Thank you, both of these are quite attractive and I'm not afraid of trimming if needed.

1. It's full shade, there's a mature blue spruce immediately to the left plus the neighbor's house, a mature green ash about 15' in front, and our house blocks everything else.

2. We do have to irrigate here throughout the summer months into fall, very little rainfall. This bed is right next to a hose bib so easy enough to water or setup drip.

a pic would probably get you better answers ... just so we can see the situation ... ken

Ok...of those two, Mahonia aquifolium is more shade tolerant and will do quite well in the situation you describe. It won't however, be as dense as it would be if it was in a brighter spot....but that's going to true for anything you put there.

A squat/spreading selection of Yew or a one of the hardy Boxwoods (ie. not American Box) might work too. Not sure how either would do in the dry Colorado air (though you're unlikely to have any issues with Boxwood Blight assuming it's even present there)?

Someone with more local knowledge should weigh in whether it's so dry that broadleaf evergreens need an occasional watering in winter? They respire a little more then the conifers in winter and tend to 'recharge' when temperatures are above 40F...really dry winter soil would handicap that.

I do like Boxwoods and don't think we have to contend with blight here, and I'll have to look into Yews as well. Here is the area, small and unsightly, about an 10' x 4' space (I plan on curving it out further) with a little path to the gate. A little short lived sunshine in the afternoon to the far side and front but it never hits the bed.

Hi Nicole,

I’m not a Shrub Person, so I’ll let others make suggestions for those, but if you ever find yourself wanting to add a perennial or two to whatever bush/bushes you decide on, Bergenia cordifolia, heart-leaved Bergenia, would be perfect for the area you have! It has large, “leathery” leaves that are evergreen, so you still have something there all winter, and in spring they bloom with clusters of pretty pink flowers. Sometimes in fall, totally dependent on the weather and moisture, some of the leaves turn a bright red to red-orange—that’s a bonus when it happens! It likes/needs water, even in winter it shouldn’t go all the way dry. And, especially in winter, with the large evergreen leaves it can’t take sun more than very briefly or they’ll burn very easily when the plant is dormant—so it sounds like you’d have the perfect place for it! Very easy care, just remove brown or yellow leaves as necessary—no insect or disease problems as long as it gets enough water to stay happy!

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bergenia+cordifolia&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images

I know it’s not what you were asking about, but maybe some day you’ll decide to “put some shorter stuff” near your shrubs!

Skybird

TH 10.29.20 @ 1605 MDT

Colorado State extension mentions the following as good options:

Shrubs for dry shade areas include buckthorn, privet and Japanese barberry; moist shade shrubs include redtwig dogwood, gray dogwood, viburnums and daphne.

Daphne would be really pretty there if you can get it to grow. They have been finicky for me.

If you aren't set on the idea of a "shrub", north-facing is the perfect locale for hostas. Giant hostas would be lovely there mixed with some other shade-loving perennials.

Thank you both Skybird and popmama - I know you both have beautiful gardens and I'll be looking for help when I get to perennials. I've been in this house a couple years and don't care for the choices the previous owners made, except the honey locust - I love that tree. And well the ash is stunning in the fall. My winter plan is to take a shot at developing my own landscape design, I know plants come last but I really can't help myself. The heart-leaved Bergenia is gorgeous! I might have to give a Daphne a shot and do some mass plantings of hostas here and on the other side of the garage which is also full shade.

So glad I asked here, I swear I never come across these beauties in my searches, I must be doing it wrong!

I love red twig dogwood and hope to put one in "some day," but I'm really surprised Extension Service recommends them for shade. At Paulino's they were always sold as a full to part sun bush, and if I ever do get around to taking out the mess that was in at this house when I bought it, I plan to put mine on the corner of the house on the front/south side. But the red branches in winter are stunning in my opinion! For your situation, Nicole, I think it would be really hard to keep it pruned short enough to work in front of your windows.

And I don't want to be discouraging--I LOVE Daphne too!--but if you decide to have a go at that one I definitely wouldn't get more than one first to see how it does for you. Every now and then we'd get some 'Carol Mackie' Daphne in in small pots in the perennials department at Paulino's, and we were rarely able to keep them alive even in pots. Having said that, it's a "Plant Select" plant, and here's the info they give about it! If you decide to try one and are successful, we'll expect occasional updates on it!

https://plantselect.org/plant/daphne-x-burkwoodii-carol-mackie/

And, being a Perennial Person, I was thinking of other possibilities too, and a mix of hostas was one of them, but a heads up if you decide to go that way! Hosta are one of the last things to come up in spring, and one of the first things to freeze in fall, so there's a fairly large chunk of the year when "there's nothing there." I'd recommend mixing them with other shade perennials so there are some things that come up earlier and some that don't freeze quite as early.

One of my two favorite ferns is the Autumn Fern, Dryopteris erythrosora. It's semi-evergreen (depending on winter weather/wind/snow) and the new fronds are orangey/browney/reddish when they come out--Autumn colors!--and then change to green as they develop, so anytime new fronds are growing it's very pretty compared to "plain green" ferns. By spring mine usually looks really bad and I just cut the fronds all the way down to the ground and wait for the new ones to start growing. (My other "favorite" is Japanese Painted Fern--and that one freezes right along with the hostas!) If you consider getting any ferns, research them carefully first--some of them are horrendously invasive!

Another really, really favorite shade perennial of mine is hardy cyclamen! [I'm determined to turn this into a perennial thread!!!] It's Cyclamen hederifolium, they're very short, and they're summer dormant--so there's "nothing there" in SUMMER! Then in fall, first the flowers come up--when there are no leaves yet, and then, as the flowers are starting to fade, the leaves come up--and they're there all winter, green and white, and very evergreen. The flowers and leaves are smaller than the "house plant cyclamens," but otherwise they look exactly the same. My "oldest" one is white, and my second one is pink--which has partly reverted to white also!--but they're all pretty!

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=+cyclamen+hederifolium&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images

OK! I'll stop with the perennials!

Skybird

TH 10.29.20 @ 1905 MDT

I have variegated red-twig Tartarian dogwood in mostly shade in my front yard. It does fine. And likely because it doesn't get much sun, it has always stayed rather small. I really love it. It has a very Asian look in the summer as it sort of hugs the ground.

Daphne is one of my favorites, but I agree with you Skybird, they are difficult to keep alive. Even the ones that are Plant Select seem to be less than robust. But they sure are pretty.

I haven't seen many good looking boxwoods around here, I think it's too dry for them. I agree with Smivies, a dwarf taxus (yew) would suit the space. Yes, winter watering when we don't have snow cover is pretty much mandatory here, if you want decent looking, surviving plants.

I have a taxus cuspida 'Nana Aurescens' in an east facing bed. It was planted last spring from a 4" pot and has grown maybe 3 inches since planting. I'm suggesting it as it's evergreen, zone 4, shade loving and would probably get 2 - 3' high X 3 - 6' wide, so a pretty good fit for the space at full size without pruning. New growth comes in yellow, then goes to darker green, a nice pop of color in spring. Mine gets an hour or two of morning sun and is a much darker green than the pics I've found online. I wonder how reliably it'll yellow up in full shade, but it's attractive year round. You'd want to be careful not to overwater it after it establishes. You're not likely to find this locally, would probably need to order it online for spring delivery.

Your house facade is pretty, it would be a shame to cover it up with an evergreen "tutu." Personally, I dislike these tight green skirts around the house (unless you need to hide something...)

As Skybird suggested, perennials would look lovely there (especially evergreen ferns). They would soften the base of the house without making it look boxed in.

If you want more light, you could limb up the ash.

Maybe cotoneaster lucidius. I've seen those grow literally anywhere, including mere feet away from mature blue spruce trunks.

Wow thank you all so much, such awesome suggestions! I'm going to have to spend some time studying all them, never thought about ferns, that is an excellent idea instead of try to force shrubs in there. Again, thank you all for sharing your knowledge!

I've had good luck with Winter Gem boxwoods in shade and partial shade in zone 5B. They seem to be unfussy and easy to grow and I rarely water them, although you might have to in Colorado. I like them because they are evergreen but stay smaller than most most evergreens, such as yews.

I got them as small, inexpensive plants at Home Depot and Lowe's and over time they have grown to be about 2 feet high and wide--a few a bit bigger.