How much shade does that area receive and at what time of day? And to make any reasonable plant suggestions, it is imperative to know where you are located geographically.

I am located in Mississauga Ontario and our house faces east. So we get the morning sun. I would say it gets a fair bit of shade in the afternoon

Check out your local nurseries what they have for your zone.

Here are a few suggestions:

Autumn fern, All Gold Japanese Forest grass & Soft Touch holly.

That’s looks great thank you!

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Wow! Thank you for the inspiration . Looks great

Hello from ON. How about a row of sun tolerant hydrangeas like Little Lime in the raised planter bed? For a larger bed, lots of options that are fairly low maintenance but will really need to know what you like first.

We love hydrangeas. We visited Sheridan nurseries and they also recommended hydrangeas to the back of the raised bed and yews hicks in front. So a two tier look. Do you think that would pairwell together? Is there anything else you would recommend with the bucks yews? I like the option of having something evergreen in the garden bed with a mix of some colour.

For the front of the garden bed we were thinking of a dwarf red dragon Japanese maple with maybe some hostas and maybe some ground covers? Or even another small evergreen or shrub. I would like a nice mix of evergreen and flowers/shrubs so that it doesn’t look too bare in the winter

What are the dimensions of the raised bed? It looks far too small for all those plants. (btw Hicks yew can grow 18ft tall so you would have a permanent pruning job on your hands.) The walled bed as is only looks big enough for two or three dwarf shrubs and some low fillers. If you plant in front of the low wall it will be lost, which would be a pity since it looks well built. Any chance of moving it forward? I do not really like the look of the quadrant shaped beds. They look fussy to me and do not respond to the lines of the house or the wall.

The raised bed is 9ft long and 3 ft deep. And there is 29 inches from the top of the raised bed to the bottom of the window

I am not good with rendering images, unfortunately. You can fit 3 of the smaller variety hydrangea in the raised bed. Hydrangeas do love water, so they may dry up in a raised bed in our hot summers, so give them a good drinking in the mornings. I wouldn’t plant anything tall to obstruct the wall or the hydrangea. A Japanese maple would be lovely but you have space closer to the street for a Bloodgood, which is hardier in our climate. I had a heartbreaking loss of an Emperor maple after a spring frost, so it can be iffy. I think the bloodgood maples are the ones that seem to do well the most in our yards, personal observation.

Evergreens - dwarf Alberta spruce doesn’t grow big and is a cute shape in winter. There are lots of different shapes of evergreens, so check out what you like. Some are like ground covers and grow flat, some are round, some long …

Low-care perennials that comes to mind. Personal experience - Daylilies, creeping phlox, hostas, perennial geraniums, Shasta daisies, are more manageable. The following can get uncontrollable and grow everywhere but are lovely - snow in the summer, rudbeckia (black eyed Susans)

How about ornamental grasses? Karl Forster is popular around here but there are many varieties, different heights, shape etc. I have Blue Oat grass for years and they give texture interest, don’t need watering.

Have fun with your blank slate. Gardening is a process and a journey, not a destination :)

Please, pay attention to floral's comments!! That planting bed is far too small for what you intend. Little Lime hydrangeas will grow to 5' by 5' and will grow right back to full size in a single season after an early spring hard prune. They also perform best in full sun,

The yews will get huge. They are very amenable to pruning but it will be a constant chore.

This is the problem with photoshopped 3D renderings. They rarely ever reflect accurate sizing unless very carefully scaled and so offer pretty pictures but minimal accuracy.

You should be looking at very dwarf shrubs that stay within a 2 foot by 3 foot profile with minimal pruning. A local nursery or garden center (not a box store) should be able to help with selections best for your area.

Bear in mind, this is Zone 5/6, Canadian weather with unpredictable spring …

@ladybug74 being from Ontario what would recommend for the raised garden bed that stays all year round. I think that’s why we chose the hicks yews because it has some height and is there for the winter. Would you recommend a boxwood instead? Any other suggestions? And would you keep only one layer in the raised bed rather then two? It is 3ft deep so we have some space but not a lot. I love hydrangeas and have them in my back yard but they die off in the winter so we wanted something more all year round. All your perennials are wonderful suggestions! And we love ornamental grass definitely a great option.

3 feet deep is challenging as even the “dwarf” plants can get big. I have some dwarf mugho pines that you can consider, it does need pruning to keep them in check. It shouldn’t block your windows and will give winter interest. Great place for Christmas lights!

Birds nest spruce doesn’t grow tall and is nice and compact, roundish shape. All year blue needles. I think there are also ball shaped cedars to consider.

Hick’s yew will be a more vertical interest, I haven’t grown them so can’t comment.

I haven’t had much luck with boxwoods over the years and apparently they are now afflicted with a disease, check with the garden centre.

Ornamental grasses give winter interest too, but not the green kind.

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Then in front of the wall, you can have some hydrangeas that will be a nice contrast to the wall.

I don’t know of a hydrangea which would not completely hide the wall. Having gone to the trouble of building it and paying for it I can’t see the rational for hiding it.

Always an option to plant hydrangeas away from the wall, would also get more sun. I prefer garden beds, so any reason to make a bigger bed is a good reason :)

Red Tuxedo series hydrangeas are very compact.

I don't know Red Tuxedo so I Googled. It can apparently reach 3ft, so it would hide the wall. Also it is a macrophylla and only hardy down to US zone 6. Can they grow in Ontario?

We are definitely doing a garden bed in front of the wall because of the slope toward the stair that you can’t really see on the picture well. My intent is not to cover the wall completely but some coverage is fine. That’s why I wanted something with a little more height in the garden bed so it can be seen and gives it dimension. But I’m not a professional so all you advice is appreciated! Gardening is definitely a process!