You just said it. The beds that you are happy with are good all summer long. Now for the foundation beds you could use some evergreens. Low mounded arborvitae or yews would work well with the dogwoods. Then maybe under plant with some rushian sage. If the azaleas are not working could it be because there is too much sun? If the area gets morning sun and shade in afternoon try looking into hydrangea. That would give more depth to your entry stairs. Check with your local nursery and show this picture. Tell them what your sun exposure is as it really does make a difference as to what will preform for you. Have fun with this!

Debhawks, the last photo posted should have been your first one. I didn't understand the "unbalanced" comment. Now, seeing a non-myopic view of the Birch, I see the conflict. I'm still OK with the groundcover portion of my earlier submission, but think the tree-form shrub should be a smaller version... something that would only get 8' ht. So not intended to be anything one would walk below. Some of my advice about it will seem to conflict with advice I give later, below. But this is an architectural "fix" situation... not a normal, straighforward landscape use. Not enough time to do now, but let me explore this later. It could possibly be something different, too. Do I need to preach about how the Birch should be limbed up?... to higher than what you think because the upper limbs will hang lower over time. If you do the minimum, it will be back in your face not that much later. I would create at least a 12' clear trunk to start...asap. It's always better to start shaping woody plants while they're very young, but starting late is better than not starting at all. I would limb up the crab asap, too. Worry only about the trunk structure & canopy elevation. The head of the tree will form no matter what height you put it at (within reason... we'll not consider the outside extreme limits; we're just talking about normal situations.) Develop a nice bouquet shape of trunks. Remove those that spread too widely outside of the imaginary "cone" shape. (I think 50 to 60 degree spread generally works well.) To my thinking, a canopy should never begin below a persons head (but I've stated an exception above.) That's the minimum--or it obstructs view--but higher than that is fine. Think how you prefer the ceilings in your house to be somewhat above your head, not scraping against your hair. It's the same with tree canopies. On a small tree like the crab, I'd give a light trim to the outside dome shape of the canopy just to bring it into greater uniformity... if you have the means. You really DO need a tree at the left of house to make it look finished and established. It's too vacant over there. A medium size flowering tree could be nice. I'd also consider side a large tree-form "shrub" (12' - 15' ht.) by the mailbox corner--with some underplanting-- to help reduce the airport look of the driveway. There are very few instances where suitable shrubs in the tree-form can be purchased. The overwhelming preponderance of landscape thinking is ruled by horticulture, not by design. The horticultural thinking has it that woody plants, for the most part, should be allowed to grow as nature dictates... with just a little tweaking here and there. There are notable exceptions, but they have occurred with few plants. In most of cases it is far better to create the tree-form that works for your particular situation using the plant that suits your needs. It's not hard. It takes a little time, but not much effort. I can elaborate later.

Does it have to be a shrub or tree? I was thinking that some of the groundcovers, like a low growing sedum that doesn't need mowing, might look beautiful and compete less for nutrients with the maple. Thymes (lemon thyme comes in a nice variegated form) would do OK in shade too, and contrast with the lawn nicely.

Try: Fundamentals of Foundation Plantings | Fine Gardening - Fundamentals of Foundation Plantings To search here on GW use Google, enter ~Foundation planting help site:gardenweb.com~