If u put in tall evergreens I would stick with a green color for the shrubs. Boxwood grows in most zones. Depends if u are west facing or north facing.

Thank you whitewatervol and Red Berm. Tomorrow I'll take measurements and get back with ya. I love boxwoods so that's not a bad idea!

Hmm, why would you do that? So that one day your house can look like this?

Not a very good look. I think you need to plan your garden bed shape and probably re do the whole thing. The current bed is much too shallow. Shrubs should not be grown under low windows. They will always need sheared and will never look as they should.

Would you be so kind as to take a photo standing at the sidewalk so we can see the whole yard?

We need to know your hardiness zone. The Azalea's must be getting too much sun. Can you move them to a shady location?

I would not do the shapes you are suggesting. I think when it grows in your house will look smothered ... engulfed. Would do something more like these shapes and arrangement. (The color I use is not a suggestion of color for you. Pick your own. I think it would be perennials. It could be annuals.)

Your existing bed is much to shallow, front to back. I would make it more like 6' min.

The length of the bed is 15ft. My hardiness zone is 8a, Tyler, Tx. I didn't bother measuring the width becouse I think I just may extend it as suggested. Up until fall of last year the width of the brick work was the same as shown above... it was only around the azelias. I ended up moving it and extending it to make that triangular bed to the left of the front door. I also created the bed to the left of the house in front of the wooden fence. Everything except the gladiolus bulbs and the Russian sage I started from seed as far as all the flowers go. I was on a tight budget I love the zinnias but I'd like for that bed to become a perineal bed as well. I love all the suggestions and Ive changed my mind on the evergreens... maybe that will be too much.

Yardvaark I love your sketch plan.. ❤️

Emmarene your right about them receiving too much sun. I'm ripping them out though and tossing them in the compost They're only pretty 3 weeks out of the year so I'd like to weed them out little by little.

I took a few pictures. My grass is still in the stages of filling in and my flower beds are looking pitiful in places... Y'all don't judge

Move thought about replacing the stone border with miniature boxwood hedges

Here's an example/suggestions of a way to integrate plants into a new bed shape. I think you need a small tree off of the house corner. Need to widen the walk, too. A strip of sailor course brick running down each side is one way to do it. The same brick strip arrangement makes a nice mowing strip instead of the skinny stone edging you're using.

wow! I love it Yardvaark! Thank you so much for the help :) I'll be using your design as my template ❤️❤️

If that's full sun, you could replace the azaleas with a size appropriate gardenia if you are still interested in an evergreen shrub for that space. There are some varieties that bloom over a longer period.

A crepe myrtle is one suggestion for the small tree suggested in the beautiful rendering YV did above. You want to pick one that has a final size appropriate to your space. If you pick a crepe myrtle, make sure you read up on crepe murder so you don't make common pruning errors.

Asian star jasmine might make a good groundcover beneath the small tree.

To clarify, since we are not working in PLAN VIEW, the tree I placed in the above drawing is at a diagonal off of the house corner. It's trunk is not placed in line in front of the house. The drawing has it looking like the trunks might be in front of the house wall.

I would not put a shrub there for the reasons mentioned--too close to the house. But I would put a climbing rose up a trellis, unless that is certain death in your zone.

Pinkmoutain where did you think a rose should grow?

Christy, I have also needed to be a thrifty gardener. I'm sure you can find a list of perennials that are easy to grow from seed. I've grown some. Saponaria and Iberis come to mind but I know I've done many more. Speaking of roses, if you know anyone who has roses ask them for a cutting. They are easy to grow. Same is true for Pelargoniums. Make friends with other gardeners and let people know you want plant divisions when available. I've given so many things away that I finally had to compost some Irises a few weeks ago.

Find out if your local power company gives away trees. Mine does and they are usually shortish because the don't want anything tall to interfere with power lines.

Rose of Sharon makes a pretty small tree and can be bought in a one gallon size.

I love Zinnias too, they are so reliable and make nice cut flowers.

I'd put a rose trellis on one of the sides of the window, depending on whether I did the tree or not. I would most definitely do a small tree since I love trees, (and roses). Could still do Yaardvark's design, it's just a small addition. YMMV. Bed has to be way wider though.