Curvy or straight? The main point is to give beds depth. Rule of thumb for a border or foundation would be a minimum depth of 6 ft, but most look better if deeper than that. Narrow beds and borders, I think, are one of the things that leads some people to plant in the dreaded soldier rows. Also, although I sometimes think some people get a little anal about the "rule", it's kind of a common mantra in gardening books and on garden forums to hear that plant material should be planted in odd numbers. Three is the favorite number. For smaller plants, or for greater impact, try 5 or 7. If a plant has presence enough to be a specimen or accent on its own, then plant just one. Consider that most dwarf shrubs are about 2 ft at maturity. You need to keep an access space along the house, so you don't plant them write up against it. And, you just read this rule of 3 thing, so you have 3 little shrubs that you won't plant in a row. How much depth will your irregular planting of a trio of the same shrub or perennial need? Then you figure that ... hmmm ... a 2 ft shrub doesn't have a lot of presence by itself. What if it were to have a grouping of evergreens here ... and, say, here ... Oh, and the evergreens are something slow growing that will eventually reach 4 to 5 ft. Pretty soon you realize the border depth needs to be 8 ft to accommodate the shrub groupings. And, because I think it's how many of us think, I'm starting from smaller plants and working from there. Of course, the other common scenario is trying to plant something that matures at 6 to 10 ft with a similar spread into a bed that isn't deep enough. So, my recommendation would be that you get a working idea of the shape and especially the depth of the beds. Incorporate the raised bed idea if you like ... But for now, just play with the ideas on paper, keeping foremost in your mind the way these beds will enhance your home. Once you've got a paper plan that you like, you don't necessarily have to pull the whole thing off all at once. You have a plan. Execute it slowly. Given that you are trying to learn design and learn plants and "do" the garden all at once, give yourself permission to work at a reasonable pace. Maybe the shadier side first, and focus next year on the sunnier side. Give strong consideration to checking out if a local nursery provides design services. Often you can pay a reasonable fee (about $300) for a reasonable plan. If they seem to be going in a too cookie cutter direction, call them on it and indicate the preferences you are already developing. Mainly what you want is something to guide your process. And, there are designers out there who work specifically with clients who intend to put the plan in place themselves. Anyway, whether you sketch it out entirely yourself or get professional input, once you've got a plan, implement it in stages. Don't do what I've done ... rush out to look at all the pretty plants and come home with babies that need to go into the ground ... now! Give your future plantlings the courtesy of beautifully prepared beds with wonderfully prepped soil. You won't regret it. Focus on getting a particular section of the project done well. Maybe it won't look finished, but you have a plan and you know what you will be doing next to fulfill it. Hope that makes sense ... It's just often the case that we get an idea, and think we can execute it and then it turns out to be way more work than we realized when we were just playing with it on paper. Get the big picture on paper ... But, if you are doing the work, stage the execution in manageable phases.

Thanks - to answer a couple of questions, I am in Z 7 - I think I said that in my original post. DC Metro area. The infected roses have not yet been dug up - that will be done by the same company that will be replacing them, and I'm not sure what the little round evergreen bushes are. Also to clarify - my house is on the tour primarily for the "home" part of "home and garden" - my yard is nice but definitely not the feature, as is the case with most of the other houses as well. I don't know much about gardening, other than raised bed veggie gardening (what I know about rose rosette disease came from googling "what's killing my knockout roses") and have a service come to mow/weed/prune/etc., so I'm not sure I'm the best person to be educating people about anything...I just wanted the house to look as nice as possible curb appeal-wise before hundreds of people come tromping through. That's very helpful about Miss Kim. Maybe given the time crunch I will just have this landscaping co. replace the roses in the back yard which are completely dead and crispy as I think I can find some plants and shrubs I'll be happy with back there, and hold off on making decisions on the front...the roses in the front are not in quite as bad shape as the ones in the back. (this landscaping co. is well regarded locally and offering a 20% discount to houses on the tour, which is why I wanted to use them and do this now if possible).

We wouldn't know where a sidewalk would go until knowing where the road, drive and parking is. And your picture is distant to show it. Even if you don't have a sidewalk, you should at least have a landing. It would be several feet deep (front to back) and the full width of your porch.

Why do builders create these tiny, unworkable ”planting” spaces?! I consider 6’ in all directions to be a minimum size for a planting bed, and most of mine are much larger front to back. You may find that you need to do a fair amount of work on the soil before planting since construction will typically compact the soil and there may be buried construction debris such as chunks of masonry materials. Backfill is often done with sandy subsoil. I agree that the stonework is too nice to cover up. I like Tom Buzas’s suggestion of using prairie perennials that will likely be fine with the sun exposure and heat once established and will either not grow too high or have an open, airy texture. You might also consider one of the smallest red twigged dogwood selections (such as Kelsey’s dwarf) on each side which would look beautiful against the stonework in winter, but it will need regular attention to water since they like damp to average soil and won’t do well if they dry out. You might want to back up and take some photos of the house from the road or at least 50’ back. Placing larger plants to frame the house and ground it can be done farther from the house since you don’t have much planting space near the house, but your current photos don’t allow for suggestions of placement or size.