I think what you're mostly lacking is scale. Unfortunately scale takes either time or money. :-) If you want any trees in front, I'd do that first - well, this fall, anyway. Shrubs would be a main consideration, too. Though do check and see how big they get and plant for their mature size! It'll take a few years for your plants to mature, but it's worth the wait. If it were me, I'd put something tall at that corner to soften that edge; maybe a juniper? Though that close to the house, I'd check and make sure their roots won't become a problem. Other than that a twining vine on a trellis might be a good choice.

Nice work on bed preparation, lucky plants! But which plants...? Obviously many different opinions here, and it sounds like we've succeeded in confusing you! I guess you will have picked up on the fact that a start-from-scratch landscape design would probably not put a bed right in that spot; some would put a strip of plantings out at the sidewalk, or specimen shrubs spaced in the lawn. Others would garden up the whole area. But you have good reasons for wanting to plant there, at least for this year. I actually pretty much agree that you should put annuals in for this year. It will give you something to look at, to think about, to react to, and will give you some experience with taking care of plants if you don't have much of that. For longer term planning, the variables that should factor into your decision are (a) the look you want: whether you want colour or just green, tidy or exuberant, or a mixture, (b) how much you're willing to spend, (c) what you want to see in winter, and (d) what kind of maintenance do you want to be doing? ALL planting installations require some work at some time. Annuals require annual replacement, and a little in-season snipping and weeding, and then fall clean-up. Perennials require basically the same in-season and fall care as annuals but because they grow more slowly, won't cover the ground as fast and will give you more weeding to do the first couple of years. Once they grow big enough, of course they continue to grow until they are too big, and need division. Both of these choices will leave your bed bare in winter, but in season they can give you the colour you're thinking about. When you get into shrubby stuff, as you were originally thinking, then you're talking pruning in such a small space, unless you get something like the fastigiate varieties of yew which will make a row of very narrow evergreen columns. Deciduous usually equals a fairly messy look; evergreen is usually tidy but not much change over the year. If it were me, I would get a few dwarf or fastigiate evergreen shrubs, planted in little groupings, and dress them up for seasonal show with some annuals or perennials. But it'll take some experience to know how plants will perform there, for example whether they crawl on the grass in pursuit of light or stay nicely in their places. So I foresee some trial and error in your future! For more specific ideas, you could go to the forums of the type of plants you want, eg conifers or rhododendrons or hostas or perennials, and describe the light conditions more thoroughly and ask for suggestions. Or to your local nursery. KarinL

Hi, Dee Thought I would suggest Arborvitae, Emerald (Smargd). It is a tall, columnar evergreen that I use alot in my designs where I want tall and narrow. They will get to about 10-12 feet tall and three feet wide here. I have them at each corner and each angle of my house, and on either side of my front door. I grow them in full sun to almost total shade here and they do well. If anything, the shade makes them a bit narrower, which is fine with me. You were talking about depth of your beds. I find it easier to design the plantings first and then just make the beds a depth that will accomodate the mature size of the shrubbery. Be sure to leave a good two feet of empty space along the wall of the house for window washing and other maintenance. You mentioned purple foliage. I find it shows best, especially against a dark background when it has something chartreuse planted behind it. If you want to use alot of deciduous plants, you might want to consider doing a low edging around the beds, or part of the beds, with boxwood. This gives a parterre look, which I have really come to enjoy over the years. It can be low maintenance if you choose the right box. Go for low and SLOW growing varieties. I use alot of korean box (which may or may not be good as far north as you are) for this purpose. I only have to shear once a year. Be aware that boxwoods can have hungry roots. I root prune mine every year or two with a spade to keep them in bounds and away from other plantings. I can get one gallon boxwoods here for about $8 each. Of course, we don't grow Green Velvet and some of the other beautiful ones like it here in the south. One other thought. If you will get a pad of graph paper and a tape measure and go to the house, you can measure and draw out the area to scale. Just use one little box for one square foot. Then draw away (in pencil). When you are done, you'll know exactly how many plants you will need for the project. It's a low tech way, but it works. Being able to visualize things in your mind really helps. It sounds like you have that ability. Good luck! I am sure it will turn out beautifully.

Because of all the trees at the left side, you do not need to plant a tree at the left side of the house ... but you do need to unswamp the right side of the house from all the low hanging foliage of the tree there. It makes the house look gloomy and unkempt. I see you are planting a hedge across the front left side of house. This will be a chore to kept prune low or, most likely, it will grow to engulf the entire lower half of the house and the window. I would change it. The other notes are in the picture. ("Wraps corner" does not mean touching it.)