this is the front ... can you step back and get the whole front of the property .... and why is there shade.. what direction does the front door face???

exactly what are you willing to do??? ... investment wise ... are you willing to put up some money and labor .... i would start ... i am not going to tell you until i see the whole yard ... lol ...

i look forward to helping... ken

Hi Ken,
Actually it's the side of the house on the north side.There's a lot of shade because of a big maple tree.
I don't want to spend too much money. I was thinking of maybe an arbor at the door with some climbing clematis and maybe some climbing roses on the bare wall.

My digital is broken so
I've included another picture which is more of the front of the house but you do see some of that area there's a big maple and two spruce trees.
{{gwi:252116}}

Start by widening the bed considerably; it's much too narrow. Stick with plants that like shade. If ferns are doing well, roses won't. A handsome shrub for shade is Eleutherococcus sieboldianus variegata with very striking white and green leaves. Gets about 6-8 feet high and wide. If you can move the plantings out far enough to escape the leaching of lime from the foundation, you might do well with hardy rhododendrons and azaleas. But first of all, widen that bed. Five feet would not be too much.

growing anything under that maple is going to be a problem .. they are super competitors ... only the hardiest of ground covers will be able to compete with the tree ... do the research ...

ken

A perfect rose for you (shade + bonus of no thorns) is Zephirine Drouhin. Check it out.
Clematis-wise, I know for a fact that 'Ernest Markham' grows in shade and if you take a visit to a Clematis website, their are dozens also, that you can choose to use.

Shrubs you could use:
Enkianthus
Daphne (some)
Hemlock (cultivars)
Elderberry
Japanese Maple
Hydrangea
Azalea/Rhododendron (some)

And there's a current thread in this forum with a list of other shrubs for shade.

Dax

ok .. off work ... that means free time and labor.. and no budget for plants and materials ...

that means its time to build beds for when the money is there ...

it also means time to do some annual propagation .... for shade.. wax begonia, coleus, and impatiens root freely and easily ... if you get a 6 pack .. you can turn it into 3 flats in 6 weeks ....

this is from another post of mine:---------------
get a cake pan .. dollar store... some good potting medium ... sterilize it .... see link
get razor blade ... and some rootone ... or rooting hormone in the garden center ....

study your plant... at the intersection of the stem and each leaf .... you will see a bud .... track down to the next leaf ... and slice just above it ... dip into rooting hormone [which you probably don't need for coleus.. but rootone has a fungicide which helps] ... stick the stub into the pan ... and continue slicing until you have a stump of a plant left ... with just the last few leaves on it ....

insert pan into a plastic bag.. and put in light ... they will root in a week or so ....

when the original and all the others are 6 inches tall again .. start with pan #2 ...

i did this once.. starting from seeds... and in two months had the equivalent of about 20 flats of plants for the labor alone .. go figure ...

the only problem is making sure you get them out of the pans, before the roots get so inter tangled.. that you cant rip them apart ...

just about fool proof .. with coleus ....

and while you are at the store to buy the other stuff.. buy a few new cultivars.. and start propagating those ....

good luck

ken
----------------->>>>>>>>>>

now .. i have taken the liberty of photoshopping your pix with some ideas ...

on the side of the house.... i would establish a path for a future walkway .. with a giant garden bed inside.. and a bed outside per the picture.. you need some uprights/verticals to get rid of that wall ... i don't know about the door trellis.. but since you mentioned it ... whats a couple 4 x 4 and some stringers gonna cost .... get your beds done.. and get your structure in.. the plants can come later ... download both pix.. as i wont keep them online forever ....

{{gwi:252117}}

as for the second picture... get some slag or crushed stone.. and make a nice sitting area under the maple, in the shade ... nothing is going to thrive under there ... so plant your butt there.. lol ... add some island beds out in the lawn .. add some verticals .... and some bushes.. and fill in with some upright perennials ...

{{gwi:252119}}

i make beds by using landscape paint and hoses to outline a pleasant form from where i sit ... then spray the grass with roundup/credit.. and cover with 3 to 5 inches of wood chips .... which i get free from tree guys ...here is an idea of what beds can look like .... good luck ...ken
{{gwi:252120}}

Hi Ken,
Thank you so much for taking the time on the photos and the long list on propogation method.

That gives me a better understanding of what I could do.
I really appreciate it.
Mary-Jane