Erica x darleyensis on the left followed by a weeping red lace-leaf Japanese maple, a star or Loebner magnolia, a European mountain ash seedling (this comes up weedily in our region) and the rose.

All of these except the heath (and the mountain ash, which should be discarded) should be transplanted to other positions, where they will have more room, be in scale - the maple and the magnolia are going to get much bigger over time than they are now.

Since they are all deciduous this should be done during winter, when they are not in leaf. The magnolia may be too far along to move easily, should be tried at the very end of winter. And may still not make it. But roses are easy and the maple should be pretty possible also.

Since the bed is basically a rock garden if you are going to retain this feature the least demanding approach would be to continue with ground covering shrubs like the Erica. Things like

Calluna vulgaris

Daboecia cantabrica

Euonymus fortunei

Hebe pinguifolia

Helianthemum

Lithoroda diffusa hort.

Mahonia repens

Potentilla fruticosa

Rhododendron impeditum

Rhododendron evergreen azaleas*

If using only low types like these would appear too flat to you height and shape contrast without largeness can be gotten from kinds like smaller growing deciduous azalea cultivars, dwarf Fothergilla, or dwarf dogwoods.

*Looks like there is one of these there already, by the ADT sign

I see nothing that looks like a mountain ash seedling. And I do see what appears to be a dwarf escallonia. Also, I would probably approach this differently, by removing all the rock mulch and the cobble border and extending/enlarging the bed to include whatever is between it and the house. And to accommodate the laceleaf maple, which I would not necessarily be inclined to move. If you need access in that area to the side yard, consider a casual flagstone walk through the center of the bed. Rock mulches are just not very Northwest in character and have a tendency to heat up in summer, often causing distress to the plantings it surrounds.

Because it is a front entry garden, I would be inclined also to stay with low growing plants as previously suggested (so not to obscure the entryway unnecessarily) and also focus on evergreen material for a uniform year-round appearance. You can get by with something taller to the right, where the rose is now (which I would move or get rid of entirely). In addition to the above selections, you might consider dwarf conifers as well. And something grass-like, like Carex or Festuca glauca, for a textural contrast.

Photo is too distant to say for sure but it is quite possible the shrub which might be escallonia might also be an evergreen azalea......just a matter of differing opinions. Enlarging does not make the plant any clearer. Either could work.

And my experience with rock mulches differs......reflected heat from the stone can damage tender foliage....especially something like the Japanese maple foliage. And stone or rock mulches are not very in keeping with a Northwest garden sensibility. They just don't fit the genius loci. Unless one is planting an alpine or scree garden that features sun loving, mostly xeric plants. Not the plants previously suggested.

Hi everybody,

First off thank you so much for the responses; I have obviously come to the right place and I am so impressed by the knowledge you all seem to have.

I feel somewhat enlightened but even more daunted. Again, I don't have a green thumb but I am really hoping to avoid paying a landscaper as it seems that that can get expensive very fast. At the same time, I would love to have a nice low-maintenance 'island' that can be easily maintained.

To clarify, there is a stone path between the island and house, to the left (as seen head on in the photo) is driveway and to the right is more yard and pathway to side yard. I don't know if that helps. To be honest, I don't want to make this a bigger project than necessary but if a little investment will go a long ways then it's something to consider.

I've attached a couple more pictures taken today (please no judgment, we're new to all this). I know it looks terrible which shames me as our next door neighbour keeps his gardens absolutely immaculate! I hope this helps to clear things up a bit or may add more confusion.

A couple disclaimers, the baby fruit trees in the front yard will be erected/tossed (except the maple by the big rock at the very front of the yard) and you may now notice behind the wooden soil containers there is a rhododendrum bush in my very lame attempt to get something going on the right side (there was already a little hole with the black netting sticking out which is why I did that.)

For me, it'll have to be baby steps. It seems like the consensus is that some 'items' will need to be transplanted and this in itself I think will be difficult as I will first need to remove all the rocks and beneath that I think there is like a black netting thing. I almost wonder if I should just trash everything and start from scratch if the best option seems to be transplanting almost everything? Thoughts?

I may need bite the bullet and hire someone :(

The first thing I would do is get rid of or move that what doesn't belong as suggested above. If the walkway comes straight out from the door to the street then the Japanese maple needs to be moved. It's young so it shouldn't be too hard now that the leaves are off. Same with the Magnolia and Rose.Once you get it down to the bare bones you can start with a clean slate. Easier that way. You can make braver decisions with more conviction. Labor is way less too, because it's more organized

The bed needs a theme and since you have large rocks, I'd go with a rock garden sub alpine look with mostly small ground hugging carpet like plants with some narrow vertical conifers.

The edging needs to go. It looks out of place and is a maintenance problem keeping the grass from growing between them. Then I would enlarge the bed. It's too small in relation to the house. That's an all too common error in landscape design.

The gravel as a mulch is a problem in several ways. After a few short years weeds will grow in it. It doesn't do the job it was intended to do. Fine in a desert climate, but not here. It looks out of place as GardenGal mentioned. You can remove it or plant a low growing groundcover to hide it.

No need to remove the stump. You can cut it off down low and bury it or do what I do sometimes. A small scoop of soil, a few rocks, and some Sedums turns it into an asset rather than a liability. Treat the stump as if it were a rock. A couple of diagonal cuts on the rim would be a nice touch. As it decays it will sink into the existing groundcover and you can use the Sedums and rocks elsewhere.

Mike

If you want any additional naming of specific plants try putting up good close views, such as those where one plant fills most of the frame.

The least expensive and greatest impact would be to remove the edging and rocks. Save the white rocks and edging to use for a later project. Remove - and I would toss out the rose. Sitting all there alone is not working. Use the existing maple as a starting point. If those are large rocks, use them for the new design, but google for lots of ideas of how to place them. They will look much better partially buried in soil and not on white rock. Dwarf conifers are a great investment, slow growing and very low maintenance. They have interest all year and require almost no additional water in the PNW. $20 or $30 for a good conifer is much cheaper than a couple of rose bushes that may require lots of summer water - depending on the location, careful pruning and lots of throrns! Once the area is cleared, take your time if you don't want to get some ideas from a professional. Look around your new neighborhood and see what you like and what grows best. A consultation from a design coach would be a very economical way to get the best advice and then you would have a plan to follow.

Hello everyone, I just wanted to thank you all again for taking the time to give this complete newbie some tips.

I was really hoping to report back with some before and after pictures but the extent of my laziness when it comes to 'outside work' is such that I'm still only in the process of removing the rocks (to be fair there are a lot of them!)

After removing the rocks the black netting thing I will probably just get rid of everything except for the 'Erica' and Japanese maple and maybe the pink bush at the back and the tall purple flower thing. That way I have a somewhat finished left side and a blank slate on the right side which will be easier to build up since I have just the soil there.

One thing is for sure, I will be referring back to this over and over.

Thank you all so much for the help.

Your Magnolia is covered in flower buds. I'd at least wait and see it in spring before deciding whether to get rid of it. If the garden were mine I'd chuck out that scraggy heather long before I got rid of an established magnolia.

The 'tall purple flower' thing is a Lupin. That's easy to move.

Thanks floral_uk. I actually really like the flower buds on the Magnolia too my only concern is that it is going to get bigger and I am in agreement with the others that maybe something more low growing would be better?

Regarding the scraggy heather, is there any way to make it less scraggy? I agree it looks bad but I actually liked that one.

The 'heather' appears to be heath. It can be tidied up by shearing right after it blooms in late Winter or early Spring.

The distinction between Heath and Heather is something we've discussed before on GW. From what I gather they are distinguished in the US. UK usage for both Erica and Calluna is 'Heather'.

Anyways we now have a maple on the other side, Heather still there and in the middle are Rhodo, a couple Azaleas, an Astilbe and Camelia.

In such dire need of help, any advice really appreciated.

Sadly, if you're not the gardening type, you're probably going to choose plants that are lower maintenance and a lot less interenting.

When you have some free time, why don't you look through a nursery catalog (especially from any plant nurseries located in the Pacific Northwest region) to get some ideas.

Or stroll through some botanical gardens or university campuses that have gardens.

Catalogs like Joy Creek Nursery will help.

Hi guys,

Thank you for the quick responses. I think I need to clarify a bit. The garden bed as it stands right now has been this way for a year and was the result of us digging out/getting rid of most of it and transplanting a few items. Upon going into our local nursery about a year ago, a young gentlemen advised us on a couple other things we could get so that's how we got the azaleas (three) and astilbe and camelia. Today (a year or so later), it still looks really incomplete.

So my questions specifically are:

1. Should I go back to the nursery with my updated pictures to ask what else is missing or do I just have to wait for all the things to bloom and mature? Is it an 'acceptable' state as it is?

2. Could you name a couple of low maintenance things that we could easily add by ourselves?

3. It's the heat of Summer, is now even the right time to do this sort of thing or should I hold off until a better time (and if so, when?)

Thanks so much in advance.

Fall is the best time to plant winter hardy plants. If you continue to find you aren't sure you are getting something you will like put together think about hiring a garden consultant or designer to plan a cohesive arrangement for you.

Thank you I think I will go ahead and engage with someone professionally.

I appreciate the comment.

There's local companies that have profiles and contact information on Houzz. Otherwise, of course, there are hundreds of garden coaches/consultants/designers working just in my (Seattle area) market from which to choose from via other means.