Here are the photos:

Where are you in z. 7? New Jerseyand TX are quite different.

Regardless think about evergreen perennials and subshrubs such as perennial candytuft/Iberis sempervirens, lavender, thyme, rosemary, or Sedum. The herbs will discourage deer due to their strong scent and flavor, but I don’t have much experience with deer munching.

Thank you. I’m on Long Island (New York).

If you want a boxwood hedge plant one. Both dwarf boxwood cultivars I see at Monrovia are twice that size at maturity, but listed as slow growing. Buy small, plant close. By the time they might get too big, you will have forgotten how it all started.

The one problem I see is if you hedge this bed you may need to hedge the other side of the walkway.

Thank you. We actually have a young, low boxwood hedge fronting the foundation plantings along the front of the house on the other side of the path, so it might balance nicely.

I'd like to see the bed in context with the rest of the house. Then one could make a better call. To me, I'd want something pretty low there. Either convert it all to grass, or maybe fill in with Pachysandra. The maple will get too large there, I think. It would look better moved to the far side of the walkway (in first pic). It looks like there was some wear and tear from foot traffic in that bed?

Thank you. Here are a few more photos. The foundation plantings on both sides of the house are about 11’ deep and feature mixed evergreens (holly, mountain laurel, ilex, boxwood, azalea) and hydrangea. As a separate note, I’ve considered installing a window box under the window above the front doors to fill some of the white space there. I’ve also considered a small tree or hydrangea tree to fill some of the white space of the house between the windows on the right side of the house. Not sure. The Japanese maple is a dwarf and has been in that garden bed location for at least 7 years (it came with the house).

Here are the photos:

Just an FYI but dwarf boxwood is highly prone to boxwood blight and that pathogen is highly prevalent in the northeast. I would rethink any boxwood as an edging/hedging choice.

My suggestion is to consider the size of your little Japanese maple. A hedge half its height will give the appearance that it’s being swallowed up. It needs more height to set it apart. Maybe it could be in a large planter box?

Thank you.

Maybe we should consider removing the Japanese maple?

Thank you.

Consider Germander:

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=f910

Love this idea. Thank you. I'll work on determining if the location has enough sun to support it.

I agree that it would look better without hedging. It’s a small bed and the hedge would fill a lot of it and detract from the maple. I’d go with low ground covers and spring bulbs. If you still want to outline the bed I’d use an edging, not hedging.

Thank you!