This is really, really helpful. We thought of adding potted plants and painting the deck but hadn't thought of that particular placement of the pots and those colors. And we are complete newbies when it comes to arrangement/placement so specific guidance about what plants to place where is appreciated. So yeah, the front "bed".....there used to be a row of overgrown azalea bushes and we ripped them out and in a fit of desperation and penny-pinching, planted a bunch of perennials from bulbs. Things are pretty bare during the winter though so it's not obvious from the picture - the front bed goes straight across and is even with the edge of the lattice. Based on other pictures we've seen and like we will try to make it a little more curvy to add more dimension and interest. We will consider any and all ideas so please keep them coming! Edited to add photo: does this help with conveying the entrance problem? Even when the car is parked way over to the left, there is only a very small strip of driveway for people to walk on to get to the front porch. We have enough issues as is with the yard without making the entrance seem unfriendly. This post was edited by gingerpeach on Fri, Apr 19, 13 at 22:56

Yes, what you have been told is completely accurate!! Rhododendron is the state flower of WA state - they grow wild here - and virtually every single garden has a selection of them and various other acid loving, ericaceous plants (a great many of which are natives). This is also a large commercial growing area. Soils here are naturally only slightly to moderately acidic (6.0-6.5 with most falling about midway). These plants thrive in our soils and in our climate. It sounds like your area is already in good shape to plant these selections. However, planting within the root zone of any large tree can pose issues with moisture availability and sometimes nutrients as well, so they may need a little TLC until properly established. As to fertilizing, it is not recommended to fertilize at the time of planting. First, the plants have already received a dose of what they need from the grower and the process of planting creates stresses that make absorption of soil nutrients difficult so providing more only adds to the stress. And never add fert to a planting hole!! Most ericaceious plants are not heavy feeders anyway and require very little fertilizer typically. I would wait until next spring before adding more. And the Holly Tone or any other fertilizer recommended for acid loving plants will work fine. They all contain acidifying agents to help keep the soil at an appropriate pH level and to facilitate with nutrient uptake.

Like Yardvaark, I would widen the walk to 4-5’ wide and use the rock mulch or pavers in the area to the right of the walk with pots of shade tolerant plants for color, though you will need to water the pots. The overhang will make this dry enough that weeds in the rock shouldn’t be much of an issue. The foot isn’t wide enough for in ground plants, especially under the roof overhang. Widening the walk will keep the pots from making the space feel crowded. In planted beds I would use shredded bark mulch instead of rock. Bark mulch is better for the plants, and rock mulch will eventually get weeds from seeds that blow in, and it is far more difficult to remove weeds from rock mulch, especially if there is weed fabric which is also hard on the plants. I think the narrow holly emphasizes the narrowness of the spots to either side of the garage, and would choose a more rounded form that stays shorter than about 3’ so that it isn’t interfering with the light. You are correct that the Japanese maple isn’t well placed. I like Yardvaark‘s sketch with trees off both front corners to frame the house, and I think the maple is too small for that spot and would choose ornamental trees or tree form shrubs that are larger than the maple. What is currently at the left corner appear to either be too small or too close to the house to allow room for growth. Is there a back yard spot where you would have a good view of the maple? I would make the front bed deep enough for more than a single row of plants, such as some naturally low shrubs in back that won’t impinge on the windows and an evergreen groundcover with spring bulbs and perhaps one kind of perennial in a clump toward the walkway. At least something at the front of the house besides the groundcover should be evergreen.

I have a mixed shrub bed that is probably 15’ x 60’ and am in a similar zone. If you want arborvitae or Rhodies, just plan to spray with a deer repellent. Some are oil based and some can be mixed with a substance like Wiltpruf to prevent it washing off so that it only has to be renewed every few months unless there is new growth. I second the comment about blue spruce not being worth a long term planting in the humid east. Mine after 10 years are bare on the bottom and losing needles and shoots on the top, so I will take them out in the next few years. My preference is for having a rhythm of repeated characteristic plants down the length of the bed rather than clumps of one kind, and then I fill with variety. Here is a thread where about half way down I added a couple of posts with photos and an explanation of my plan and goals, so rather than rewriting the whole thing, I am sending you to the link. https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/3113384/shrubs-for-privacy-along-a-fence#n=22 I have listed plants I used and even after 10 years I am generally pleased. Some plants have not done well (Pieris and Cornus are much beloved by the voles and don’t live long without roots) and as mentioned above, the blue spruce are disease prone. By now many of my groundcovers and perennials have been shaded out. Right now it needs editing, but I have spent the last year dealing with a terminally ill family member, and it has done surprisingly well with quite literally no maintenance. I will do some editing this fall when it is a bit cooler, and if you can find dwarf versions of other evergreens that are less popular with deer if you don’t want to spray, that would be good. My Norway spruce which isn’t in my shrub border, while lovely, at something like 25-30 years, it is huge, perhaps 25’-30’ wide and well over twice that tall. So if you want to use a spruce, look for ones that grow more slowly. For instance, there is a slow growing version of Serbian spruce/Picea omorika as well as one that looks bluish, so look for those. I went to all the nurseries in my rural area and chose from what was available that suited my needs since I wanted somewhat larger starting plants. One of the fastest growing plants I put in were panicled hydrangeas, and between their ability to gain size quickly, their need for little attention after the first year or two, and their months long bloom, I would use these again in any similar garden. I deliberately used more than one color and texture of evergreen for winter interest, particularly during the long fall and early spring when there isn’t snow. My cover photo shows a piece of it during this stage if you click on my name. If you have questions, feel free to ask.