First question - where are you, geographically?

Second question - what is the aspect?

Third question - can you post a picture of the situation?

then define what you want the shrubs to accomplish .. color... form.. flower.. etc ...

decide if you are willing to invest in mail order ... if not.. then you buy what bigboxstore offers ...

and finally.. describe how a big a bed you will allow ...

also.. whats the max height you WISH ...

ken

decide if you are willing to invest in mail order ... if not.. then you buy what bigboxstore offers

In my area we still have multi-million dollar independent garden centers.

Thank God, as the chain store plant departments are quite inadequate.

sure embo ... and i live in a rural place ... and the nearest quality provider is an hour away ... and the second is 3 hours ....

i would go an hour ... may peeps will not ...

i was trying to discover.. if OP was willing to email for the extraordinary ... if not.. why waste my time listing such ....

ken

Warehouse store "nurseries" here are so limited something would not have to be anywhere near "extraordinary" to not be stocked by any of them.

We need your zone, general location and the exposure--north, south, etc and whether sun or shade or part.

In addition to other Q's that need answering, I just want to confirm that when you say, "evergreen shrubs in front to give a better view" you want to improve the view from the street? Do you want to be able to be seen from the street when you are on the deck and be able to look out over the neighborhood, or do you want to be shielded from view by greenery? A photo is always helpful.

Thanks for the responses! Clearly there's more to do, I'll take a picture and answer your questions today!

OK, let's see if I can answer your great questions:

• I'm in zone 7a
• The deck faces southeast. about one quarter of it gets lots of sun, the rest is shaded (in summer) by a maple tree.
• The length of the deck (the part that we can plant) is about 12'.
• The height of the deck is 46"
• We want to look out over the neighborhood so the shrubs shouldn't obstruct our view.
• We'd like the shrubs to cover the bottom/framing of the deck. It is open now (as the picture shows) but will probably be covered in white lattice. Need some curb appeal (as does the other side, but that's for a different time).
• I guess what we're looking for is something that has interest year around. Interest could be evergreen or not but I'd not like it to look bare in the winter. Not sure about flowering, some springtime flowering would be nice but not absolutely necessary.
• I live in an area with many large/good nurseries. That being said, exotic/mail order items suggestions are welcome, if nothing else that gives us some ideas.
• As you can see, there is an existing shrub there - the one on the opposite side of the walkway is the same kind. Sorry, I don't know what it is but we like it, although it loses it leaves in winter. Because it is dense, it provides a visual barrier. It is 4' from the deck - too far (where the deck is now there were a bunch of azaleas that we transplanted). We could transplant this shrub if necessary. A close up picture of it is below.
  

Thanks again!

Looking at the current shrub, it might be a low-growing Spiraea or perhaps one of the smaller Deutzias. I do notice what appears to be ivy growing under it, and I think that may be a problem plant in some areas of zone 7, so you might want to look up your state department of natural resources to see if it perhaps should be removed.

I would decide on one spot where you have a shrub or perennial that can be cut back hard if needed and still recover if for some reason you need access under the deck. Put that panel on with hinges so it can swing up and provide access if necessary. You also probably want to put hardware cloth (wire mesh) on the back side of the lattice to keep out small animals.

Currently the shrub on the left is sort of marooned out there. I might plan on tuning that whole area behind it into a garden area so that the deck will have the appearance of being set down in a garden that goes across the entire front of the house, with at least one plant that is a bit taller on the left side, but not tall enough to block the window. I wouldn't try to make it symmetrical, since the house isn't symmetrical, but I would repeat at least some of the plants on both sides. If you can give up a bit more space in the yard, planting a staggered row where the plants alternate forward and back will allow them to overlap a bit visually and may help make the planting look more dense. Be sure to leave enough room for the plants to grow to their ultimate size, even if they look really sparse initially.

I would plan on using some mix of broadleafed evergreens or needled evergreens along with deciduous plants to give some color in the winter. In my area those would be something like rhododendrons or mountain laurels, but there are many more options in your area, so hopefully you will get good suggestions from others who have experience in zone 7, though you may find some rhododendrons that would work well for your size range. You will also want to vary the varieties since the sun conditions vary and so if you plant all one type, they won't grow evenly.

I don't have any experience with plants in your zone, but will suggest a few in your size range that you will need to research to see how they will do in your area. You can use plants up to 5' or so without blocking your view, and varying the height will add interest. You will also want to grow a variety of plants since the sun conditions vary and so if you plant all one type, they won't grow evenly.

Physocarpus/ninebark 'Tiny Wine' is densely twiggy, deciduous with dark reddish leaves and small clusters of pale pink flowers followed by darker pink seed capsules that stays shorter that 5' IME.

There are a range of Hydrangea paniculata types that vary between 3 and 5 feet that would be good in part sun in your area. I leave the dried flower heads on in winter for added interest and screening, and cut them off in early spring before the new leaves appear.

If your area isn't too dry, check out some of the shorter types of winterberry holly, Ilex verticillata. It is deciduous, but will have bright red berries clustering along the stems from early fall until the birds eat them. You will need a male (though it need not be in the same garden bed) along with the female to get berries.

Check out Leucathoe for the shadiest areas. It's a broadleafed evergreen that likes shade. It has creamy spring flowers, and some have wildly colored leaves.

If you want to look up Rhodondron varieties for your conditions, here's a search engine from the Am. Rhodo. Soc that lets you use multiple parameters. And a similar one for azaleas, which can be either evergreen or deciduous. For Leucathoe, Rhododendrons, and azaleas you need to have acid soil, but since we don't know where you are geographically, I can't make an educated guess as to your soil pH or soil type.

If you want to add your zone and general geographic location to your profile, it will show up next to your name in all your posts. Here's how:

Go to Your Houzz in upper right of every page, click Edit Profile, and on the left side click advanced settings. Well down the advanced settings page is a blank labeled Climate Zone for Garden Forums along with a link to find your zone.

If you add info on your state or the nearest large city you will get even better information since zone only relates to average coldest winter temperatures. Zone 7 WA is different from z7 VA is different from z7 OK.

Then return to the top of the page and click Done Editing.

I would go for evergreen shrubs to hide the area under the porch. Then have a deciduous tree out in front of them for shade. The tree and shrubs could have an evergreen groundcover to 'unite' them.

A deciduous shrub in front of the porch foundation would look like a missing tooth in the winter.

Mike

You really need to be more specific where you live. Too many variables as it is.