I think your biggest problem is shade!

Pots are high maintenance. You need to install a drip system so they will be watered regularly, or you will be tied to your pots by a hose. Look for shade loving plants. If you put well drained soil (add sand, turface or perlite to potting soil) in the pots, you should be good to go.

Good luck!

Suzi

So I admit, this is in my backyard over the top of a concrete patio, the plants have all grown out from a strip of soil along the back of the house. But I do use pots in the front as well. These are large pots I can no longer move used as accent anchors with golden bamboo in then underplanted with succulents. My pots in front are aeonium, scotch moss, and black mondo grass. You can forget watering them for a week. But a little everyday does make them look nicer. Succulents are great for pots, they do not mind drying out. None of my containers needed fussing with. My garden in front is a challenge as it's hard packed clay, and deer think it's a salad bar. So I put stringy, strappy, fuzzy, prickly plants in they do not favor eating. Now they just stare in the window and scare the crap out of me.

Pots are fun to play with.

For example, if you acquire several identical-looking ones in graduated sizes and place them along a path toward the house, you can make your front garden look larger by placing them largest in front, and then progressively smaller. You can do similar things with the pot plantings
themselves.

Some herbs, such as oregano, will grow in partial shade, and are safer to use uncooked if grown in a raised pot, as well.

You can cover most of a tiny front garden with mulch and/or bricks and artistically arrange your pots over those. Ceramic, cement, metal, or other natural materials are better for t;his use, although the new lightweight ones that appear natural also look fine. Adding a birdbath or statuette can give a central focus.

Attractively colored pots can also be used. If you add some height variation in the terraine with a bit of stone or terraci;ng you can add a bit of privacy as well as interest. A tiny raised bed with an interesting permanent planting can also add interest.

If you had full sun instead, you could make a rock garden in such a small area, and still add some pots here and there....Pots are fun to work with!

IMO it is better to use soil that can retain water for awhile, even though this does lead to more potting failures. If you have good drainage at the bottom of the pot (via a layer of pebbles) the moisture-retentive soil will save your plants on very hot days when you are unable to water.

>> lots and lots of maple tree roots
>> large eaves so only the front of the beds get rainwater
>> I have tried planting shrubs ... over the last 8 years, but none have survived.

You can't compete for water with tree roots without a great deal of effort. Pots are usually thought of as being on deck, but you can also set them into the dirt right up to their rims; there they will keep their roots to themselves and not flail against established tree roots. Mulch helps with camouflage and the plain old terra cotta pots are good for this.

Since puny little plant roots can't compete with the mighty tonnage of the trees and if you set pots into the soil, you can occasionally pull them up and turn them to break contact with invading roots. Pots under a thirst attack really benefit from a drip system on a reliable timer. Remember that drip irrigation doesn't have to crawl along the ground; it can dribble from eaves and trees.

Sunken pots also make it easier to pull and/or replace a plant that's in need of "repair".

Thanks so much for all the advice. I thought I checked the email replies box, but I didn't have my preferences updated, so I just saw these now.

I love the idea of sunken pots. Brilliant! I live in the Chicagoland area, so we get snow and lots of freezing temps. Can the pots stay in the ground over the winter? Are there limits to what you could plant in pots? I know lots of people plant hosta in pots, but what about something like a small azalea bush?