Tell us more about where you are and what kind of soil you have--zone 8 PNW is very different from zone 8 southeastern or southwestern US. What direction does the house face? How much space is there on the left side where you are considering the plum? How deep (from edge to house) is the existing flower bed? And what kind of edging did you install? Can you identify the existing shrubs? Instead of the purple plum, which can get up to 25' tall, you could look at Crepe Myrtles and Loropetalums, both of which come in many different varieties which offer choices in size and leaf color. It would help to post a picture and/or plan of the front so we can see the bed size and placement of the existing shrubs and entrance walk.

Pretty house! have fun planning your garden.

Hi Junco!

Here are the answers to your questions:

1. North Texas - near Fort Worth

2. House faces South

3. There's probably about 5 or 6 feet on the end of the flower bed where we want to plant the purple plum.

4. I would estimate that the flower bed is probably about 3-4 feet deep and we installed green metal edging.

5. I'm not sure what the existing shrubs are - they look similar to boxwood but I don't think that's what they are

I'll take a picture of the flower bed once I get off work tonight. Sorry I'm not much help - hopefully I gain more knowledge the longer I do this!

Here is a website which may have useful info: http://fortworthtexas.gov/water/info/default.aspx?id=5942

5-6 feet will not be enough room for the plum tree. Look at the other plants I suggested above. Also consider a weeping Yaupon Holly. It grows tall and narrow and will not over take the spot at the corner of your house. A small Japanese Maple might be another choice for that spot. Depending on the actual bed size, you might need to consider enlarging it so you have plenty of room for whatever you put there. You don't want it to crowd the house.

If the shrubs along the front of the house are hollies you might want to try a rejuvenation pruning on them. This means cutting them down to about a foot high and letting them grow back. Then you can keep them at a better height. You could even try this on the largest ones. I'm not sure about the little one by the garage door. Keep in mind that this type of pruning is not always successful. If the shrub is old or diseased it might be so stressed that it can't recover. But it's worth a try before going to the effort of digging them out.

I would suggest that you return to the EXACT same spot -- which means not any DIFFERENT spot* -- where you took the first picture and capture the rest of the scene. Pivot the camera to the left and right and show what flanks the first picture, overlapping with it some.

Generally, it's awkward planting annuals around the base of a large woody plant, due to root obstructions and the the need to "turn" the soil. Would suggest you move color areas to flanking the front door and instead place permanent groundcover in the tree island.

*Not trying to insult your intelligence here, but in almost every case -- 100% so far -- when I've asked for such pictures, people insist on taking them from another new spot. I guess they think that's somehow helpful, but it makes it impossible to mesh the pictures together.

Hi yardvaark,

Before I even saw your post, I found my home on Google Earth and captured a few photos using that tool. If they aren't helpful, I can certainly take different pictures once I get home. These are all from last spring, right after we moved in and put down sod and I planted a few flowers around the tree.

The pictures are helpful as extras. But they are not useful for seeing the comprehensive, wide view of the front yard from the street.

What do you think of the look of the crape grove? It looks a little freaky to me.

Honestly, I hate it, but my husband loves it and he's already compromised on a lot. Btw, I literally just laughed out loud at your comment - "the crape grove"! I'm thinking about planting some shade loving plants on the same side as the crape grove so maybe it'll look less freaky! Hopefully this picture is better.

I quite like the "crape grove." What's odd about it is that the path begins at lawn and appears to end at lawn. I think if the path curved around and connected with the driveway, it would look less strange. Also, you really need a groundcover under the crapes.

Yardvaark - that looks great! Thanks for taking the time to do that! Believe me, I want to temper the view of the neighbor's house too! That neighbor passed away 2 years ago and it's been sitting empty ever since. Needless to say, it's not in the best condition right now.

Laceyvail - The path actually does connect with the driveway, it's just really hard to see in the pictures. We're actually thinking about getting rid of that brick path so we can put down unfinished brick pavers. My ideas for groundcover under the crapes are hostas and ivy...do you think that will work? This area doesn't get much sunlight so grass is not able to grow there.

Ginnie--do you see how Yardvaark has extended the bed on the left way out to include enough room for the small trees he has added. That's what I was trying to say, also.

I would never deliberately plant ivy--you will have to keep it trimmed to prevent it encroaching on the lawn and climbing up the side of the house as well as climbing the crepes! Vinca spreads also but in my experience is less aggressive than ivy. Dwarf mondo grass would be pretty, or just fill in with hostas if there is enough soil among the crepe roots.

Junco - thank you for your suggestions! I think I'll definitely look into vinca instead of ivy.

I think I would go for hostas and Liriope for low maintenance. Vinca can spread and get out of hand, but nowhere near as bad as ivy.