Joanne, I just found this post and comments thread while searching for boxwoods that don't smell bad and discovered your beautiful walkway looking EXACTLY the way I want mine to look. I was out looking at shrubs to do this today in fact. How long did it take for the hedge to grow together? Does it smell bad as some people feel about boxwood? Why did you decide on the green ice mini roses instead of knock out roses? I find the regular knock out roses to be to large for this look anyway and the knock out drift roses I've planted aren't doing very well. Where did you find the mini roses and so many of them? My sidewalk curves similar to yours and I just took out the dwarf Japanese hollies that I tried which never flourished. I found enough Green Velvet boxwood at Home Depot today at $17 each for my 30+ sidewalk but wonder if they will be as good as getting the plants from a nursery (and paying more). I am glad you went with your vision and I'm happy that you have shared it here as it's the same one I have. Now I'm encouraged to get the plants in and hope it doesn't take 5 years to be as pretty as yours but I suppose it will be worth the wait if it does. One last question - where do you live? I live in Northern Virginia. Thanks very much.

Hi, Dee Thought I would suggest Arborvitae, Emerald (Smargd). It is a tall, columnar evergreen that I use alot in my designs where I want tall and narrow. They will get to about 10-12 feet tall and three feet wide here. I have them at each corner and each angle of my house, and on either side of my front door. I grow them in full sun to almost total shade here and they do well. If anything, the shade makes them a bit narrower, which is fine with me. You were talking about depth of your beds. I find it easier to design the plantings first and then just make the beds a depth that will accomodate the mature size of the shrubbery. Be sure to leave a good two feet of empty space along the wall of the house for window washing and other maintenance. You mentioned purple foliage. I find it shows best, especially against a dark background when it has something chartreuse planted behind it. If you want to use alot of deciduous plants, you might want to consider doing a low edging around the beds, or part of the beds, with boxwood. This gives a parterre look, which I have really come to enjoy over the years. It can be low maintenance if you choose the right box. Go for low and SLOW growing varieties. I use alot of korean box (which may or may not be good as far north as you are) for this purpose. I only have to shear once a year. Be aware that boxwoods can have hungry roots. I root prune mine every year or two with a spade to keep them in bounds and away from other plantings. I can get one gallon boxwoods here for about $8 each. Of course, we don't grow Green Velvet and some of the other beautiful ones like it here in the south. One other thought. If you will get a pad of graph paper and a tape measure and go to the house, you can measure and draw out the area to scale. Just use one little box for one square foot. Then draw away (in pencil). When you are done, you'll know exactly how many plants you will need for the project. It's a low tech way, but it works. Being able to visualize things in your mind really helps. It sounds like you have that ability. Good luck! I am sure it will turn out beautifully.

Welcome, Kellycrash! You have a quite attractive house. Thanks for including the photos; it makes it much easier to offer intelligent comments. You've gotten great advice so far - evergreens for continued interest in winter, plant for the size space you have, areas against the house tend to be dry. The advice to keep this area relatively simple is a good one too as it is a small area. I'd probably plan to use some of the plants you use here elsewhere in the garden to provide some continuity. I would suggest working out a plan for the whole front of the house and perhaps the whole front yard right now. If you don't, each small part is likely to reflect where you are as a gardener at a particular time and not necessarily gel well as a whole yard. Figure out where you are likely to want to walk and how you will use it (kids' soccer field? just decoration? future patio? etc) before starting planting. You don't need to plant the whole thing, but at least get a feel for how you want it to look in the long run. Drive around and look at plantings for houses similar to yours and evaluate them - decide what you like or don't like and what will work for how you will use the space. Get books out of the library that have pictures of whole house landscaping, again to decide what look you like. Worry less about particular plants until you've decided on the big picture items. I'd also probably mulch the whole cleared area now with an unobtrusive mulch (not dyed) so that weeds don't get started while you plan. I'd also really check out your amount of sun carefully. If you have more than 4 hours (noon to 5 instead of 1 to 4) you may be able to grow many sun-loving plants and shade lovers would find that much afternoon sun to be too much. Once you have done that, then find plants you like the look of that which will suit your conditions of part shade, probably acid soil (though your new concrete sidewalk may leach lime for a while), and whatever your soil texture is (sandy, clayey, or whatever.) 3 1/2 feet is quite narrow to keep plants both off the base of the porch and off the walkway. I'd try for plants that grow narrowly upright rather than have to fuss with pruning them away from both the walk and the porch lattice. You have a tough situation - narrow and somewhat shady. It's a shame that the walkway isn't 2 feet farther out as it would give many more options. As far as your specific plant ideas so far: I like that you have found plants that will look attractive year round, with evergreen and/or variegated foliage for when there isn't bloom. Here is a webpage link to copy and paste for Blue Barron rhodie. http://www.westonnurseries.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=37 Since Weston Nurseries is the breeder of the plant, I'd take their zone 6 seriously and not try this plant in such a prominent position. If you put it off one of the porch ends where you have enough depth for several layers of plants, if it has a bad winter, the other plants may help to camouflage this. To help find alternatives, linked below is a rhodie seach database. If you want a similar one for azaleas, click on 'plant data' on the same page and go to 'azaleas' If you use the multiple parameter search you can put in your hardiness info (-15), your height info, and the description will tell you if it is more upright or spreading. You can then do a general web search to find info on width. Purple Gem might work for you and many of the hybrids and selections of R. yakushimanum (commonly called Yak rhododendrons) like 'Anna Hall' or 'Ken Janeck' should stay small enough for quite a while since they are relatively slow growing. You could also check out Leucathoes which are another evergreen, some with variegated leaves and many stay small. I have both small spireas and the two small Deutzias (Chardonnay Pearls and Nikko) in half shade, and both bloom well. Both look rather twiggy in winter. You could consider one of the smaller and more shade tolerant clematis on a narrow obelisk. If you get a type 3 prune (something like Justa or Savannah don't get too tall) you will cut back the dead vine to 6 or 8 inches in the fall and have the ornamental obelisk for winter interest. Here's another search page, this one from Clematis on the Web. Leave blank any categories that aren't important and just put in height and pruning type. http://www.clematis.hull.ac.uk/new-clemlistsearch.cfm If you decide to do this, I can give you some reputable mail order places that have more varieties than most local nurseries. Another option is the selection of a native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler'. Some groundcovers that play well with other plants and are happy in part sun (to wander around the feet of other plants): Veronica 'Georgia Blue' or 'Waterperry Blue' Cranberry - perfectly happy in average soil and is evergreen Some perennials that should stay within bounds, look good all growing season, will be happy with afternoon sun, and you may be able to get at plant swaps, though you might have to buy: daylily mounding perennial geranium (not the geraniums grown in pots) Heuchera Siberian Iris I like the idea of planting bulbs there, since it would give you flowers early in the season. I love planting reticulated irises for early bloom and daffodils for midspring bloom. Here is a link that might be useful: rhododendron database search

Hostas are a great suggestion. Large leafed and easy upkeep. The variegated species (more than one color in the leaf) would be ideal to pull the eye towards this feature. Many hosta bloom in July, so look for other plants with different blooming seasons. Other part-shade AND easy plants are Astilbe (flowers mostly July; pest-free, low maintenance) perennial geraniums (Lancaster, for example; sooo easy, also pest-free, fast growing mounds, flowers once mid-late June then when cut back one third will usually bloom again end of summer) Hakonechloa (perennial Hakone grass, bright yellow trim on long leaves, spectacular punch to any shady garden; slow-growing clumps, airy allure, prefers rich moist soil) So do your research and don't forget to mulch! :D p.s. Just curious: ever thought of leveling off this bed with an added retaining wall of sorts? Just a thought...