I live in central Illinois where the winter winds blow in fiercely to batter the west side of my home. That side is the boring side of our house, or should I say "most boring side". It's planted with an arborvitae hedge. Sturdy, reliable, not very attractive, but provides a "blanket" from the cold. I've not given much thought to doing anything to what we have, not that it's great, but there are so many other fish to fry and the unknown variety of thuja accomplishes the task that I would put at the top of my list for plantings on this side of the house: It does provide insulation from the wind, it survives, it's evergreen, it takes pruning reasonably well. I have no idea how many plants are planted in this hedge. It is no doubt planted too closely together (a hedge) and too close to the house. But then, I don't have much space to play with. My neighbor's house is only about 15' feet from mine. So, my first question would be how much real estate do you want to use for this new foundation planting? Clearly, evergreens should probably play a part in your choices. I like lilacs, and they're tough once established, but their seasonal interest is limited to a few weeks of flowering. Then they are a ho hum shrub with no fall color and twigs for winter. No real screening for your western exposure. Without knowing the size of your space, it's impossible to say what you should do, but an evergreen hedge might be a starting point. If I had the space, I'd love to then feature several specimen deciduous shrubs in front of the evergreens ... physocarpus (ninebark) comes to mind, or maybe one of the vibirnum varieties, cotinus coggygria, possibly even a specimen evergreen or two. One of these or some sort of grouping featured in the foreground of an evergreen backdrop. I'm just throing ideas out here ... on the chance that something helps. Wellspring

Based on the shade, I go with mt. Laurel and azaleas. There are plenty that will be about the right height. Mt. Laurel minuet, for example. Azalea Weston's lollipop. Dwarf Fothergillia. They will do well with part shade. If you have sun, you have more choices, but I'm not as sure of them, given that my yard has part shade, shade and deep shade. Try Bluestone perennials. They have plenty of shrub choices.

Ostrich, Ken really sums things up very well, in this extreme winter climate of ours, I can't say as if I've noticed any significant difference or benefit from having any shrubby plant snuggled up to the foundation, even if given the most protected siting I have. Now, 'Golden Shadows' pagoda dogwood had grown beautifully tucked into a southeast corner in very deeply amended fluffy soil ... it's success could easily be attributed to several mild winters in a row, the thing then having quickly outgrown it's location and it's transplanting was not successful, possibly due to the severity of winter and poorer soil quality as well, this plant is one that requires good soil! Where as, things like tender roses, hybrid teas and such, these really benefit from being planted up next to the foundation, say 15 inches away and planted a good depth down, they require the usual mounding for winter and have always successfully made it through for me. Tender herbaceous perennials such as buddleia and salvia 'Amistad' can be successful as well when planted the same way ... important again is the close proximity to the foundation and the depth in which planted.

First of all KUDOS to you!! I have rock mulch all around my house and it has taken me years to get rid of it in some spots. Of course I'm not as dedicated as you obviously were. Really amazing that you were willing to take the time to do that. Give yourself a big pat on the back!! In IL, I wouldn't plant stuff up close to the house, It holds moisture against the house, in many forms, including snow. Haven for all kinds of bugs that get into the house. I'd leave at least three feet between the house and anything I planted. You might want to start out with the less expensive smaller plants, but make sure to check how big they get at maturity. Below is a link to the MO Botantical Gardens "PlantFinder" search engine. You can look up most of the plants that would grow well in your zone and find out the real deal about them. Give your baby plantings room to grow. Easier to fill in between shrubs with annual flowers than rip out overgrown stuff. Ask me how I know . . . https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/plantfinder/plantfindersearch.aspx Maybe walk around your neighborhood and take pictures of houses you like the landscaping of, and copy some ideas from that. That's what I did when I moved into my first house, for ideas on landscaping. I took nightly walks and got a lot of ideas from peering into neighbors yards . . . Check out some books from the library, there are lots of books on how to basically landscape a basic home. My favorite, probably out of print, is Cass Turnbull's handbook. She goes into not just how to design your plantings, but how to maintain them too. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-complete-guide-to-landscape-design-renovation-and-maintenance-a-practical-handbook-for-the-home-landscape-gardener_cass-turnbull/389930/item/391485/?gclid=CjwKCAjwrPCGBhALEiwAUl9X0_79Z7hoPI67oemQK8eqUFYDEz_xHv3F_eRviJaKq4gNPhsTl3Z0GRoCO00QAvD_BwE#idiq=391485&edition=2871674 Another older book I used was "Better Homes and Gardens Complete Guide to Home Landscaping." In general, think big swaths, not tiny little edges against the house. Most people don't look at the whole landscape, the lay of the land when landscaping, they just throw plants right up against the house. Look at your yard as a whole. It's even hard to recommend things just from the sectional photos you posted. Obviously you're going to do something about that weird "C" shaped bed in front of the house. It's unnecessarily difficult to mow around. As for "something with some height" I would recommend looking into some type of viburnum shrubs. The question is, are you going to a nice professional nursery or a big box store. If you go to a big real nursery, there might be someone there who could help you find the kinds of plants you are looking for. I know last time I visited such a place, a lovely woman helped me find the perfect tree for my yard . . . You might consider a rose trained against a trellis between your front windows. Just a thought. And here I'm breaking my rule about not having plants up against the house . . . ! Here are some lovely shrubs that I've dealt with that keep themselves tidy--weigela "Wine and roses" "Margic Carpet" spirea, "Miss Kim" lilac, Gold mound arborvitae, dwarf mugo pine, dwarf fothergilla. I also love the landscape roses, but that's me . . . One kind of hosta alone is sad, a whole selection of different colors and leaf shapes is cool. No go if you have deer browsing . . . I agree though, the purpose of landscaping up against the house is for your pleasure. Curb appeal is just al little welcoming thing at the entrance. Can be a simple planter with red geraniums. The rest is what you want to see and enjoy. From the street, you want big structural elements, well away from the house, but places so they don't impede the view in or out. Unless you want a lot of privacy in the front . . . There's really no reason to obstruct the view of the front of your house with a lot of heavy maintenance shrubs, etc.