We purchased our house last year, which had mostly terrific landscaping. One part that is less than terrific was once occupied by a garage. The previous owners tore down the structure and replaced it with a concrete parking pad, leaving a significant unplanted border area. When we moved in, the soil was very compacted, so I amended it last winter with sheet composting.

Now we have a reasonably workable spot but without much idea of what will grow there. I tried some woodland phlox starts this spring and they seemed to establish reasonably well until our roofers parked a dumpster on top of them. I noticed that the astilbes were thriving until some animal (rabbits are abundant around here, and deer come around too) started eating them up. No flowers this year.

Notes about light: This is east-facing. The strip that runs along the fence gets tons of morning sun, no overhead shade. The other part (with the shrub) lies underneath an elm tree. A giant root from that tree runs underneath (you can see the surface part of it in the foreground).. So what should we grow? Give the woodland phlox another try? Any other ideas? I'd rather not have this area be too fussy, as it's in the back of our house.