Even though we haven't heard a definitive statement about the design direction you want to go, here's a stab at a layout for some basic landscaping... applying my "formula" as I have fun practicing. I'm ignoring some opportunities in favor of others. I'll let other forum members address things they think are of greater concern. It's a scheme. Nothing is immune from being tweaked or manipulated by real life concerns. Also, I don't show every plant detail that there could be; there are places where adding further details would be an enhancement to the scheme. And if I were doing this on a plan, I'm sure I would add more. There are discrepancies from one picture to the other because it's hard to draw with great precision at very small scale. Even though some plants jump out at me as likely contenders, the picture is not indicating what any specific plant is... just general form. For example, the plant under the tree with the blue flowers might be end up being Hosta. So don't take the drawing literally for every detail. It's meant to suggest a general direction and plan of attack. Also, because your original picture doesn't show what's at far left and right, I just guess and make it up and it's subject to being wrong. But it still suggests a general approach that might work with a little adapting. I'm all for a couple of street trees, but here again, I wouldn't take the placement literally. I'm mostly trying to keep them out of the way of other things in the drawing. I'm trying not to barricade or obscure the entrance. While I normally try not to place plants in front of windows, I think the distance between the windows on the porch and the multi-trunk tree in front is great enough to allow it. I think the area needs the small tree to give a sense of shelter (almost as if it was a domed awning) and to address the large blank space on the garage wall. The "ceiling" would need to be kept high to permit as much light as possible and then only plants tolerating or liking shade could grow as soon as conditions were stabile.

I live in zone 7 and have a mountain weekend place in zone 6a of the NC mountains. I have grown kaleidoscope Abelia in zone 7b. I just loved it at first, but I had two problems with it. One was that it was really a brassy looking yellow in the winter. Spring brought back a nice mix of warm tones, but it is not really pretty in the winter sun. In zone 6 you would not have leaves in the winter, so that would not be a problem. However, since your hydrangea will loose it leaves in the winter, you may enjoy some evergreens in the area. I think the azalea or some of the dwarf rhododendrons would be nicer. My other problem with the abelia was also one that might not affect you. Voles ate the roots of one of them to the point that it had to be removed. Best of luck and I hope you will enjoy whatever you end up selecting.

You can add 10 photos per post, and then add additional photos in follow up comments. From my perspective more photos are great. Consider repetition. Look at how the repetition of white-flowered plants along the top of your formal rock wall gives a rhythm to that part of the bed. Right now your listed plants have one of this and two of that, and some of them aren't plants that will be happy with your growing conditions such as your hybrid tea roses. Having some plants with a year round presence that repeat throughout the garden will give it coherence, even in a garden that tends to have a lot of variety. So choose one or two plants that you will use in several spots around the bed such as the evergreen heather and Dianthus listed below. Alternatively, if you can make yourself limit the variety, plant large masses of a few kinds of plants, sort of like the mass of annuals in the lower right corner of your photo above but with perhaps a half dozen types for the entire bed. Picture a mass of bloom covering a 5' diameter mass of Dianthus or creeping Phlox. Stunning! Choose plants that suit the conditions. At one point in my life I lived in a house with a similar chunk of ledge with shallow, acid soil. I found that planting a combination of evergreen, blooming heaths (Erica) and heathers (Calluna) along with a variety of low-growing plants that are tolerant of low water and sun worked well. Some of them were thyme, perennial candytuft (Iberis), Sedum, Hens-and-chicks (Sempervirens), low growing pinks (Dianthus such as D. gratianopolitanus), and basket of gold (Aubrietta). There are some low bulbs that will do well here also, particularly some of the species tulips, crocus, and small daffodils for really early flowers. Even though the plants I used were tolerant of low water, I did need to water this area far more often than the rest of the garden because it had so little soil and it was fast-draining. Post in the Perennials Forum and the New England forum for ideas on other specific plants that work well in this type of setting. Create a bed elsewhere (perhaps along the top wall of your parking area) where you can create a bed of deep, fertile soil for plants like your roses, lilies, hydrangeas, etc. that won't do well in this bed. Celebrate the rock. Folks often pay a lot of money to create natural looking rock gardens where rock doesn't occur naturally and you have it for free! In my garden I used some very short rock walls but not many to level soil in a few spots and a few large rocks or lines of single rocks placed in conjunction with plants to do the same. Rocks will look most natural when placed partly buried. Where there was bare ledge, I didn't try to cover it up or dress it up with pots like your 1/2 barrels, I just left it bare and over time it did start growing some moss and lichens, and some of the Sempervirens and thyme crept up over the edges. I liked featuring the ledge because it's such a classic part of the New England landscape. In the planted areas, I mulched the soil between plants until it filled in to keep the soil in place, discourage weeds and help keep soil moisture more even. Keep winter interest in mind. Choose a few shrubby evergreens like the heather or evergreen perennials like the Dianthus and Iberis so that you have year round foliage to complement the rocks so your garden has winter interest. It's easy to get caught up in the flowers, but in New England we have many months of winter, and having an attractive garden view helps alleviate winter blues. On a practical note, don't rip out the grass next to your ledge garden until you have a plan and a general plant list of rock garden plants, and also have found spots for those plants you've already bought but not planted so that you don't get overwhelmed by too much bare soil. This area has potential to be a stunning show piece, and it's obvious that you have already put in a lot of work. If funds are limited which is often the case with new homeowners, several of my favorite rock garden plants can be started relatively easily from seed such as the low Dianthus and Iberis or one large pot can be divided at planting time and then redivided a year later. Often heaths and heathers can be found at big box stores as seasonal color plants, and since you have such a perfect garden spot for them (unlike almost everywhere else in the US) take advantage of that and snap up a few.

Sorry for the small image! I will attach one with larger font below: Thank you Ken and Lane for the advice. To Lane -- I will reconsider my choice of blue spruce based on the humidity in our region. I do plan to cut down a lot of the hybrid poplar and willow stuff as it grows and as the more sturdy evergreen trees grow taller. To Ken -- I love oak trees, but I don't want more trees that are close to the house, and I mostly want to stick with evergreens as I love year round color and not dealing with leaves. I would consider planting them further from the house though. As for the soil, there is definitely a lot of clay (we are actually near Westerville) but I'm hoping that all the excavation will loosen some of the top soil. Also, I am fine with the planting ending up being a bunch of tall trees -- in fact, that's what I prefer. Basically, in 20 years (we hope for this to be our forever home) I would love to look out our front door and practically see a forest of mostly evergreen trees separating us from the road. I just want to make sure that I do it in a way that ends up crowded in a good way as quickly as possible without hurting the trees. I too worry about the lifespan and strength of "fast growing" trees, but I do prefer to have at least part of this planting growing as quickly as possible. So my thinking was to mix in 3 different species of these fast growing trees so that I don't have to worry about losing them all at once to disease, and surround them with better long-term trees so that as they die/loose limbs, I'll still be left with a little mini forest of evergreen trees. I hope this helps give a little more detail into what I am looking to do. I am definitely open to different species than the ones listed above, and I am fine with planting further apart if I can still achieve a dense, forest-like area in the future.