Is the view from the house to the garden? Or is the house at the top looking down. It makes quite a difference in what to do.

Dotty,

The photo was taken from the front porch of the house. The garage on the left is at street level. I'm planning on taking out the large bush directly behind the garage. Difficult to tell from the photo, but the tree in the nursery pot is a 6 foot tall butterfly Japanese maple that I purchased to plant on that level (just to the left of the compost bales on the bench).

I'd really appreciate any ideas. I'm new to gardening and am at a loss of how to put it all together. I've seen the photos of your gardens. Your property is gorgeous!

So will the hot afternoon sun from the south or west be hitting this area directly? for how many hours?
Or is it shaded by tall trees not in the picture?

Is that upper lawn difficult to get to with a lawn mower?
What is the name of the shrub you want to take out? Why do you want to remove it?
The rock walls could use some work.
I would start with the basics and work up and out from the front door.

Two story house shades the yard from the west and large house on the south side doesn't allow any direct sun from that direction. I know the rockeries need some work. I don't know what the bush is behind the garage. It looks like a laurel, but is variegated. I don't really like the way it looks all alone up there. Am considering planting 3 hinoki cyprus on the back of the garage. Then again, I haven't a clue what I'm doing.

The shrub is probably an Acuba. Blue or dark green goes well with it. Acubas look best in some shade and tolerate dryness quite well.

If those are orange poppies and they are standing straight up, I would not call this a shaded situation.

I agree that the amount of sun/shade is key to what you plant. You might be surprised at how much sun actually makes it into the yard, especially in months of May, June, July when the sun is higher in the sky (do you still see that in Seattle? We haven't seen much of the last month or so in our area!)

Our yard has a lot of shade but I have been quite surprised at how much sun hits various spots for more than a few hours. I have found it interesting, when I am able to observe at various points throughout the day, to see what areas the sun hits and approximately for how long.

For example, we have a generally north facing rock wall not too far from a tall hedge to the south of it. B/c of that location I originally planted it with all shade loving plants. But, after observation, I have been able to put in some sun-loving plants in several places and have been very pleased to see how well that they have done.

So, the key is to observe carefully and then plant. You still may not get every detail right but it is good to maximize what you have.

Thanks for the wakeup call on the amount of sun this area gets. I just assumed since it is on the East side of the house it is not that sunny.

I was home today (the sun finally came out) and the front yard was is full sun all day and is just starting to be shaded by the house at 4:20pm.

Good news is, I have a lot more options than just shade loving plants...

Thanks for the feedback.

We have a friend with a garden that is similar to yours -- house to the west and a steep hill behind. They have a lovely garden -- from the house it is a picture because of the steepness and they have walkways up it. Their walkways are gravel and the handrails are bamboo with little lights along it. They have a wonderful collection of shrubs, Japanese Maples, bamboos, wire plant, rhodos and a yellow/green smoke bush. When I get home, I'll take some pics of it for you, hopefully it will give you some ideas. I won't be home though until the middle of next week.

I took pics of my friend's garden today. It's absolutely beautiful and not too hard to take care of. Perhaps it will give you some ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Thanks everyone for your ideas. The yard is coming along, although slowly. The huge acuba was a bear to get out; monster roots.

Have now put in 3 Cupressus macrocarpa goldencrest in its' place, with 4 dwarf escalonia at their "feet".

Lonicera pileata will be on the next level down.

Gardening to this scale is backbreaking, but very enjoyable.

Can't wait to get to the point where I'm just tucking in a few annuals here and there.

Would love to see an update 4 years later to find out how it has transformed now.

If the three Cypress are still there, they're a lot larger by now. I would think one would be too large for that space. Looking east from the house you don't want to block the morning sun if you can.
Mike