Thank you for your response. My neighbor across the street has hydrangeas all along the front of his house, which would also be the north side, and they always look great. (And mine survived a year in a temporary home in the vegetable garden; full sun, rain water only), so I’m pretty sure they will be fine where we planted them. And we do intend to mulch them but we are waiting for the irrigation system to be installed there, but thank you for the suggestion. I was mostly asking if it would look best to just have hydrangeas here or if it would be better to add other plants.

It’s a little early in the season yet but there are so many examples of hydrangea borders of all kinds all over the cape...might work to take a spin around and see what you like for inspiration. I’ve seen borders of just shows topping hydrangeas, but also some really super mixed borders too.

I do think a larger, more swoopy, curved bed planted lushly would look much better than straight lines and rows. But we'd need to see a photo of the street view to make any real suggestions- IMO it's about balance and how the plants tie the structure into the setting.

I would not have irrigation setup to service any one planting plan because those change. Have the irrigation service the whole bed so that when you add or expand it still provides coverage.

Cearbhaill, that you for your response. I added some additional pictures to show more of our backyard. In the top photo above, the straight line of the hydrangea bed is a continuation of the patio with the table and chairs. The second picture shows a curved bed beyond the hydrangeas. The third picture shows the beds along the house. The fourth picture is taken in the opposite direction to show a curved bed adjacent to the seating area. And the final picture shows this same bed behind the sofa. (Please note that none of these beds are complete. The landscaper did the front of the house and I wanted to do the back. And our furniture hasn’t yet arrived so the sofa is borrowed and we put together various other pieces for an impromptu cocktail party. A bit of a hodgepodge, I know). There is also a vegetable garden in the back, surrounded by a split rail fence with slightly raised stone wall beds inside, another large curved bed that I planted years ago, and a stone wall around two sides of our yard that is also planted with perennials, so lots of beds and plenty to take care of since we do all the maintenance work ourselves.

I hope this gives gives a clearer picture of our backyard. With this in mind, does the straight line by the hydrangea bed make sense? And would you just go with the hydrangeas, or would you plant something else with them? (If Just hydrangeas, they will only provide irrigation for them, if I add additional plants, the irrigation system will be flexible for them). I would really appreciate any advice here.