Part of the problem may be that the mulched bed has an odd shape and no connection with anything else in the yard. It's just sitting there in the middle of the lawn. Why not prepare a bed next to the patio to help site it in the yard?

If the area is shady, then plant it with shade loving plants. If you need shade for the patio, put in a small tree.

Thank you. Do you think the area right below the curved patio wall would make a good flower bed? And what if I put in a flower bed on the straight side of patio (same side as the odd island flower bed) would that bring the odd island closer and make it part of the patio area landscaping? Thanks for your input.

I like the patio. I don't think I would have anything other than grass in front of the walls. They are attractive and should show. The patio is nice as it is. You probably won't use it until Spring. That is why you think it is naked, no activity.

Whenever I see earth mounded like that I think of graves. Is there a reason it is mounded? Just curious. If you want a flower bed you could leave it where it is or move it. I would want a bed somewhere out of foot traffic but also in a place I could see from the window and the door. If you want a perennial bed you can get help planning it on the Perennial forum I lurk there at times but I usually get jealous so I leave. Other than having a bed for flowers, what is your plan for the back? The area to the left of the patio needs attention.

Yup, It will look good if you make a flower bed around the patio or the trees like below image

This will make your lawn more colorful and attractive. When you come around there you will feel energetic and tension free.

Create walkway across the lawn that make your lawn accessible to every corner.

And as said by laceyvail if the area is shady, then plant it with shade loving plants.

I would remove the island bed entirely. If you want plantings near the patio, use low ones, especially on the side where the island bed is. It looks from the photos that there are seats there, and you don't want people smothered by the foliage. But I do think the patio cries for a small tree for interest and shade. Without knowing more about directions and exposures, it's impossible to suggest where to place it.

And I do agree that the area to the left, where the basement door is, is in desperate need of good foundation planting. That alone would help the look of the patio.

Leaving the garden beds to others, if it's in your budget, I reckon that patio is screaming out for a pergola, over and around which you could have a multitude of plantings...(unless you think the spot is already too shady.)

Wonderful ideas all. I don't think it's in our budget to put in a pergola. It's already pretty shady and we have an umbrella. Patio is facing southwest. It does have seating/ benches to the right. The reason for odd shape island bed is actually all the excess soil after digging the patio. It would be a lot of work to remove the soil. So I 'd like to work around it. But since it's an island and mounded I'm not sure how to place the plants. You know as far as the height goes. I love that flower bed picture pruningarboriculture landscape posted. Very colorful. What are those flowers?

Oh the other thing is that the space left to the patio where some if you suggested I do foundation planting has our garden hose. My husband wants to pave that area and connect that to the driveway. Wouldn't it look like too much pavers and no green if we do that?

1. Once again, Yardvaark provides a lovely plan. If you are adamant on not moving the bed, I would like to make a suggestion. You could remove the edging. You could then use an iron rake to make it into more of a plateau. Spread it out wider. Then grow grass on it. I think it would look better that way. Plant flowers somewhere else. By the way, what are the deciduous trees above the bed?

Yardvaark thank you for taking the time to edit the picture to give me a visual. Very nice looking patio area. I like the idea of the landing. Didn't think about that before. Emmarene: the shrubs above the flower bed are magnolia. I was thinking about trimming it to a nice shape. It's not right above the flower bed though. At least 6 feet in between. Even though it doesn't look that way. Do you think a fruit tree would be an option for the small shrub that yardvaak drew to the right of the patio? I'm think apple. I've wanted to plant some fruit trees in the yard. This place gets about 3 hours of sun not sure if Apple tree would do good there.

I like fruit trees but they are messy. So is that just a huge hedge when the Magnolia have leaves?? I'd like to see a picture of that.

A fruit tree would be a poor choice. If you want fruit, you'd have to spray--not great for a patio tree. Fruit will fall and attract fall hornets--not great for a patio tree. And 3 hours of sun would certainly be insufficient. A tree that would be lovely, and is often multistemmed, is Sweetbay Magnolia (M. virginiana). Others would be lovely as well.

BTW, you said the exposure was southwest. Where is all the shade coming from?

Sulani - I like how the patio has a cap rock to allow extra seating - very nice! To add interest, you could get a set of matching pots for the patio. Consider getting pots for the flat area on top of each of the columns. I'd make them as large as practical since little pots will look a bit silly. Use pots that work well in style and color with the patio materials.

I am another vote for removing the current island bed. As others have said, it looks just plopped there, not relating to anything else in the yard, and has the potential to be a hassle as far as mowing, traffic flow, etc. It would be perhaps a few hours work with a wheelbarrow to move the soil to spots more ornamental for flower beds such as along the patio edge, and it's a whole lot easier to move now than after it's been planted. I like Yardvark's general placement of beds, though I would probably extend the one around the curved wall and perhaps put a second landing area near the hose bib. It's hard to judge distance, but I would see if it is practical to incorporate the pipe (well? septic?) into the bed (with plans to paint it or cover it with an artificial rock or a trellis with annual vines or another structure.) It currently looks like a potential trip hazard for someone leaving the patio and not paying attention. I would not reuse the edging from your current bed as it doesn't match the patio stonework in style or material, and also not use landscape cloth when planting any bed, though a good layer of mulch is an excellent idea. Do a search here or on the Perennials Forum with the phrase "landscape fabric" as to why it's a bad idea in a planted bed in the long term.

Can you add additional photos of the area along the back of the house and how the patio and hose area relate, and talk about how you use the doors? For instance, do you use either of the doors as your main entry from where you park? That will influence how you will want to handle access to the back of the house, whether it should be a real sidewalk, or just access to the hose.

The current plants near the hose are crammed up against the foundation, and if they are something you like can probably be moved, and if they are not plants you want to keep, just remove them. If neither door is a main entry, instead of paving the entire area along the back of the house, perhaps a flower bed along there, well mulched, with stepping stones in the few feet closest to the house and also going out into the yard from the patio and hose bib and including some hose guides. That would give hose access but still allow you to have something planted to tie the entire back of the house together, and would move the plantings away from the house. If one of the doors is a main entry, however, you will probably want a wider paved walkway from the parking spot to the door.

If you want to add your location and zone to your profile, it will post automatically so folks see it easily. (Most of the plants in the photo with flowers aren't perennials in zone 6, but I think the poster just wanted to illustrate a general idea.) Here's how to do that:

Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums.

If you add that you are from Philly as part of your publicly displayed name you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures and doesn't include any other climate info.

Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.

The black pile of soil is what captured my attention. I
suggest you turn it into a flower bed.

I like the patio and walls but, as you know, you're missing the thing that softens and makes the patio come alive (plantings). Do you have a local garden center or landscape designer that could come up with a nice plan that would label out where the plantings should go depending on sunlight exposure, soils, etc? Getting professional landscape advice might cost a little bit of money but it will totally be worth it in the end when you're able to enjoy the patio and plantings for years to come and not have to constantly tend to the plantings because they were the wrong plant for the wrong spot.

Thank you so much for all the comments. To answer few of your questions: patio is facing south west but the property line has tall pine trees and right in front of the patio is a big silver maple tree so it's pretty shaded.

We do use both back doors a lot. Specially the basement door. I'll take a picture tomorrow and show how that area connects the patio and the driveway.

As far as hiring a professional to design the landscaping, well.. that's sort of not an option as it's not in the budget. We bought this house 5 years ago and we've done a lot of things ourselves, me and my husband. My husband actually built that patio himself. Front yard was also in bad shape when we bought it, it's looking much better now. We are getting the place to look good slowly, it's going very slowly now since we have a 3 year old and 18 months old. Since many of you have the eye for these things I value your input and consider that as good as professional help.

"right in front of the patio is a big silver maple tree so it's pretty shaded."

The tree is not visible in any of the pictures, so it's hard to see how it's right in front of the patio. However, whatever you say. If you're under the drip line of the silver maple, you'll have trouble getting anything but the very toughest of groundcovers established. If you're outside the drip line and just shady, then you'll have more shade plants to choose from.

If you have a nice garden center around you, they might offer planting design for free if you buy the plant material from them. That is a service that our garden center offers to homeowners who're looking for some planting advice. It helps the homeowner but also builds a strong relationship and reputation for the garden center.

Took few pictures to show the patio in relation to the silver maple and the pine tree line. Also shows the pathway area to the basement door.

It is extremely difficult to get much to grow under any maple, silver maples being among the two worst. It looks as if your patio is just beyond the drip line, though it's had to tell. In any case, if it's mostly in shade, choose plants that like shade. (This could be somewhat complicated if the 3 hours that it receives sun are the hottest sun of the day --say mid day --.)

I would consider linking the car park area with the patio & lower door something like the following, with the goal of getting the walk away from the house so that there was a decent space for foundation planting. 6' from the wall is not too far.

Yardvaark's image pulls it all together. Good job, Y.

That looks amazing Yardvaak! Thank you all for the great ideas. Now I know where to start.

You patio area looks lovely. Now it's time for the fun stuff - the plants! You will get the most benefit from adding some structural shrubs. Just adding perennials won't give you any winter interest since they dieback in the winter and can be insignificant. Some low maintenance shrubs like Viburnums, Lilacs, Hydrangeas will work just fine and have a nice bloom in the spring/summer. Planting in odd numbers always works well and also planting in masses. I agree with Yaardvark by adding a nice ornamental tree to the right of the patio and tying the planting bed to the patio so it all connects. Once you pick all your main structural plantings (don't forget to include some evergreens to guarentee some greenery in the winter), you can add some perennials for a nice accent. For shade you can go with hosta, astilbe, ferns and japanese forest grass, to name a few! Also, when looking at the area from the secondary backdoor (not leading directly out to the patio) and your patio connection, you can easily just add a nice curving path of steppers to make that connection. That can be more cost effective and still give the same feel. Good luck!

Since the patio is so new..... Don't do any landscaping for the moment. Give your family a bit of time to get used to it and use it first. Spend some time out there checking out how you use your patio, what lines of sight you like from it, and what lines of sight you like from the yard looking at it.

you seem less than inclined to move the on bed already, but want to get some landscaping done. I would suggest that you use a few cheap planters and make your landscape moveable while you get settled into your new patio. That way you can still start getting some of the plants you know you want while still keeping the flexibility of changing the placement of it if say come July you realize you want some things different.