how close are the rhodies to the house... and do you have particular mini or dwarf variation to fit that close to the house??

they are shrubs.. as compared to the majority of the rest which are perennials ... the latter can be maintained by division ... but many rhodies can get yuge .... and it might be hard to maintain them if too close to the house ... [im ignoring the boxwood.. since you know those will need to be pruned once or twice per year...]

how about a big city name.. as z6 is about half the US and rather divergent .....

ken

i didnt even notice the path to the front door ... whats that all about .... lol .... i can appreciate not wanting a straight line.. but ... but.. but ... whats that going to be made of ... cement.. brick.. etc.. which will never be able to be changed .... or just a mulch path ... which if it doesnt work out.. could be easily changed .... but then.. who does a mulch path to the front door .....

if you want the cottage look.. you might want to eventually expand on the far side of such.. if you care to garden that much .....

a formal cottage garden??? .. i understand what you mean ... but the term seems weird to my ear ... go figure ...

heres what others think of when they use the term.. is this what you are looking for??

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=formal+cottage+garden&iax=images&ia=images

most good discussions usually start by defining the terms.. to advance the conversation ..

ken

Reread everything floral wrote several times :-) Everything she wrote is a cause for concern, especially her last two statements!

I suggest you start over.

Appreciate all the comments! I can provide measurements later and will post.

For location - Columbus, OH is closest city

That squiggly path is an existing sidewalk. We are keeping current layout to reduce cost.

Plans were to use a smaller rhododendron that would not grow too tall, but not yet pinned down. I’m concerned with going with a rhododendron as it seems they don’t bloom for long, so have instead thought of maybe extending hydrangeas over to where rhododendrons currently are.

I’ll share some photos of examples I find appealing

Thanks!

Example photos of styles I like:

More examples:

Last set of example photos:

Along with everything else, there is very little winter interest in this plan. Boxwood and some twigs is what is going to be left.

What floral_uk said. A lot of your inspiration pictures are photo shopped or look staged. Only one looks like a real garden. Basically, they are not showing real life. They are fantasy. The good news is you have chosen a style you like and that is doable and you have the architecture to go with it. That style can be pretty high maintenance if you are not careful. I can hear the Fancy Ladies Deadheading Guild clucking as I type.

The difference I see between the Formal Cottage Garden style you like and your planting plan is that your plan is a lot busier. Your inspo pics all show clean simple monochromatic design. You need to reduce the number of plant species used. Just one problem, one side of your house is shadier than the other. Plants behave differently under different light conditions. So?

For starters toss the barberry. They are particularly ill suited to shade and your desired style. Barberries suck. Ok.

Because the curvy walk exists, a critical factor in your plant choices is going to be the depth of the beds along the house that you have to work with. Is that a slope/elevation change I detect on the left corner of the house?

You’re correct, good eye! There’s a slight slope on the left of the house where it’s most shaded

It’s pouring rain so was unable to grab measurements. However I was able to grab some photos previously taken to hopefully help a bit with scale:

Also, one question previously asked was house direction. The front of my home faces north.

The new pictures are very helpful. You have decent size beds to work with. All your shrubs need to be dwarf or miniature in the 3 to 5 feet range. A select few specimen plants can be taller.

Don't think about how to arrange things at first. Start with a simple plant list. Determine quantity and arrangement after.

I'll give you the Annabelle Hydrangea and the Ivory Halo Dogwood since you picked them. Now you need a miniature evergreen. That could be an evergreen miniature Azalea, not a rhododendron, if azalea grows in Columbus OH, but you need a miniature evergreen. The identity of the existing shrubs needs to be determined and could be helpful in that regard. Hosta could be very handy with your design preference.

So people out there, plant suggestions for a N. facing, zone 6, Columbus OH, Formal Cottage Garden landscape. Simple plant list for the bone structure. Tart it up with a minimal selection of perennials for space filler.

Got Deer? That changes everything.

Tons of deer. They roam through our front yard every morning and evening

And thank you! That helps make this slightly less overwhelming.

For the azaleas- my short amount of googling makes it seem like they’re hard to take care of. I’m happy to put in the work, but I’m not confident in my green thumb

Oh Deer! Hosta, hydrangea and dogwood are three of their very most favorite things.

Christopher, the ball is in your court. I've spend waay too many years trying to come up with evergreens that are shade tolerant, hardy, deer resistant, and don't require acidic soil. The list is Korean Boxwood. End of list. Hopefully, wind isn't a factor in the site.

The Annabelles are for the sunnier part of that planting, as well as being a favorite of my deer.

Oh deer, indeed! I love hydrangeas the most

@mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY) do the make mini-Yews yet?

Yews come right after hosta on the deer dessert menu.

Deer don't seem to be very interested in Hydrangea paniculata. However, the pressure on deciduous shrubs isn't nearly as high as that on evergreens.

I thought yew was highly toxic to all creatures great and small. Deer have developed a tolerance?

All I know is deer eat yew. Deer love yew. Deer tear down fences to get to yew.

You know the lollipopped arborvitae that are ubiquitous wherever there are deer? Yew get attacked ever worse than that.

I remember the good old days, when the local orchards got nuisance deer permits and tried to shoot the monsters. Now they put up fences, and the deer spend the winter ravaging landscaping.

Your deer must not have enough winter food. Apples and acorns! Last winter was the first time I saw such heavy browsing on the rhododendron, which reminds me, I need to put a cage around my baby Florida Torreya, Torreya taxifolia. I stumbled across one and planted it out last month to see if it might survive here in an assisted migration back north from where it came from before getting stranded in Florida.

Dappled Willow is another shrub that has caught my eye… seems too big for use throughout the landscape, but I thought it might do well as an alternative to the hydrangea standard?

I also love the idea of a row of mini roses along that sunny curved bed. That area gets the most sunlight

Roses are another deer fave. Sorry your choices are so limited.

Thanks again to all for your input! I think I’ve landed on what to do on the left, where it’s most shaded. I’m going to do a row of annabelle hydrangeas with a row of smaller evergreen azaleas (in red) in front. I have another landscaping area in my side yard that I will have a row of an Anabelle hydrangeas on, so I’m thinking they will tie nicely together.

I’m still struggling with the entire side of my house to the right of the front door.

"I’m still struggling with the entire side of my house to the right of the front door."

That is a pretty large area to fill with limited sun small plantings. A self-imposed restriction that many DIYers (and pros) strap themselves with is making the sidewalk define a planting bed. Like a kindergartener's color by numbers, they must fill between the house and sidewalk. You are not limited by that. A mower can easily cross over a sidewalk.

A strip of lawn as edging for the bed against the house could look nice. It's just another crayon in the box.. Lawn is still something filling the space that will have to be maintained - along a walkway on the north side of the house. Got snow?

inspiration photo

Woodley Rd. Winnetka, IL · More Info

heuchera , ferns