I'm looking at that massive tree on the right with the major damage to the trunk. I had a couple of those and they had to be taken down. If you haven't already, I'd get a tree expert out immediately to give some advice. It won't cost you anything. I had one large oak that cracked vertically just above the open scar area after a big storm. The crack was about 1/2" wide and went about 10 feet up the tree. I'm lucky I noticed it as the tree was leaning toward the house.

My tree guy said research is showing that mulching out to the drip line under a tree has significant health benefits for the tree. He quoted a study that was done in the midwest but I don't have it. He said plain mulch is best and would not recommend ground cover like pachysandra or myrtle. On the other hand, several small shrubs like azaela's or whatever would be OK. Do with that info as you will.

I hate rock borders around mulch beds. Harder to mow, too. Just cut a nice clean edge and clean it up once in awhile.

Good luck with it. What you've done so far looks nice!

Outlining beds with rocks can get really “tricky” looking. It makes the bed difficult to edge when grass or weeds grow between the rocks. A large landscape rock with your address sign embedded in it might look great. With a low landscape light to shine on it at night. Think outdoor lighting as you plan your plantings, and plant for each season. Your home is lovely!

We need to know your growing zone for plant suggestions. I would not use rock edging. I do like this sort of rock:

I also think a uniform low ground cover would be best.

Thanks for the comments. Seems like no one so far likes the rock border which is helpful to know.

Growing zone is 6. This area has a lot of shade.

The cut in the tree is >5 years old apparently from a car crash and has been looked at annually by our town arborist.

We don't like the idea of a dense ground cover. Would want more low lying plants with some that stay active during the winter so the area doesn't look so barren.

I don't see a rock border. I see a brick path flanked with mulch. (I am against lining walks with hedges. It will make the walk seem even narrower and constricted, not welcoming. It can only pass if you keep it trimmed low and off of the walk. The same concept applies to the porch. It would be better to get rid of the badly pruned shrubs that enclose it.)

Thanks Yardvaark. Yes, we agree and are planning on removing all the shrubs surrounding the porch and replacing with something else. We are not going to make the lining of the walk a hedge - rather, we will keep boxwoods trimmed and separated.

My above comment should have said that "no one likes the rock border idea". We don't have a rock border now, but I had floated that idea in my original comments.

"My above comment should have said ..." Hard to remember what what said at the beginning of a thread (x20) a day earlier

No rocks unless you live in the desert Southwest or dry or mountainous area. They don’t fit in this green landscape. One very large rock engraved with your address would be ok. I like the sample above.

Personally I wouldn’t landscape along a front sidewalk, but yours looks fairly simple and clean right now. Instead, I’d triple the size of the landscape bed at the left house corner, swooping it out and adding some interesting shrubs and bright flowers.

Thanks for the comments Little Bug. Yes we agree regarding the front sidewalk, but we felt that we had to do something because this area was unable to grow grass because of shade despite several consecutive years of having landscapers reseed.

There are evergreen gound covers one I like is Vinca even in really shady spots is looks good all year in Zone 6 I have it under my big trees in the shade and on a hill that is really impossible to landscape with much else.

As far as the damaged tree, I don't think you can do anything about it. First it looks like the tree is mending itself. Second which you sort of confirmed the tree is in the easement for the street and technically is not yours, but belongs to the city. So the city will decide if it stays or goes.

It looks like that it is far enough from your home that even if it falls straight at the closes part of your house there will be no damage.

You have a pretty house. If it were mine I would add some flowering plants like roses, forsythia, Spirea, laura pendulum to add a little color to the house. May be a pretty pink cherry in the on the left about half way between the street an the house.

I think hostas, coral bells, ferns, hydrangeas, astilbes, bleeding hearts, and other flowering shade loving perennials would look very nice. I personally hate ground cover because it gets out of control and will attack what's planted near it. You either do 100% ground cover and nothing else or you skip the ground cover and plant some beautiful flowering perennials. That's my honest opinion.

Heather you have a beautiful landscape but if it were located in my neck of zone 6, NJ, it would look like a dirt field in two weeks. The deer consume hostas around here like crack.

We have found that Milorganite repels deer at least here in eatern Carolina.

We periodically grab the bag of Milorganite and but a cup full on each plant that is prone to be eaten.

With our azaleas once they reached a certain height, the deer continued to eat at them but no longer did damage to the bush. Right know we have some lollypop shaped plants as the leader get taller than the deer eat.

It all depends on your location I guess. I have hostas planted all over my yard and the deer leave them alone. I practically live in the woods too. Where I used to live (way less wooded area) I had deer everywhere (probably from the deforestation) and they left my hostas alone there too. I haven't had problems with deer and hostas.

Btw I live in Zone 6, Southern Ohio.

@heather that's amazing! Maybe deer in different regions go for different vegetation? Odd.