For reference, I’m in zone 7a in Maryland and the lot has a lot of shade throughout the day.

Gardengal48, thanks for the comment. The previous homeowners had juniper there but pulled it out for some reason. I have a butt ton (at least half an acre) of pachysandra throughout the yard and was thinking of doing something a little more manicured but possibly including pachysandra for some coverage. Picture is the backyard, completely covered in pachysandra.

I would plant evergreen shrubs like rhododendron and azaleas. Hydrangeas might work, too. Hostas. Astilbe. The shrubs will grow and help retain the soil. The hostas can be massed in swaths. The astilbe can be planted together for color, too. In other words, turn it into a shade garden.

Oh I like the astilbe and hosta idea! I’ll have to look up shade garden ideas. Thanks.

I agree with ptreckel. I also love to intersperse ferns with the hostas. You can do it over time, it's a big space. The good news is, the hostas will really establish and give you some nice flowers in July.

How is your deer situation? They love hosta. as well as many evergreen shrubs.

The issue with using herbaceous perennials is that, other than being deer fodder, you will be left with empty, bare ground for a good number of months. And that means weeds. Once established, an evergreen groundcover will reduce weeds significantly.

It is just a matter of how much maintenance and weeding one is prepared or willing to do :-)

Maybe consider some conifers or ground covers with the occasional dwarf up right growing Asian maples. Not weeping cut leafs.

Thanks everyone for the insight. Deer eat everything around here... my poor begonias. Maybe no hostess... because of the deer and the weeds. I don’t mind a bit of weed picking but the entire hill is demanding, especially because I’m fighting Japanese stiltgrass.

Out of curiosity, does anyone have a software they use to help them visualize their garden? I bought Landscape Design software from Punch and I’m not really happy with it.

I am not in your growing zone but this looks promising. Ilex opaca ‘Maryland Dwarf.

It would be helpful if you knew why the Junipers were removed.

That is a large space so I would go with shrubs and maybe some perennials planted among them. I have a similar space that I have covered with junipers. Most are in the sun but some are in the shade. Very effective at weed and erosion control. No damage from road salts.

You might consider viburnums for the space. Some varieties are very large and deer tend to avoid them at least in my experience. Holly would another idea.

Pachysandra & hostas

Junipers become unattractive and over grown very quickly and IMO work best where they do not infringe on walkways or driveways.I love vinca/ periwinkle for this application it is evergreen flowers helps erosion and grows well in any light but loves shade

Since this is along a driveway, it can be an opportunity for a pleasant mix of evergreens and flowering shrubs.

Don't plant Hostas. I love them, but it is so frustrating when the deer make their late night runs and every morning I wake up to more of my garden gone. I have plenty of Pachysandra, but it invasive in a natural setting and it is good cover for mice and chipmunks. Over the years, I've removed most of it away from the foundation of the house because of all the chipmunks - they are cute but love to find ways to get into the house for winter. Do not plant Ivy, it is a thug plant prohibited in many states.

Check out the plants in this article to see what appeals to you and is right for your zone. https://www.gardendesign.com/plants/deer-resistant.html

If you get snow in the winter I would keep an 18" to two feet strip along the driveway open. You could do drifts of daffodils for bloom in the spring.

Make sure you account for how large a plant will get near maturity. Plant a mix evergreens and flowering shrubs like forsytheia (https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=840 ) or one of the plants mentioned in the previous article. Plant the mix in diagonal drifts as if you are creating a plant dam to slow down runoff.

I'm in zone 7a and am really enjoying my Creeping Jenny. I planted them last spring in a shady area under hydrangeas with the goal of them spreading under our 2 story deck. Our house looks similar to your's. They're really keeping the weeds down and have spread very well this year. While they turned a little yellow, did stay greenish throughout the winter. I have them planted with limelight hydrangeas and monkey grass (which also stays green through our winters).

It is considered invasive, but easy to keep in check.

This link might be helpful when you have selected specific shrubs to calculate benefits. https://www.arborday.org/calculator/returnValues.cfm?climatezone=Northeast

I've had enough maintenance experience on the commercial level to learn to avoid using mass shrubs as a groundcover, and that as a landscape solution, is completely eradicated from my bag of potential landscape solutions. Groundcover plants are self limiting in height and never need trimming to control their height. They usually just need attention at their leading perimeter edge. Depending on what they are, they might need to be annually cut to the ground in order to be refreshed and eliminate old growth, but for the type of plant they are, that is not an impossibility, but is usually just another landscape maintenance task. Mass shrubs, however (and I don't mean low-growing things like 'Blue rug' Juniper) require a periodic trimming of height which can be a big pain. Most often what happens is that they are allowed to get too tall and then are eventually ripped out. Too, when next to a circulation path (walk or drive) mass shrubs that get too tall become an uncomfortable accompaniment to that path. It's much better to use a groundcover that doesn't get too tall.

Tall enough to hide weeds:

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a235

Thanks for the comments everyone. You’ve all provided a ton of great things for me to consider! I do love to garden so I didn’t want to do straight ground cover, although some will definitely be involved. I’ll probably transplant some pachysandra and ferns from the back and avoid hostas because of the deer. I have been playing with some creeping Jenny to see how it looks (in a pot). The deer ate a bunch of it! Definitely no ivy! My entire front was covered in it and I’m slowly removing it all.
I hadn’t thought about leaving space between the driveway for snow so that is super helpful!

Thanks so much!

I'm also in Maryland zone 7a with lots of shade, lots of deer year round, and a lot of pachysandra already. I don't plant anything now that will attract deer, so I have a few suggestions for low-growing options along your shady driveway. One is Sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis . It's evergreen, attractive, grows about 18" high, and has a good root system that will really hold the soil on a slope. Another suggestion is large hellebores, like the Pine Knot varieties that grow to the size of a small bush. They don't take much upkeep and will eventually produce seedlings that you can transplant or weed out. The deer have not eaten my Leucothoe bushes either. For the stiltgrass, it's worth using the Acclaim Extra and spraying it twice in June when the plants are still small. It really works.