where's the pic?

Here is pic. Sorry! Don't know why it did not work before.

Not sure what problem is. Here is a link to pic. Thx!

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j251/tigernyc/utf-8BSU1HMDAwNzUtMjAwOTAzMzEtMTgyN.jpg

What zone are you in?
Pretty backyard!

I am in northern New Jersey, and we are right by a lake. Thanks!

What a lovely back yard! First off, here is your photo:

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OK now that we are all looking at the pic in this window, I have some thoughts to share. To me this sort of very woodsy/foresty setting lends itself beautifully to a naturalistic rock garden/alpine garden sort of feel, heavier on the foliage and structure than color. For instance, a cottage garden would look really out of place in that spot to me.

I might consider using a beautiful focal point dwarf evergreen as the major element--I can envision it being wider than it is tall; my current kick is the Globosa dwarf blue spruce, which I seem to mention in every post, LOL! I'd position that right about in the center of the photo or slightly to the right. Then fill in around it with other dwarf evergreens or loose-habit shrubs that can take some shade since it appears that this is at least semi-shady/understory. For deciduous plants with lovely early-season blooms, I'd like to see viburnums; to me, a white blooming variety would look more natural here than pinks but either would be lovely. Some evergreen azaleas might work as well since they're low maintenance but can be pruned to keep them in scale. Then I'd underplant with hostas and maybe some astilbe set off-center and hellebores mixed in. If you'd like to do a groundcover, maybe purple wintercreeper or even lily of the valley (which can become invasive, though I never consider that a problem since they smell like heaven to me and I have the room!).

Note: I do know that the dwarf evergreens are pricy, but you'd be using only one of them so to me it would be worth spending the chunk of money on it since it could form the entire backbone of the garden and become such a focal point.

I just love this thing! This is the Globosa dwarf blue spruce:
{{gwi:17583}}

Thank you so much for your ideas. I need to consult my plant dictionary :)

Interesting site! Appears to be the back end tailings of a discontinued granite quarry which are common to your area. How much sun do the three beds receive in the summer? Do you know the soil pH, something best considered in this growing situation when choosing plants? Several directions that you can go with the design, once light conditions and soil pH are known.