Which direction does the front of your house face? What is the maximum height you want the plant to be? You are in planting zone 6, so you should be able to plant something now and have it take root before the ground freezes, but maybe wait until early September.

Could you post a photo of the area so we could see what is around the bare spot?

I'm in the same zone - our landscaper usually recommends that we plant trees and shrubs later in September. You avoid the hot August days but you still have plenty of time for the new plant to establish a root system before winter.

I agree, seeing the area would help. Your daughters idea sounds cool...maybe a stone bench and pavers. I like tree rose of sharon and globe thuja right now. I planted both last October @ a rental and they lived, zone 5a here, but that's really too late. September would have been better.

I have mixed feelings about sitting areas in the front of a house. In the abstract, it seems like a cute idea, but if you can't imagine yourself ever sitting there, then it seems artificial.

Unless the chair and table will actually be used, it would be a very awkward placement. Are you going to go outside....alone.....and sit in the front yard? Ever?

There is a best time to plant in your area, and it's the early spring. However, containerized plants can be planted much of the year, if taken care of properly. Even in the deep South, landscape installation projects of all kinds are completed in the hottest time of the year. We landscaped our own yard in northern Alabama in the middle of summer with zero loss of plants.

What I suggest for you, since you seem to have problems with survival is to smooth out the area, adding soil if needed and dressing it with a little mulch. Leave it alone until the spring. You may end up appreciating that bare space after you get used to it.

But regardless, no one can really help you unless we see pictures of the area. We need to see the dimensions of the site and what the front of the house looks like.

I find that seating areas in the front of the house looks awkward. I myself would feel that I'm so much 'out in the open' with everyone gawking at me. A side or the back is much more comfortable. I see small patio sets at the front of a house near the front door and they aren't used. Whether it's because it's such a small area or because of the reason that I mentioned, I don't know.

Without a picture, it's hard to give advice. If there is some other privacy shrub or something to create a modicum of privacy, my feelings might not be an issue at all.

Yes to planting something in mid-late September. No to cutsie chairs or benches unless you'd use them. As I drive around town this year I see pairs of those painted, wood-slat Adirondack chairs plopped in the middle of lawns in the hot sun. NObody is going to sit in those things!

Another potential problem with those items in the sitting area is windy conditions (you might not be home) blowing that stuff to places you don't want them to be. When we moved into our house 10 years ago, the missus wanted chairs on the front porch (the width of the house) that faces east so it would be cooler in the evening. The spiders loved that. We never bothered them.

The only other suggestion that I have is when you are planting whatever, now or later this year would be to put a bit of bone meal in the hole. That will help to stimulate root growth. Bone meal can also be used in the spring when your bulbs have just finished their bloom. In fact, also all plants enjoy a bit of bone meal, but the timing has to be appropriate.

It could be a spot for a focal point plant, but don't know what mature sized plant will work in your spot. If the juniper that died crowded the steps, I wouldn't replace it with a similar sized plant. My neighbor used to have a gauntlet of shrubs along their walkway and steps, always full of spider webs (and spiders).

We have a heavily treed front yard and built a flagstone patio out there with seating. Lots of work and we've used it maybe 20 times in the three years that we've had it there. If we sit out there, neighbors come from thin air for a short visit. I don't go out unless I want to chat with my neighbors, I'm fairly reclusive.

I just thought of another thing...IF your winter was that bad and IF you used salt to help melting that part in front of your house, THEN it was probably the salt that did it.

Hmmm, I'm in zone 6b or 7a. The door faces south, so it's mostly sunny and hot.I can't post a pic because tho I own a digital camera I haven't used it in years and I don't remember how to use it. The area is probably six feet across and 5 feet deep. i already own a small white metal table I could put there. Would I actually sit out there? No, it's too hot most of the time. In the meantime, I moved a container plant into the spot to make it look a little better.