winter and is pretty trouble-free. There may also be some other rhodies that are hardy for you as many of them like shade. You could ask on the conifer forum for evergreen suggestions (my memory is that a few of the cdwarf onifers will tolerate partial shade), on the shrub forum for shrub suggestions and on the perennial forum for perennial suggestions,and put together a mixed border. My two sources for quantity plants in small sizes that are inexpensive are Western Maine Nurseries - I've done business with them and been quite pleased with service, plant quality, and size. The plants are liner size (very small) and come in trays of 32 with a 2 tray minimum order for woody ornamentals. (They are basically a wholesaler for nursery stock, but will sell to the general public if we want to buy in sufficient quantity.) My plants survived well and in three years have grown into well-branched small to medium shrubs where they were planted in decent soil. I think I bought 5 different varieties. www.wmnurseries.com The NH State Nursery sells more wild-type plants than garden type. Here is a link that might be useful: NH State Nursery

Just so you know, getting any plant established will require watering on a regular basis the first season, so plan on doing that and get the length of hose needed. One suggestion would be to lay hose under the mulch with a sprinkler set at the top of the slope and leave it there so that all you have to do is hook it up to the water and turn it on whenever it's dry. The fewer times you have to walk on the slope, the better, so you might want to ask your up hill neighbor if you can use his yard for access the first season since it's also to his benefit to have the slope stable in the long run. Or use the stake and board method below to build a temporary set of steps. Or a more permanent set along with a path across the midslope for easier access when needed. I have a steep sandy hill from an old river channel that was disrupted by construction in a few areas, and here is what we did. We began by doing things to stabilize the slope on a short-term basis. First DH created a bunch of 2' wood stakes and got long boards (just pine sawmill cutoffs) which he staked in place across the slope, slightly below the soil line, but mostly above. I followed with a rough mulch that knitted together well and didn't slide down the slope. Look for gorilla hair mulch or chipped arborists' trimmings, both of which work well. I did a lot of the work from the top of the slope since gravity helped me out. face on - Over to the left by the concrete wall ( which was poured as part of the building's foundation) you can see some of the boards. Looking across the slope you can see some of the stakes sticking up. There are boards under the mulch. Once you have done that, then you can start working on your wall and planting the upper part of the slope. I agree that a modular concrete block wall would be the way to go, though I would also check into a poured concrete wall to see if that may be cheaper and/or more stable in the long run. Read up on how it needs to be built to be safe - tying back into the slope and a proper foundation. Plan on getting all the materials and doing the work in chunks so that you don't have exposed soil for long periods of time. I would be more likely to do a two or three foot wall to decrease the slope's steepness and then use plants to stabilize the remainder of the slope. Multiple walls that together equal more than a certain height need engineering to be stable. My slope pictured above is in shade most of the day, so the plants I used there won't help you much. In another sunnier spot I used a combination of old-fashioned orange daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) which spread (unlike many of the modern daylily cultivars) along with Centaurea dealbata, a perennial magenta-flowered cornflower. Both spread vigorously and are in the range of 1 1/2' -2' tall out of bloom, and I usually weed the slope once or twice annually (takes about 20 minutes for 60'x15') and renew the mulch in very early spring every few years before the plants have sprouted to keep the weeds from getting a foothold. Here is a photo of the slope, freshly mulched early season before the plants came up. By now this is about 20 years old and only gets a few hours of attention per year on this west-facing slope. It is densely packed with plants and has flowers from late spring into summer, and I have added a few shrubs to the slope to provide interest when neither of the groundcovers are blooming. I got the Centaurea as a hand-me down plant from a neighbor and the daylilies were already on the property so I only had to divide and move them. You will most likely want to get started on your plantings in the spring, and if there is a plant source that will sell you flats or you know someone with either of these plants (or can find them somewhere like Craiglist), you can increase them over time with division.