This is a pic of the shade bed I am slowly putting together where I need to define between the gravel drive and the bed. Suggestions? Image link:

I have the same problem. My front porch concrete slab is about 2 inches higher than the front concrete walk. There is a strip of about 2 feet of soil between the porch and the walk. For many years it had some junipers growing there, so the low soil level was not a problem. Finally took out the old junipers (they had gotten old and ugly), and the resulting soil bed washes out onto the walk. I have been looking for something that would edge the walk, build up the height, and yet not take up too much of the 2 feet of planting area. It has to be attractive, as this is my front door. I was in the local big box home improvemnt store (you know the one I mean)last week. They were getting in shipments of stone items for the spring. One really caught my eye. It is a man made flat stone with all edges smooth except for one edge that is rough. The shape is rectangular, and the stone is only about 1.5 inches thick. This stone is designed for stacking to make a retaining wall. I am going to make a narrow trench along the concret walk, level sand into the trench. Then I will place these stones with the rough edge up at a height that will make it level with the opposite concrete porch slab. I plan to then use metel edging along the inside of the stones to help keep them in place. The edging will be low enough to be barely seen, or at the soil level. I think the edging is going to be important to keep things from moving around in the future. This will give me a smooth edge of stone exposed from the walk. This is good for sweeping and snow removal. The top has a rough look that I like. The stones are thin enough that I am not giving up much planting area. Go to the home improvement store and look at the options. Look at all items, as you may find something that is designed for another use that will work for you. They also have precast edgers that are okay. I will not do my project until next month, but will let you know how it comes out. D

Some Random Thoughts 1. I am no expert, but as I understand design, a symetrically balanced formal garden is among the most difficult to pull off. Upkeep and maintenance become more critical because flaws are excentuated by the effort to achieve a pattern. Here's a quote from a very brief on-line article that points out some potential problems  "A view demonstrates balance if the objects in it are sited so that their visual weight is evenly distributed. Formal designs often display symmetrical balance, with the left and right sides of the view being quite identical  "The Courts is one of Wiltshire's best-kept garden secrets, known to visitors for its water features with surrounding topiary and its imaginative use of color and texture. The formal water garden is a favorite area of The Courts  Symmetrical balance dominates this view: the water garden shape is rectangular, the Siberian irises on either side anchor the view, and the pair of simple containers on formal stone pedestals in the foreground complete the symmetry. The less-formal tree borders beyond the topiary and the less-formal arrangement of water lilies keep this garden from feeling stiff. The formal water garden actually helps the viewer make sense of the space, lending a feeling of calm and serenity. "There is one word of caution if you plan to use symmetrical balance to draw attention to part of a landscape. Maintenance is critical. A formally clipped hedge, for example, can become an eyesore if a section of it dies." 2. Some comments in your original post have me wondering about this issue of maintenance. You say, "We have had a lot of disappointments in the garden"  "so that even when the rest of the property is covered in weeds and is a mess"  3. I just did a search at this forum for "formal". That may bring up further clues and suggestions that will help achieve your goal. I hope that these early morning musings prove useful in somehow stirring your creative juices. Not sure they'll be of any help at all, but thanks for getting me thinking, too. Wellspring

Just because a website says a plant should do well in a given area doesn't mean that is necessarily will. All information must be taken with a grain of salt and then verified before one invests too much. I'm sure the original design intent is that the junipers grow together and be the "groundcover." Using mass shrubs as groundcover has the disadvantage that it's difficult to limit their height without mucho maintenance. What inevitably ends up happening is that they become too large and unwieldy, make somebody unhappy and then get ripped out and replaced. Adding another groundcover in between them would look weedy. Though I would do this if you intended to replace them with that other groundcover, and remove the juniper as the other groundcover took hold. Another disadvantage to the sea of junipers is that you really can't add trees (though it looks like some might be useful for screening) because of the shade they produce. Plants that demand full sun It would help on the weeds if you used Preen, a pre-emergent herbicide that attacks germinating seeds, and mulch heavily. Many people give up on Preen because it usually doesn't do a great job until after its second application. And also, because they don't adhere to the schedule, putting the second app. on way too late so that it becomes just another "first" application. I have found it to be effective and basically a life-saver. It can cost a fair amount to cover a large area, but in my opinion it still beats the total cost of hand weeding once the time and PITA factor is added up.