Green bush right now ...

Heucherella is in the snow lump ... note all the visiting deer tracks. (And this is the accurate color for the stairs.)

i would move the heuch for ease of shrub removal.. put it back when done if you wish ...

i would work up the railing ... clematis or something ... and absolutely nothing with the vast potential this beast had ...

and dont plant so close into the corner itself ...

you might want to go out into the lawn a few feet from the corner .. and plant something bigger out there ... the bed is so smallish with the corner right there.. anything of size will look weird.. unless moved out ... [plus it will hide the neighbor]

whats the dormant thingee out there... maybe a spirea??? ... maybe that could be moved in the corner.. and that space use for the larger plant ...???

ken

Beast is definitely a good term for it ... it was a little ball 35 years ago when it was errantly planted in the wrong place and proceeded to get far too large ... hence getting hacked and threatened for over a decade ...

Dormant shrub is a dwarf white azalea ... there's a wee pink azalea over there, too. The shrub around the corner is a mountain laurel (there's four going down that wall). Can azaleas take snow load?

Spirea is a consideration ... I haven't seen a deer show interest in the one in the garden or the one by the back of the house. We also thought about a forsythia or another mountain laurel (Kalmia).

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/8-deer-resistant-elegant-evergreen-shrubs-to-plant-this-fall-stsetivw-vs~52605448

You might also consider Russian sage...deer resistant and would look stunning next to your house.

Continuing with something evergreen - but at the corner of the house instead of right next to the railing - would be best.

I'm not sure I follow the comments about putting something at the corner of the house ...

I'll find or take another picture straight on without the giant tomato later, but this gives some idea ...

The azalea is already on the corner ... That's the dwarf white on the right of the tomato, and the yew on the left of it ('Sweet Tea' is showing its more orange foliage in amongst the violets). There's a birdbath sitting behind the tomato, though it's not critical.

Another Angle:

Same dwarf white azalea is now to the right of another tomato, and the little pink azalea is between the tomato and the birdbath (it's short).

That's a drain pipe running along the base of the foundation ... it comes out where the violets start getting really lush.

Marci, I'll definitely look into the ones that are hardy on the list. Russian sage might work well for somewhere else, but here we'd rather something that doesn't die back completely in the winter, so the concrete wouldn't be on display.

Here in NY azalea are second on the menu for deer right below yew. And mountain laurel not far down..

Yew by railing and bird feeder, short growing azalea at corner of house are backwards - corner of house is where something larger and meaty is needed, would look well placed. With deciduous, herbaceous, small growing and other greater interest, less structural items (including bird feeder) being presented in space between evergreen shrub at corner and steps. That way the lighter weight looking elements are framed and supported visually by the two architectural components (more solid looking (evergreen) and taller shrub + steps).

It's actually a bee "house" ... we were trying to get the carpenter bees to not be in the railing ... I don't think it helped, so not really part of the design. It was placed based on where the bees were.

I guess I was thinking there wouldn't be a larger object. I was thinking something more the size of the azaleas ... does it need a bigger shrub? There will be a tomato there again come spring, but it's supposed to be smaller next year, not taking over the world like Chocolate Cherry.

The birdbath can move or leave as necessary. It came with the house, and we like it, but it could find a different home.

kitasei2, we noticed some munching from the little pink azalea, so looks like mama deer and her twins have been reading the same menu as your deer, and more azaleas is off the list. The mountain laurel, so far, haven't gotten more than a bite or two, but maybe that's just because there are better delicacies to eat.

Have you given any thought to Holly?

Boxwoods are very deer resistant, come in various sizes, and would work to replace the yew.