In terms of landscaping, it is usually not advised to "fence in" the approach to the house with shrubs. Since the area faces west, and you do need shade, I'd advise a small tree in place of the hedge. Possible choices would include Serviceberry, Redbud, certain deciduous Magnolias (you'd have to research sizes), Viburnum prunifolium (known here as 'Blackhaw', a lovely small tree), and others. Go to a quality local nursery and see if they suggest anything else.

Not understanding. Are you seeking something to be planted between that sidewalk and the brick wall with the largest window on the right? And you want it to cover the window? Or in front of the walkway? What do you want it to shade?

I agree with laceyvail. You ought to rethink this a bit. Decide where you need shade and find a nice small tree and place it further out in the yard. Don't block a window with a foundation shrub.

...and if there's space-I can't quite tell-and if it's shade you be a-wanting, nothing beats a shade tree, planted some distance from the house, either to the SE or SW (In northern US), rather than a small, ornamental tree type. Those have their place too, but just going by your own words, it is a shade tree you ought to consider. As for that smallish space between walk and house, any number of nice herbaceous perennials could do admirably in that spot.

Do you shovel snow nearby? If yes, consider where you pile it up. No use ruining a perfectly good snow dumping spot with a rigid woody plant that will forever interfere. Yes, you have all that turf area to do so, so maybe not a concern. Just trying to cover all the bases here.

As far as privets go-and this is my opinion only-they could all go away and it would not hurt a thing in terms of North American landscaping. Generally boring plants IMO, and perhaps invasive in some areas too-not sure about that. Keep in mind though, I am a person who also does not get a thing out of boxwood, and lots of folks seem to like that. Nor are hollies very high on my list! Not big on broadleaf evergreens in this region, I guess. For one thing, all that stuff reminds me too much of common buckthorn, the scourge of wooded areas everywhere up here, where you used to be able to see into the woods, and now all you see is that stupid dark green, lasting until Christmas and beyond. Boring!

Some time ask me how I really feel, lol!

+oM

i dont see a space between the wall and walk ....

this fall ... just develop a bed ... about ... at a min.. 6 to 8 feet wide ...

and we can talk about what goes in it.. all winter ...

anything that will get as tall as the window.. will be a maintenance nightmare in crowding the walk ... so forget that... if you want to solve that issue.... move about 15 feet into the lawn.. and plant a smaller tree ...

next.. its MI ... what is your plan for snow ... if you blow it.. you will need plants that can with stand that.. and if you shovel... you need space to put the snow ...

if you cant do better than privet ... just quit now... lol ...

take some time.. in your area... to snap a pic or two.. of similar houses.. and how they dealt with this .... most of my brilliant ideas .. i stole from the neighbors.. lol ...

grew up in livonia ... i know parts of metro detroit claim to be z6 .... but i wouldnt bet expensive plants on that claim ... out here in z5 adrian... i just had 2 z4 winters in a row ....

i would develop the bed.. by killing the grass with round up ... and covering it with 3 to 5 inches of mulch .... IF you can still find hardwood mulch.. this late in the season... in MI ....

and i would extend this bed in front of the door... and add some trellises ... for something like clematis of morning glory .... to get a vertical accent ...

the stuff on the left.. looks like it is planted extremely close to the foundation ... but i can ID what is there ... on this pic ...

looks like you have a young audience ... lol ..

good luck ...

ken

Thanks for the replies. To answer some of the questions, there is no space between the house and sidewalk, I am talking about the area in front of the sidewalk, going towards the street. I do shovel and blow snow, but not in that area. Sidewalk snow gets shoveled to driveway then blown in other direction. The porch will be getting rebuilt in spring, that nasty porch is going bye bye! To be perfectly honest, I'm not a big fan of the brick and I was thinking the hedge would hide some of it from the street. I figured a really tall hedge to cover the window would be too much, but just thought i'd throw it out there.

As far as the small tree suggestion goes, not sure if you can tell in this pic but there is a large maple already in the front yard, it will not get big enough to shade that window, but I worry it could interfere with another a smaller tree planted out farther in the yard as suggested, maybe not. The other concern I have is the driveway is at the end of that sidewalk, I worried about tree roots with planting so close to the driveway, maybe that is not an issue? I do like small trees, but my wife only likes ones with a nice uniform shape to them. I'm guessing I'd need one about 10-15 foot wide and tall, at maturity, and one that grows at a decent rate.

The plants in the other section are small boxwoods and barberry, and I actually love boxwoods, hollies, and evergreen shrubs.

I have been unable to find a knowledgeable nursery, any suggestions, I'm in the monroe area but happy to drive a little.

And you are correct Ken, it has been very cold these last 2 winters, I am about 2 miles from Lake Erie, seems to stay a little warmer here than out in areas like Adrian, but still freezing lol.

JT, now that I've actually taken the time to look more closely-happens a lot with me as I power through these forums-I do have a bit better idea of what you're about here. Still confusing me a bit though is what is meant by "hedge" in your usage. I tend to think of a hedge as a monocultural planting of a species with very small-scale foliage that can be sheared. A "shrub border" is what I and many others think of as a looser grouping of shrubs, often of several species, to provide screening, definition of the garden parameters, etc.

One item that does jump to mind is-if you do in fact want a smaller tree type somewhere in there, would be a shade-tolerant (because of big maple) pagoda dogwood, or perhaps Cornus controversa, aka 'giant dogwood'. Just a couple of suggestions. I'm sure many more will be forthcoming.

+oM

I should have explained it better, but the maple is on the north side of he yard, any small tree would be on the southwest side, so full Sun.

Heh, I got my directions turned around. So you want a full-sun type. Lots to pick from-flowering crabs, hawthorns, "mountai n ash" (Not a true ash tree but a member of the rose family as are apples and crabs), some cherries, though they won't last long (nor will the mountain ash-maybe twenty years), um....lots more.

+oM

Any of the trees I mentioned should be fine in the conditions you have. Except for the Magnolia, they're all understory trees that can handle full sun, especially in your zone. They fine here in zone 6A as well. And you may be able to grow successfully one of our native Magnolias, M. virginiana--Sweetbay Magnolia.