For the house area, I'd consider putting in some sort of structure, either a fountain or a trellis...something with height and interest. Or even a little sitting area with a paver patio and a bench. I'd go with plants that are evergreen if possible. Not sure what grows well in your area, so I can't recommend a lot.

For the pool equipment, I'd put up a 3 sided trellis and train an evergreen clematis or honeysuckle to grow on the trellis.

They look like two fun areas to landscape. I'm in a different zone and don't have to deal with deer. Depending on the response you get here ... you might consider cross-posting on the Cottage Gardening or Perennial forums.

Cottage Gardens

Perennials

For the spot outside the pool area, I'd add some ornamental grass which gets tall and will hide the pool equipment.

How much sun do you get at the house flowerbed? Don't put anything too close to the a/c, it needs good air circulation.

If it gets a good 8 hours sun, one easy and low maintenance plant is Knock Out Roses. They are prolific bloomers, the size is generally 3' x 3' and all you need to do is water and give them some Rose food every few weeks. They grow like weeds and do survive in icy winters. I'd just plant the whole area in Knock Outs, that how colorful and easy they are to grow!

They're everywhere in the garden centers.

Since you need to keep the stepping stones, could you curve their path a bit to give you more room to plant? I like the idea of a trellis or arbors there as well. Near the house, I would add a large bird bath, hosta, ferns (if it is shady enough), maybe a small tree like a Vitex (Chaste tree) and lots more perennials. You could also fit a small bench that could sit in front of one or both of the ac units to camoflage them.

I would love to see the Home Run Knock out roses. They grow tall and are indestructable. they are the truest of red with a bit of yellow in the center. They never stop blooming. You don't want anything tree-like as it is too close to the house, although maybe a nice Japanese maple shrub would look great as well, especially for a change in color.

Oopsie, are you another KO fan like me? I know a lot of "true" Rose gardeners kind of turn their noses up at KO's, but I don't care. I think they're stunning, especially planted close together.

My dh is infatuated with them! He cannot believe how much they keep blooming.

I started with 2 last year and I'm up to 4 this year. So far. :)

My hubby is crazy for KO roses. They continually bloom.
We have limited sun in our backyard due to the tall oaks.
The KO Roses seem to adjust to limitted sun and
just keep on blooming from May thru November.

You have a beautiful home and you want to be proud of the way it looks outside as well as inside. You have lots of nurseries in NJ and everything grows well there. Forget knock out roses. You might want to get rid of the sporadic bushes placed here and there and put a well groomed taller type juniper maybe shaped like the one to the left of your garage and place it to the left of the door. Do the same to the right side. Have a nursery bring in planting dirt and mulch and put in some dwarf blue rug junipers around the stepping stones. If you can, bring in a grouping of larger stones. What you do on one side of a door usually looks good to the eye on the other. Hostas come in all sizes and need no care until fall when the frost kills them. They come in various shades of green. I like mixing the lime colored ones in with the darker hostas. For your pool equipment area, I suggest housing it. It all takes time and money and you can add plants over time but as everyone else does around there, add your mulch to make it look rich and beautiful.

Start with the area by the deck. Go to your local nursery
and ask for small rock garden type evergreens. If you get partial shade, include a Japanese red maple. Plant the smaller shrubs in the front and the larger ones in the back near the house. Plant perennial ground covers in between the shrubs. We plant the perennial ground covers close(there is no room for weeds to grow) Include a winding path to the door, some large rocks scathered around and some stone areas as well.
Another lovely tree is the Harry Lauder Walking Stick Tree.
Plant hostas and vinca vine. Look for different textures and colors. Once you get it densely planted, it will come up every spring and remain lush all season.
All it needs is water.
Just remember to pay attention to the height of the various shrubs...smaller in front larger in back.

I'll be taking photos today, I'll post some today.
Also try a KO rose bush, you can plant it in a large pot
and move it around to different areas. Once you get the garden planted with shrubs and perrenial ground covers,
then fill in with perennial flowers and annuals.

When we began our landscaping over a decade ago, we had no idea about plants for our zone, soil type or exposure. After building the patio, we paid a local nursery to design a plan for the lawn. It was about $300 as I recall and, for us, a very wise investment. We DIY'ed the build and planting but received a %age off nursery stock so the design cost was actually offset. They designed the flanking gardens and recommended various plants and placement and we have followed fairly faithfully. I don't believe we have had any plant failures and things are maturing nicely.

Here's a link to ours but know that each garden is local.

Here is a link that might be useful: Patio/Lawn

I lived with a lot of deer at my last house in South Jersey.. The deer were all over the place including my patio. There was no choice but to become astute to what will work and what won't. Unfortunately when they are hungry during the winter, they eat everything. Even things that you would not susupect because the leaves are tough. Most of the plants mentioned throughout this thread would not far well with deer.

Do not plant hostas. They love hostas in the summer.
Ferns will work great (they never touched mine) I had a few rosy glow barberry's which have small red leaves in the spring and summer, are deciduous, and have thorny branches. They do require some sun. The deer would not go near them.

I noticed they did not touch rhododenrons. Rhodos were planted throughout the entire development.

Try some hollies like Blue Prince and Princess. Steeds Holly is another one. I used Steeds around my air conditioner. I would cover my evergreens with burlap during the winter months. They were on the side of my house so I did not mind the burlap. They did not seem to like my compacta hollies which were planted in front of my patio.

I had a wonderful shade garden and miss it. I found a plant called Golden Rod which is a perrenial (sp?). Gets these very large and beautiful leaves. It blooms with these golden rods with flowers on the end in late summer. After the flowers shed their pedals, the centers remain like brown pom poms and add another dimension to the plant.

Try Astilble too. They are a perrenial and with feather like blooms in June. Plant them in bunches of 3,5 or 7. Astible come in pinks and white. Deer do not touch these and they look great mixed in with ferns.

There is also a natural spray you can buy that is a natural deer repellent. Don't remember the name. It smells absolutely terrible. I had some success with it but you have to spray frequently.

Other plants that I have had luck with that are deer resistant are peonies, lupines (a nitrogen fixer), mock orange, columbines, and iris.

I would plant a small tree by the back door- redbud, magnolia, Japenese maple for example, and then put ground cover underneath with some of the flowering plants that are deer resistant. Put a plastic tree guard around the trunk to protect from voles- I have lost 2 small trees so far by my porch door to voles feeding on them in the winter. The last one I lost was a small sour cherry that was giving me great yields of fruit. I will miss my 4th of July sour cherry pie this year! BTW, that sour cherry tree was very pretty, about 8 fett tall, and yielded fruit in 2 years, but you have to put netting over it to keep the birds away while the fruit ripens- not too beautiful if the tree is in your front yard.

I like Oakley's idea of perennial grasses to hide the mechanics of the pool. They won't hide anything in the winter tho, but so many evergreens become food for the hungry deer that they end up damaged.

Oak are Knock out roses pink? If so, light or medium or rosie pink? New Dawn rose is another one that will cover something in two seasons and it grows like weeds as well. Maybe the combination of the two would be pretty. New Dawn is a very light pink climbing rose.

Newdawn, I have red and pink. The pink is called "Bubble Gum" pink.

So, is your screen name after the New Dawn Roses? I've never heard of that Rose so I'll definitely check into it.

I can't say enough about KO's though. They literally add the pop of color one needs.

During the winter a calf got lose from someone's field and came into my yard and ate one of my KO's, thorns and all, down to the ground. I was LIVID. But that thing is bigger than the other one I planted and doing great! So maybe a deer eating a KO would be good for the OP. lol

Newdawn, I just checked out the ND Rose at Dave's Garden and they are GORGEOUS! I love the delicate pink color. It looks to be as easy to grow as KOs. They're definitely on my list to buy.

"Hostas come in all sizes and need no care until fall when the frost kills them."

Frost won't kill Hostas. They are not tropical plants. Even though they look very similar to many tropicals, they are perennials and are hardy to Zone 5 where the OP lives.

For the house in question I would put something evergreen in along the house to hide the cement foundation year round. Leave the deciduous ones in front. The area looks like it is eastern exposure so a few sun tolerant Hosta would work fine if they were placed in spots where they would not get intense afternoon sun from the southern exposure. Consider some Peonies in sunny spots. Bleeding Hearts in shady corners. Don't forget about Tulips and Narcissus in your plan. They will make the area look bright and lively in the spring. Have some easy care Autumn Joy for color in the Fall and work in one or two fall blooming Mums into your overall garden plan. That way there will always be something blooming at one time. If there is enough room put in a Bridal Veil Spirea for height or maybe a dwarf Lilac that won't grow 15ft wide.

To find plants that look great and grow well in your area just drive around and admire what the neighbors have got going on, for ideas. You may even ask your neighbors what they have found the deer in your area like/dislike. I know that where I am, Hosta are salad for deer but they seem to stay away from Brunerra, due to they tough, rough leaves or maybe the taste. Heuchera may not be as attractive to deer either but if they are hungry they will go after anything. I sort of depends on the deer and the conditions they are living in.

Here is a link that might be useful: Brunnera

Frost won't kill Hostas. They are not tropical plants. Even though they look very similar to many tropicals, they are perennials and are hardy to Zone 5 where the OP lives.

I think hostas are hardy to Zone 3. Don't they go dormant in the winter? I'm guessing that's what Nanabella meant.

I love all the feedback! Thanks!

We've been here for 16 years and when my landscape designer put the perennial garden in (about 13 years ago) it was beautiful and I loved it. Over time, things spread and became overgrown and although the gardens were beautiful for many years, I have absolutely NO interest in maintaining a garden. I have a very large yard with a lot of landscaping....it's these 2 particular areas that are giving me a hard time.

I am on top of what the deer eat and don't - hostas are salad to them (lol). Andromeda, burberry, ilex, golden cyprus, juniper to name a few all work for me....I have these in the front and sides of my house.

I think my main question here is more on placement. Where should I put plants in these areas and should they be low lying, medium height, or tall?

Thanks!!

I liked anothers suggestion on tall grasses around the pool equipment area.
The area near your house, I would put a small pond or a pretty fountain with roundish colored stones. I would put taller plants/shrubs close to the house and smaller more rounded shrubs near the sidewalk. I would also suggest a trellis on the fireplace wall.

This is from this morning...KO roses, also the blend os shrubs, rocks, pebbles, driftwood, perrenials, and annuals,
once it all fills in, it's pretty much maintenance free.

My kids gave me a flip video camera for Mothers day, so I'm still learning...the link below is from his morning, when you get there check out video # 43 as well. It's from
May 20th, see how many knock out roses opened between
May 20 and today.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pond fun

Joann, I've always loved your outdoor space! Are the chime sounds recorded? I didn't notice wind blowing.

Thanks natal, we have a Nantucket harbor bell located
several inches below a squirrel proof feeder. The squirrels
are always trying to get into the feeder by resting on the bell holder...they make the bell chime, however they still can't invade the feeder. :) on the other end is a wind chime and a bamboo wind chime.
We have an abundence of birds, chimes and running water so that I don't have to add any sound effects...I don't know how to add sound effects yet anyhow, so the natural sounds are good.

What a beautiful setting! We don't have deer (just pesky rabbits) so I don't know about deer-resistant plants, but for color I have some bright yellow and deep burgundy barberry plants that add a nice contrast to lots of green. They have small thorns that might keep the critters from eating them. No maintenance - they just keep coming back.

It would be nice to put something evergreen close to the house (I really like boxwood) and more colors/texture in front of those. Maybe some short grasses around the ac units.

Low maintenance plants I like include hosta, clematis (on a trellis), European ginger, and grasses. I really like grasses and hosta for the many different heights and colors you can get. The rabbits leave all this stuff alone.

Our friends in MN live next to a forested area and had big deer troubles until they installed motion sensor sprinkler heads on their sprinkler system. Now when the deer reach in for a nibble they get splashed and run away. IF you have a sprinkler system already that's an option. (If not... it's an expensive option!)

Your key words are "no interest in maintaining a garden". OK, hostas are out. I suggest a beautiful Japanese maple to the left of the door. Again, as I said above, put a topcoat of mulch and rake in some Preen for a weed free area. Fill your empty spaces with low growing junipers and larger rocks. I loved Cliff and Joann's garden/pond. Reminded me of our own on Cape Cod years ago. Just lovely!

IMO, the Japanese Maples are stunning next to a white house, the color they add is amazing.

Find out if Deer eat Knock Outs. Those are totally low maintenance.

In fact, we had to run to Lowe's today and I bought the last of the Sunny Knock Out! That's how easy and beautiful they are.

Beautiful gardens, fmroberts and joann. I'm still working on ours (I need color!) but would also suggest something tall to the left of the door doesn't even have to be that close, you could pull out low plant(s) there and put the tree closer to the corner where you would see it more from the drive. Then low plants, sun or shade depending on what you have there (though there will eventually be shade from the tree). Deer-resistant plants include holly, juniper, Siberian cypress (loves sun, looks like juniper but not prickly, though it does turn bronze in winter). I haven't had problems with them eating my boxwood. I just planted wintercreeper (though that can really spread) so I don't know if they will eat it in winter. Roses would do well there if sunny. Montauk daisies might do well, the deer didn't bother them last year, they get bushy quickly and bloom in Oct.

Cypress, boxwood, and newly-planted Montauk daisy to right (sorry no good pix of it in bloom but it grew a lot just in 8 months or so since I took this pic in Sept 09)

The cypress and boxwoods have really grown too - this was 4/08

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