Most of the plants I mentioned aren't evergreen, and they weren't meant to be prescriptive in any event. You should check out what your local nurseries have available, see what you like, and research their eventual shapes in a shrub book or on the internet. I'd say deciduous shrubs would be nicest in this setting, but your taste may dictate otherwise. I will add my mite too to the question of whether your conditions "qualify" certain plants to grow in the situation you are working with. What you need to understand in order to evaluate plants for this area is why various plants need the amount of sun or shade that is recommended for them, and what will happen if they don't get it. To some extent trial and error is the only way to learn this, but you can also learn the horticulatural principles to improve your ability to guess which plants will succeed. For example, most shade plants are adapted to catching as much light as possible in a shady environment. This is why many of them have big leaves. And they tend to prioritize surface area over leaf thickness, as they aren't faced with dessicating sun. So when you put shade plants in too much sun, the leaves are prone to burning and scorching, and they tend to wilt. Sun plants, on the other hand, have adaptations that allow them to resist heat, and they get leggy and don't bloom if they get too little sun. Obviously there are endless variations of leaf size and other attributes. For example, as someone mentioned above, there are hostas that actually want and need a certain amount of sun. And there are plants that are adapted to grow in the shade of deciduous trees, so they bloom in early spring when they get sun, and go through their leafy phase during summer. Some plants can also adapt to local conditions. For example, if the shade is really heavy and dense, as in the shade of a house, shade plants will grow their leaves extra big. But such a plant will be extra-sensitive if you change its conditions in mid-season or maybe if it gets a mid-day blast of sun. The conditions recommended on plant labels are only a guideline, and there are no guarantees that your conditions of partial shade are the kind of partial shade that a certain plant wants. KarinL

If it's shaded by a maple, I am surprise that it's moist. Perhaps because it's raised. How dim is the shade? How long did you give for the hosta to be established. Small hostas are very slow growing and may take a while. You mentioned slugs, what's causing the current plant to fail? Paul

If you want a weeping willow, I would recommend the golden weeping willow. I am sorry, but I am confused about the names of some of the weeping willows. I have seen golden weeping willows called Salix alba "tristis" or Salix albs ""Niobe," and "Salix sepulcralis chrysocoma." I am sure I have seen one or two other names for it. One source suggests there are more than one cultivar involved, another says it is just name confusion--I don't know. But don't let the confusion about the names of this tree confuse you. The one I am recommending has golden color winter twigs, golden color catkin bloom in spring, and if the weather is half-way favorable, wonderful long-lasting gold leaf color in the fall. It is very fast growing and gets quite large. The popular Babylon weeping willow can have some bad dieback in Z6 or 7 during a cold winter. It has greenish twigs. In the south where it is not damaged by cold, it is a fine tree. As for soil and moisture--if you have a good soil that is not too sandy, your willow will do fine. I planted two from a cuttings 5 years ago out in a field that used to be an apple orchard--nothing about the site suggests that it is any more moist than any average site. The largest is now about 20 feet tall and 5" in diameter--the other is almost as large. If you have a willow growing that you really like that has golden twigs and can get some good strong cuttings from fairly high up, come back here and ask me for instructions. --Spruce

Avoid the following trees because they have shallow roots that push up and crack paving: Norway, Sugar, Silver or Red Maple; Pin, Live or Willow Oak; American Elm; Ash; Beech; Sweetgum; Tulip Tree; Hackberry; Poplar; Cottonwood; Sycamore; Plane Tree; Willow; and River Birch. Tillia Cordata "Littleleaf" (Littleleaf Linden) is hardy to zone 3 and provides dense shade. This cultivar supposedly grows 30 to 50 ft. with a spread of up to 30 ft. Fragrant, creamy yellow flowers in drooping cymes appear in June. Honeydew and bird guano are a constant threat with parking under trees. That does not mean these problems will be overwhelming. Your first problem will be waiting for the tree to grow large enough to cast shade. Make note of where the sun rises and sets. It's much better to have shade in the afternoon when the temperature is highest.