If you will leave the shrubs, you can easily add Heuchera and/or Hakonechloa for color and texture on this bed. Hostas would work too if you do not have deer problem. There are also lots of colorful ornamental grasses.

There is not much space for perennials with your evergreens. To add colour to that shady location you might use some impatiens or begonias.

Thank you for the ideas! I'm still up in thr air if I'm going to keep the shrubs or start over new. The only one that is definitely staying is the far left tree. Something I thought would be the easy part turns out to be a lot harder than expected.

I'm thinking along the same lines as alina. And actually, I just helped a friend with a very similar bed - small (a bit larger than yours, though) in front of the house, and half day sun (hers was in the morning).

In addition to the far left tree, I would keep at least one boxwood, or replace the shrubs with at least one other evergreen. I think you are going to want something for winter interest.

There is not a lot of room, but some hakone grass and small hostas or heucheras could fit in there with all the shrubs, and you could fill with annuals for color.

Nice job on the wall! This will be a nice entry garden. Let us know what you end up doing.

Dee

Sorry, I don't like meatball shrubs at all, getting rid of them would be step 1 for me, taking precedence over winter interest which a meatball surely isn't at any time in the year, IMO. Would also get rid of the landscape fabric while I was in there so I could actually garden. Really sure you'll never get the urge to stick a few annuals in there? Never go shopping for new plants? The corner shrub looks nice, agreed.

I would take a pic with me when shopping to make sure flowers/foliage are pleasing against the particular shade of brick, probably try to stick with one other color of flower besides white. (White = no brainer there to me.) Variegated foliage! Maybe a couple shepherd hooks to hang baskets of pretty trailing leaves in the summer. Not really at the plant-selecting stage if you're still unsure about shrubs, again IMHO. Sounds like you want mostly a do it & forget it approach, so being happy later depends on the overall structure first. Don't get yourself into an unnecessary yearly pruning regime (which you already have) if you replace the shrubs with others, get plants that are the right size when mature, not just the day they're bought, or "can be kept to X size." Keeping your house from being eaten by shrubs is not my idea of fun.

Absolutely LOVE the curved wall! Is there enough sun for creeping phlox at the edge? Not too much, 3 would be perfect to me. I would like flowers there that have low foliage with taller "see through" flowers that you can see from inside but not really blocking the view, forms like Brunnera, Thalictrum (maybe too tall,) Myosotis, Hosta.

Thank you all very much. This is exactly what I was looking for. You all really gave me some great ideas. The shrubs are gone. I never really liked them (very thin) and I decided to start with a clean slate. Minus the tree on the left. I will come back on and post an update with what I end up doing this weekend.

And thank you for nice comments on the wall.

I agree with others that you've done a nice job on the wall!

You said, "I am trying to stay away from flowers since I have weed barrier all throughout." I am going to gently suggest that regardless of what you plant there, first get rid of the weed block based on my experience with it. (You can also do a search in various forums for weed block fabric to get other perspectives.) Weed seeds will blow in from above, sprout, and root into the weed block, and whatever you plant may root into it from below. We used it under some evergreens when we first started gardening, and by the time we realized it was a problem it was virtually impossible to get rid of. It does have its place under walkways and behind rock walls, but not in a garden. In addition to not preventing weeds, it also prevents the normal process of organic matter breaking down and improving the texture and nutrients in the soil.

Yes, that's what I had hinted at but didn't really explain, thanks nhbabs, well said!

I agree with some annuals for color. The shrubs are going to crowd out anything else you plant there.

Deanna