It's interesting to go through the entire thread and see that you did, in fact, take suggestions offered here. That's nice to see since I suppose many wonder if their advice if falling on deaf ears. I am so glad you dumped the idea of the dwarf alberta spruce. Good decision. Also, I see you nixed the landscaper's suggestion of the cotoneaster. While I am a big fan of cotoneaster in the right location, they would not have suited the front of your house. Another good decision. I think the whole thing looks sweet, actually. I liked that you stayed low on the left side of the house and did some nice repetion of form and plantings. I would like to see a note of height on the right side, but you can maybe add that in next year somehow. I also like the color palette...the soft pinks of the spirea, blues of the hydrangea (or pink depending on your soil) and the white azalea, along with the "traditional" (I assume you mean pink) azalea will work nicely I think. However, although right now the "hot" colors of your impatience are okay since the shrubs are small, next year you will want a softer, cooler palette of annual color. Also, I totally concur with the windowbox idea. That would look very nice, in my opinion. Patty

Have you looked around at photos or actual gardens of thin beds to see what you like. I would keep the plants low near the ends and in front of the windows. One can put in a lattice for vines to climb on where the wall is. I was always one of those who just plunk them in and redo as I go. Maybe leave some as a annual areas, and for bulbs that you replace every year. Go to nurseries and see what you like. Take a walk in a botanical park and hang in the shade areas and take notes. I don't like talking design because , it is a vague area and I don't know your likes and dislikes. Magazines are a good source and there are some books on garden design in the library. Ask yourself, do you want it to be low , seen as a single mass, or do you want it to be devided up into spaces with different levels and textures. Then ask if you want the same, are you looking for interesting foliage that will be of interest all year long. One can leave small spaces to put in annual color . If you go to the different mass look . Look at your wall and start dividing, and then sit down and think of different times of the year and different bloom time and such. Gardening is very much about the passage of time. It is all about finding out what YOU want from it. Don't worry, there are infinite number of do overs. It is a learning process. One can look for something simple like ajuga repens and columbine (bloom together in spring blue and yellow), or cast iron plant and then start putting things in as you discover them. Some people say do a low plant for most of it and then some tall thin plants to break the horizontality. The low plant you need to be aware of them getting into the walk way. some people are more OCD about this than me. Wet plants after a rain will bend over. I don't care but my realtor that sold my house had me rip out a whole bunch of plants. PISSED me off royally.

Mahonia bealii is a good choice for shade but it would fill that planter all by itself. The picture of the Rose of Sharon actually appears to be of the warm climate Hibiscus rosa-sinensis rather than the hardy R syriacus. And R o S would need sun. The Rodgersia on the right is completely out of scale. I have a very small, shady garden behind a row house and have hellebores, ferns, epimediuns, bleeding hearts and other shade lovers. Shrubwise I have holly, skimmia, box and hardy Fuchsia. I have hosta and box in containers. For shrubs in pots go as big as you can on the container and be prepared to repot periodically with fresh medium. For broad leaf evergreens, camellias, rhododendrons, Sarcococca and aucuba can be grown in a bit of shade in containers. I'd beg you not to paint the galvanised container if you do buy it. Much of its charm lies in the patina of age. To avoid the problem of extracting the plant you can use a plastic pot inside the metal one. Like a house plant in a cache pot. That also enables you to swap the plants round if necessary. p.s. Are you able to lift a few blocks to make planting holes? It's amazing how small a gap is needed to plant some climbers. Climbing Hydrangea or Parthenocissus henryana could be grown against the fence without taking up much more than square foot of the floor area of your space.

My suggestions aren't based on ideals, but on practical attractive suggestions for a new homeowner with a limited budget. I wouldn't choose to barricade the entryway, hiding the walk and much of the door as in the image immediately above, which also uses some plants that aren't shade tolerant and are tightly pruned into unnatural shapes. If you have the time and the inclination, I would move the path out away from the house, take out the worst of the squiggles and make one long sweep of a curve if you don't want it straight as Laceyvail suggested. If not, plant larger plants in the areas of outward squiggles so at least they look like there is a reason for them being there. Certainly remove the ivy from the tree on a regular basis and keep it at ground level. As long as you are willing to manage the edges and keep it from climbing, it is an adequate groundcover as is pachysandra, and either will do better than grass on your shady slope. If there isn't money for a pro to do design, there isn't money for masonry walls which are expensive. For now, I would go to a good garden center with your photo along with some observations of how much sun (if any) the space gets and see what suggestions they have for plants that will stay below the level of your windows and will be narrower than the space between the path and the house by a foot or two so plants are not smooshed against the house. Depending on amount of sun, that might include some smaller azaleas, but I don't really know plants for your area. Then plant a shade tolerant evergreen flowering ground cover beneath it or some evergreen shade tolerant perennials (Veronica Georgia Blue and hellebores are two that come to mind). Hostas in various colors and sizes will provide large leaves for contrast to whatever else you plant as long as deer aren't a problem. If deer are a problem, be sure to tell the nursery where you go for plants. Since you seem to not have a lot of garden experience, spend a bit more to get plants from an independent nursery with qualified staff to help you with design suggestions and appropriate plant choices for your situation. At this time of year, they are more likely to have the time to assist you, and fall planting is often more successful since there is adequate rain and cooling temperatures. You most likely want to get a load of compost and turn it into the bed before planting since the shrubs there previously may have depleted organic matter and nutrients. This is a task you can do now while it is still too hot to plant, working a bit at a time in early morning before it gets hot. Regardless, after planting, mulch the whole bed. Right now, I am not sure you have room for a Japanese maple there unless you place it in the center of the yard away from the house. Perhaps removing the hedge to the left of the house and placing a J maple off that corner would work, but you would need to decide if losing the screening of the hedge would be a good exchange and also would need to choose a small enough cultivar that it wouldn't outgrow the space. Let us know what you end up doing.