This isn't a 'shady' area. It is an area that gets decent sun. Shade plants can often handle an eastern exposure, but not always. Start by deciding what you would like it to look like *in the winter*. Deciduous shrubs look like dead sticks. So it is usual to plant shrubs that have some sort of color during the winter. Instead of the hydrangea, a blue colored conifer like a blue juniper would provide that color all year, then a shorter, flowering shrub could be planted in front. There are also gold conifers. BTW, the shrubs on the left are probably some sort of flowering shrub. I'd get them ID'ed before yanking them out. A lot of things are looking unusually ratty after this winter, and they may just need a bit of time and some pruning to look decent.

Congratulations on your new house! It's so much fun having a space to work with but it also can be overwhelming sometimes. Everyone is different when trying to design spaces. Some people can "see" the space they're creating as they learn about different plants, and some people have to see it for real. I'm definitely in the second group. So what I found to be the most helpful is to look at different spaces that I liked, take pictures, and then work backwards to ID the plants, where they work best, what type of soil, and water requirements they'd need. Where you live in makes a BIG difference. Acid or alkaline soil. Temp ranges, rainfall- lots of things that play into plant selection. There's a nice, basic book that I liked when I started out "Texas Home Landscaping" by Greg Grant and Roger Holmes. I see it in box stores a lot but your library might have a copy. And I don't know if you're near San Antonio, but the botanical gardens has a section called "Watersaver Walk" that has I think ? 8 houses mocked up with different landscape designs. Same space, totally different looks. Have fun. Take your time. Don't worry if you kill some of the plants- it's part of the process. Keep reading these boards- some of the nicest plant lovers you'll ever meet hang out here. Hope this helps- Lisa This post was edited by southofsa on Sat, May 24, 14 at 4:32

The meadow isn't going to be substantially different from what you currently have. Left totally alone, it will turn back into forest surprisingly fast. Even if you left it for a year, it would fill up with enough woody plants that it would need serious equipment to clear. So it is less a different object, than that your opinion of it changes. Personally, I wouldn't bother trying to preserve the view of the garden by the road. I'd be perfectly willing to deepen or create a shrub border between the road and the lawn, then create a new garden on the other side of that border. That should eat up a fair amount of lawn.

Link to earlier discussion of same topic [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/front-landscaping-help-needed-please-dsvw-vd~5307199[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/front-landscaping-help-needed-please-dsvw-vd~5307199)