It looks like a small area but I know pictures are deceiving. How large is that area and which direction does it face?

You're right! It's small. About 6 feet by 3 feet. It gets 4-6hrs of full sun. I only have room for a few evergreens. I was thinking even just some boxwoods.

If it were me, I wouldn't do evergreens in that you'd have to keep them small enough to fit within the bed, which is hard to do. I recognize your garden (I think you've posted before), and every time I look at it, the plant that comes to mind is a climbing hydrangea. The climbing hydrangea is not evergreen, but it's woody branches are nevertheless striking in winter. Whereas a clematis has messy looking vines in winter, the hydrangea has a very large in size branches that just flow gracefully up and around a structure like yours, and some of the branches reach out and upwards into the air. I find it elegant and gorgeous all year long. If it grows in areas that you don't want, it can be easily pulled away and cut off, so you can easily control its pattern and growth.

I have it growing over and around my shed and it softens the look of the shed. I don't have a picture right at the moment, but here is one from the internet google. I think it would really look nice good on the left side of the garage if left to grow up and around the window.

Day- thank you! This is the first time I've thought about using the branches against the garage for interest and I love it. I have a sweet autumn in its second year but once winter arrives it looks stringy and not pleasing to look at ;)

If you might consider the climbing hydrangea, I could take a close-up picture of the branches and their size on my shed. It really doesn't look like a clematis vine which is unruly and wild once the leaves are down. It is much more of a shrub like plant with thick branches and thin branches. Its hard to explain but some of the branches climb up the structure of the garage, and some extend outwards, but first head down, and then upwards into the air. So it has a beautiful shrub structure.

Aw I see. Yeah I'm going to do some more research on it. Thanks again.

IMO, the garage is desperate for some "framing." I would so be looking at a little tree. A very little one. Probably a Yew that you would have to trim into a shape.

Be aware that climbing hydrangea is self clinging, so it will stick to your garage walls by aerial rootlets like English Ivy. Once it has adhered it will leave marks if you pull it off.

Yard- I absolutely agree. I planted a purple plum bush there last fall and I do really like it but it's not the height that area needs. I just need to suck it up and replace it with some height there.

I've never seen vinyl siding. My experience is with masonry, wood and brick which are difficult to clean.

Floral- in America it's common houses have vinyl. It's ugly but cheap!

I've never heard of a Purple Plum bush could you give us the scientific name? One year is not enough time for a plant to grow large.

Emma- Purple plum Leaf Sand Cherry. it's a great hardy bush just wish I went with something more vertical and narrow ;)

In my courtyard at my last house, I had a dwarf Japanese white pine in a spot very similar to yours. A gorgeous little tree, IMHO.

Pinkmountain- how tall do those get? They look so nice. My dream would be to place a small Japanese maple tree in that corner but I think it would outgrow the space.

The climbing hydrangea wants to be huge, like 40' tall. It will take a lot of pruning to keep it in check, and I think it is just too large for the overall garden. I much prefer the idea of a dwarf evergreen. I decorate trellises with little lights for the winter after I have taken down the clematis vines. You want to hard prune the sweet autumn clematis anyway, so do it after the first freeze or even earlier and then put up lights for the winter.

Pots of mixed evergreen branches and colorful berry branches can make nice winter interest on an annual basis.

I do not have a good picture of it. It never got big. This photo was when I first planted it and I changed everything around it eventually, including building a lattice around the compost bin. The pine never got much bigger. Also, photo of my baby, a weeping larch. It has remained small all its life. Not pretty in winter though, it sheds. I also had torulosa junipers in my yard, they got a little too big for their space, but it took eight years. I ended up pruning them and that was OK since I planted around them to cover the pruned spots.

I think you need to eliminate some grass. You seem to enjoy gardening. Give yourself more room.