Will the fence extend perpendicular to the house from where the air vent unit is? If so, I suggest dwarf box woods to the right of the front door and continued along the east side of the new fence. You could extend your brick walkway into a small patio that meets the fence. A garden bench there would be nice. You could also put a specimen tree such as a maple or dogwood there.

To the left of the entrance, perhaps a hydrangea, a dwarf spruce and some ferns - all shade tolerant plants. Virginia creeper may do well with your fireplace chimney

You can have daisies - just move them out about the same distance as the mailbox. In fact, daisies surrounding the mailbox would look charming.

I'll see if I can find some photos for you later.

Thanks. That is where the fence is going to go but there is going to be a gate where the bench is. Did you use a certain program to do that?

I used Word and Paint.net. It's free on the internet.

I was also thinking you could plant Winter Daphne to the left of the door. It's wonderfully fragrant in January. Sarcococa, a perennial evergreen shrub, on the other side with the hyrdrangea is also frgrant in winter.

Good luck and happy gardening!

how wonderful to live in a house that is so old! mine is only 104 :) i know there is a ton of info online, but you might try the library for the fun of it, you know? there are some delightful gardening books available..the giant ones with lavish photos :)
i'm thinking that there are probably old fashioned garden plants and ideas, plans, etc. that you might want to consider.
whatever you decide, it should be what makes you happy :)

Don't know where you are, but I'm in Michigan and these plants are growing well on the north side of the house: climbing hydrangea, honeysuckle vine, ligularia, hosta, hellebore, Japanese forest grass, trillium (and various woodland wildflowers), corydalis, bleeding heart, Virginia bluebells, cranesbill (perennial geranium), columbine, ladyslippers, a couple varieties of ginger, leopard's bane, and turtlehead. I have rhododendrons there, too, but be careful of too much water - I lost one early on from root rot. Check them out and take your pick. Take care in choosing ferns. Some are well behaved, but some (ostrich for sure) spread all over. Also bear in mind that Dwarf Alberta spruce will eventually reach 15 feet. Have fun!

@gardenmaid! i'm fainting! your house and grounds must be so lovely!

I get the impression that you are thinking of an English Garden effect. That would go very well with the style and color of your home.

Plant recommendations can't be made w/o knowing your location and climate zone. To get good ideas that will work, go up and down your, and parallel blocks seeing what plants do well in on the north sides of structures in your area. Photograph the plants you like and take them to a good nursery (not HD orsimilar warehouse store) to identify and evaluate them. Alternatiely, just knock on the door of any place which a garden you covet. Gardeners are amazingly helpful folks !

Don't know how many steps you have leading down to the sidewalk, hovever if the drop is 30 inches or less I strongly recommend a low wall on both sides of the walk. This can give you a very attractive setting, more useful garden space, and a much easier area to water and maintain than any slope will.

For best effect I'd go with something that appeared to be a dry-stack wall, perhaps using broken concrete if you wish to save on materials, for the dry-stack effect, stones/concrete should be tied together with concrete not visible from the front and you need to provide for drainage. Construction and footing requirements vary by area.

I'd also put a short fence (probably white pickets) above/behind the wall and to accent the structure and to help support leggy plants. Fencing should of course, complement of match fencing you mention above.

Re entry path- MF's suggestion and image is good. Having an area to welcome guests and enjoy neighbors is an excellent idea. I would be inclined to "split" additional paving adding some, along with a bench perhaps, on each side of the walk. I might be mistaken but I think that might be more appropriate for the age of your home.

AND because you needed to know... Downey, CA will barely get above 80 today.

depends on where you live.

I'm in zone 6, MA.

FYI - If you decide to spring for the evergreen spruce, consider the dwarf colorado spruce. It only grows about five feet tall. And the color is pretty incredible.

If you are planning on repainting, reroofing or any other exterior work do that before your landscaping as it will likely be ruined by falling shingles, painting ladders etc.. I speak from experience unfortunately and had new landscaping crushed by contractors

Can I send a drawing to your email? Just something I did quickly but it's not attaching. It has trees in front, hedges and flowers. Just a basic idea of what it could have looked like years ago.

Just an idea I wanted to share. I personally think another tree on the other side would be pretty. I like shady spots with dappled sunlight.

Curlgirl's advice about not planting until you have done any painting, repair, or roofing is spot on. I know it's difficult to wait (it was 5 years of waiting for me after we bought our old house) but it is well worth it to avoid damage.

Are you aware that there is a perennials forum, a Shrubs forum, a New England Gardening forum, and a Landscape Design forum all over on the Garden Web side of things? You can get both plant and design advice there as well as here.

I would find it useful to have you go and stand out by the street (or property line if this is a side entry) about opposite the main door and take one photo head on, one of what you see when pivoting to the right (with a bit of overlap with the center photo), and one of what you see when pivoting to the left (with overlap) to give an idea of the whole view and how the dooryard fits into it.

Currently I am not sure of the fence style and why it will be put there. Does it turn the corner and run parallel to the front of the house? Does it have a functional purpose or is it there for ornament? Would you consider one on the left side as well?

Gardenmaid has given you a good list of plants that will be happy in zone 6 MA in part shade. Climbing Hydrangea is probably too big for that spot (it's a narrow chimney) since it needs a substantial support like a large wall, other masonry surface, or tree trunk since it can grow 30' or 40' and more than 10' wide given a surface to cling to. You don't want it growing on your wooden clapboards as it will damage them. However, there are three species of Hydrangea shrubs that will do well in part-day or bright shade: H.quercifolia AKA oak leaf hydrangea, H. arborescens (Annabelle, Incrediball among others) and H. macrophylla AKA big leafed hydrangea as well as the quite similar H. serrata. H. arborescens is hardy to zone 3, but will sucker some and need annual removal of suckers to keep it in bounds. Here's my Annabelle after letting her get out of control. Blooms start some time in June and continue all summer and into the fall.

For the big-leafed hydrangeas (both macrophylla and serrata), be sure to get ones that are reblooming so that if a late frost or especially cold winter kills back the buds that you will still get summer bloom. There are lots of reblooming varieties available, both mopheads like the 'Let's Dance' series 'Forever and Ever' series and lacecaps like 'Tough Stuff'. They don't sucker.

Oak-leaf hydrangeas don't grow around me, but should be fine for you. Ask on the Hydrangea forum or the shrubs forum for more info.

Some other perennials to look at:

Leucosceptrum 'Gold Angel' has gold to chartreuse foliage and is 2 1/2' tall with flowers that are small, so the foliage is the real ornament

Solomon's seal is a slowly spreading arching foliage plant that has different heights depending on species and some variegated types

lady's mantle AKA Alchemilla, has different species that are different sizes, but all relatively low

Cimicifuga (now changed to Actea) racemosa AKA bugbane can have maroon or red leaves and has tall wands of white or pink flowers

Astilbe has ferny leaves and feathery flowers in shades or red, pink or white

Coral bells (Heuchera) and foamy bells (Tiarella) and their cross Heucherella all have ornamental leaves and foamy spring flowers.

Iris crestata AKA crested iris which is a short-statured spring bloomer with white or blue flowers

Veronica 'Georgia Blue', a groundcover that has bright blue flowers and is an easy going plant that rambles around without overwhelming its neighbors

Digitalis AKA foxglove is a self-seeding biennial or short-lived perennial with tall spires of pink or white flowers.

In the sunnier spots, you might try a clematis on a trellis. Look for lists online of shade-tolerant clematis, though they will want at least 4 hours of sun.

Hellebores are a very early spring bloomer.

Other shrubs:

Microbiota decussata AKA Siberian cypress or Russian arborvitae is about the only evergreen you can get to grow well in shade other than broad-leafed evergreens like rhododendrons and mountain laurels. It stays low and gets wide, looking a bit like a spreading juniper. How were the yews growing? If they were dense and full, you may have more light than you think.

Rhododendrons are a great choice, and most of New England has perfect soil for it. See what is available at local nurseries and be sure to pay attention to size of the variety since they can get huge (20' x 15'), though many stay small. Nursery tags may give size at 5 or 10 years, so look them up in a reputable source such as a botanical garden's website or Rhododendron.org's plant database.

Mountain Laurel are another great part shade evergreen with spring flowers in shades ranging from white through reddish pink.

Witch hazel (Hamamelis intermedia) is a great early spring bloomer (Feb.-March) that will grow to a very large shrub if you have room.

I really like the generous depth of the beds you currently have. When planting, you want to space plants so that you leave a foot or two between the plants' ultimate size and the house so you can get in for painting, cleaning windows, and other maintenance without stepping on plants or having to prune them severely. Have some plants that occur in generous swaths or that repeat several times along the length of the bed as that will make it look more pulled together.

Visit lots of garden centers and resources like the Arnold Arboretum or the Berkshire Botanical Garden. Look for gardens you like that have similar shade conditions and ask the owners or take photos of plants and post on the Name that Plant forum to get them ID'ed.

Here's a link to some photos I took of a MA zone 6 garden that has largely shade. The photos are all of New England gardens, but my post of Marie's garden is on July 26, most of the way down the page.

If you want good nursery suggestions, ask on the New England forum.

If you want to give your home a new look, then we have some ideas related to it. Here are some examples: