Hi all -- I could use some advice.

I have a ranch style house with covered front porch. Porch is made of dreadful stone aggregate (at least that's what I call it) which I hate for myriad reasons. Walkway and driveway are also stone aggregate. A long narrow bed divides the front of the porch from the walkway. This connects up with an 8x10 rectangular bed to the side of the porch. This bed is bordered by the driveway on the other side and butts up to the front of the house. So basically what I have is a very awkward L-shaped (sort of) bed where the short part of the L is very thick and the long part is extremely skinny.

Currently there are some boxwoods in the narrow part that lines the front of the porch. The 8x10 area is largely empty at the moment and I'm not sure what to do with it. It's in the path of a downspout so the soil is typically always pretty wet and not much seems to like to grow there (it's also partially in the shade most of the day). I am considering getting pavers and making a patio of it, but that would mean introducing yet another substrate to my hardscape (stone aggregate porch/walkway/driveway, and house itself is brick) and I'm not sure if it would look stupid. I could, I suppose, repave at least the porch and walkway with something and use the same for the patio, but this would mean calling in a professional and I'm on a tight budget. Just doing the patio would be a DIY job.

I also hate this space b/c it's a rectangle, whereas other beds around the house are more organically shaped. It just doesn't seem suited to being a flower bed, and doesn't "go" with the rest of the landscaping.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what I might do with this space, I'd love to hear them.