I posted the photos in the "Gallery" part of this forum, otherwise it would clog up the loading time on this post. They are listed under "Potager ideas." I love this style of garden but pretty much had to give it up in my small urban yard as the local vermin trash almost anything I plant. The bunnies even decimated my small blueberry bush. I am relegated to pots around the house that I can keep an eye on. Herbs are ok though, they don't mess with those. The squirrels bury nuts in the far away pots and throw dirt all over the paths, so I have even given up those! I envy you with the awesome fence! Check out information on companion planting, that will give you some ideas of what herbs and flowers and vegetables go together. There is lots about it on the Web and in books. There's little scientific evidence behind it, but it is the result of lots of people sharing some tried and true combinations that have worked for them. I have two books that I like on the garden design subject, one is "The Edible Garden" which is a Sunset book. The other is "Theme Gardens" by Barbara Damrosch. It has a layout for a children's garden in it that looks similar to what you have. But I am sure there are gads of cool picture books you could check out at the library or bookstore to give you ideas. In zone 6 you have a LOT of options!

I don't usually have a full cleaning. I'm just going by what I've read on here. I usually do get an algae bloom between when the water warms up and the lilies spread out. This year I'm having the pond professionally cleaned with the pressure washer and such. When I clean, I just spend several days(actually a couple hours a day), wading around in hip boots with a pool net. Walking in pond stirs things up so that the filter and the pool net can the pick up the gunk from the bottom. I will have to clean my mechanical filter several times a day, when I'm doing this. I also pull out my plants and repot them, change a portion of the water and rinse off the material in my biological filter. The pond company will do all that and more for me this year. It will cost $60 per hour, but I hope to have most it done before they get here. I lost all my fish this year, so they don't have to spend time catching them.

I think it's kind of rude to comment just to tell me what I did wrong by asking for help (with plenty of detail) and using pictures that were readily available to me. If you are giving advice, which is what I asked for, these pictures are good enough. It doesn't matter on what site, on what forum- there is always one person who just HAS to pipe up to be unhelpful and critique your request instead of answering your questions. I was asking for advice on my own fledgeling plan- not asking for free design from someone. Next time if you don't have anything helpful to say, and if you can't give your thoughts nicely, just don't say anything. I'm sure it's satisfying to try to discourage new gardeners by giving your two cents about their photos, their ideas, and whatever else without giving your opinions on the questions actually posed. Going on the attack like that with the third degree, "You indicate you are new at creating a landscape, and frustrated by attempting the process of planning it. Then you go on to say how you intend to resolve it. Do you care if those ideas are good? Or you just want help in how to implement them? You might consider advice on what you ought to do instead of what you want to do." I'm not a child and am fully capable of planning and doing it on my own, thank you, I'm just here to see if a KIND person might give a few suggestions or point out something they've seen that looked nice on a similar house. Also, there is nothing wrong with being honest about what's in the cards for you (budget, time, and overall investment wise) than just wasting everyone's time. I didn't want a thread with 20 responses about how I need to limb up, thin, or remove trees in my yard. I want a thread about how to plant a line of perennials in front of my house that will look nice together. I think in my essay of a post I made that fairly clear.

Where are you located, as in, nearest big city? Are deer a problem? The link is to a nursery in your general climate to give you an idea of the plants that will likely work for you. You can make a list of ones you like, and shop at your own local nursery, this one is kind of pricey. There are lots of plants that will grow in shade. forgot the link. https://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/shade-perennials There are also perennial and shrub forums here. You can take a photo of your planting area to a local nursery (not big box) and ask for suggestions too, they are usually knowledgeable and helpful.