There are so many things that you could plant about 3 to 4 feet from the foundation, depending on the plant. There are dwarf Azaleas. Laura pendulum, Roses, etc, If you want something that is leafed all year there is nandina. It is green through out the year and turns red to bronze in the winter. Pittosporum is another flowering plant with a very pleasant fragrance. Butterfly bush will actually attract humming birds and butterflys.

The best thing to do would be to drive around the area you live and see what is planted, go to the local zoo, garden or arboretum.

Got deer? I see a wire cage around a young tree which leads me to believe deer may be an issue for you. Roses and yew are a classic combo but both are deer candy.

Your landscaping is crying out for evergreens/winter interest. Since you have low windows, I don't want you to line the foundation with shrubs. I would include low shrubs but mainly use perennials there.

Is there a reason why the lattice is white instead of brown? Painting the lattice would make a big impact.

Since you're repeatedly topping the crape, couldn't you relocate it to the corner of the house where it could have a nicer form?

Your current landscaping strikes me as a collector's garden where you chose whatever plants caught your eye at the garden center then found a spot to plant them. Now you have one of this and one of that. You need massed repeating elements to bring a sense of order. What you really need is a local designer to walk the site and draw up a plan which you can install incrementally DIY.

first.. remember that foundation plantings are planted to HIDE the foundation.. not on the foundation ...

second.. with the height of your house.. plus the roof.. not to mention the exposed basement wall .. you are trying to gain some height.. but only allowing a couple feet for the garden bed ...

how much space out from the foundation are you willing to convert ... to have a garden bed sufficient to allow the height you need to work the house into your concept???

this is all summed up by the CM .... it would be a perfect plant for the tall house.. in its natural shape.. if it were only planted 6 to 10 feet out from the house ... so you didnt have to murder it every year ....

once you define whether you are willing or able to expand the bed.. then the concept can evolve that will incorporate the house and the garden ...

ken

ps: i would definitely get some clematis on the under porch lattice ... but perhaps consider painting it to match the siding before you do that ... AND i would plant a shrub out 4 to 6 feet from it.. so in a few years.. it can replace the lattice in toto ... [i do wonder how the color looks in sun .... that drab cloudy day in the pic.. looks like its out my windows.. lol ...]

It might be best to focus on local sources for plant suggestions. Most of what has already been recommended here will be borderline hardy at best in a zone 6. I'm also wondering a bit about the crape myrtle. They will rarely ever attain a tree-like demeanor in a zone 6 climate, staying more in the low shrub category due to cold weather dieback. In fact, much of the time in zones lower than 7 they are treated as dieback perennials rather than shrubs.

A more precise location might generate better suggestions.

big city name is close enough .. as z6... is about half the US... and rather divergent ...

besides.. zone is just min temp in winter .... but there are so many other variables to location ...

ken

Oh goody, I came home from work to see some replies! I'm still unsure about shapes though. Maybe someone can be so kind as to draw something because I'm not good at visualizing.

@krnuttle That *is* nandina.. I planted this spring lol. It's firepower and they're like little balls of fire now. Would bluish evergreens go well with them? I have no idea lol. I will research those other plants, thank you for offering specific plant suggestions. I will continue looking whenever I can at other people's houses for ideas. All I see is boxwoods, barberry, and burning bush so far.

@cecily 7A The cage is for any animal that would mess with a new planting. Fortunately roses only nibbled, not wrecked. I planted the little nandinas but the other stuff was there when I moved in. Surprisingly deer don't eat that one rhododendron maybe because it by itself and so close to the house. What color do you think the trellis should be? I'm not sure the CP would survive in at the other corner.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) I'm zone 6 but because that spot faces south and so protected from exposure it acts like a zone 7. I guess it is a microclimate if that's the right word. Last year I tried planting a crepe myrtle away from the house and all top growth died but some roots survived.

@ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 Sure, how much space do you think I should convert? What shrubs would you plant?

bed depth should be 6 to 10 feet ... so you can plant large things at least 5 feet or so away from the foundation.. so they can grow with some vigor to get size ... to feel more in tune with the height of the wall ... but even at 5 feet.. you will be out there pruning most shrubs rather often .... so 10 feet will be even better ....

build the bed.. and then we can talk plants .. personally... it would take me all next summer to build the beds .. so plant choice would not really be an issue.. if you have power tools and a checkbook.. or strapping young teenagers who work for food.... well.. of course it can all happen faster ...

did you ever give us a big city name... [ i may have missed it...] ....or are you just beating around the bush with your observations ???? .. z6 pittsburg is not the same as z6 north carolina or MI.. nor z6 AZ .... im sure your pic isnt of AZ .. but it can matter ...

i know you want to talk about plants ... but you have to build the house.. before you think about carpets ....

ken

ps: and id probably come out into the lawn 15 or 30 feet for some smaller flowering trees ... i dont know what those windows face.. but a tree would be much more pleasing than a neighbors house.. and even better if it flowered once a year ... [unless you are gladys kravetz or somesuch ... lol .... here are some gifs .... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=gladys+kravitz+gifs&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2F66.media.tumblr.com%2F284ac93ae7bc095795198bde67a61094%2Ftumblr_oy4ottANrY1qzk2apo1_500.gif ]...

i think im dating myself ... but im a cheap date.. so thats ok ... lol

I still don’t see a useful location. Zone 6 isn't sufficient information to make suggestions. It says nothing about your climate other than average minimum winter temperature.

^^^ Agree. And Loropetalums, pittosporum and most evergreen azaleas will not be winter hardy for you. Even the nandina is pushing it - while possibly root hardy, it will be mostly deciduous for you in an average winter and can die back to the roots in a severe winter.

I'm bummed that Ken is planting flowering trees on the lawn. I wanted to plant a spruce or three there.

Thank you all for the feedback. I really appreciate it.

In my original post I included north east usa zone 6, not just any zone 6 lol. Sorry to be so mysterious but I'm in Maryland, is that enough info, @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5? You have "cold" in Z5 but imagine how zone 4, zone 3, and feel lol! So many plants sold locally are zone 6 but, depending on placement, it seems safer to use plants zones colder to be wiser. I mean if people in cold, cold Canada can have nice plantings, why couldn't we. Fortunately I don't have to worry about seeing neighbors.

Funny you mention junipers, @cecily 7A because I was thinking about using some junipers even though I've seen deer eating them by the road once. Hollies get eaten too but maybe the foundation will be safer. I'm more curious about what shapes you think I should put. I definitely don't want the 'soldier' look which I also see a lot of. Regarding looking out of your windows and expect to see foundation plants, how much do you see yours? Could I see your garden? Sorry if I'm being too forward. I'm so darn curious about everyone else's now, well at least people on Houzz who put more thought into these things more than the average person.

[i do wonder how the color looks in sun .... that drab cloudy day in the pic.. looks like its out my windows.. lol ...]

I meant to respond to this--everything is wet in that photo so for example the stairs look darker than the lattice because the stairs are wet and the lattice is dry.

30 feet!? I'd love to see what your garden looks like, Ken! Please, please post a pic. It's hard to see but the largest part is 11 ft by the CM and smallest part is 4ft, by the gas meter which I'm not supposed to block. Since I can't even imagine what kind of shrub etc shapes should go on the foundation as is, I have no idea how something as huge as a 30ft bed could work. I don't have unlimited money or child labor to exploit unfortunately so no matter what I do it will be slow going for me lol.

Just to get to the basics maybe I can try to draw something and post it here and maybe someone can tell me if I'm anywhere in the right direction.

Deer are not affected by foundations. Our front porch has brick foundation and roses planted in a bed around it. The house faces south so the bricks are warmed by the sun.

A couple of years ago my wife went out on the porch just before breakfast. I heard her help, and something else scream. When I ask what the problem was, she said a deer had been sleeping between the roses and the bricks, and when they startled each other, the both screamed

Round 3... zone 6 Maryland is in the "mid Atlantic" region for gardening purposes. You have many evergreen shrub choices. What selection is available locally and whether you'd be willing to road trip to a regional independent nursery are limiting options, as well as deer resistance.

My house is one story so the profile is much lower than yours. My shrubs are rounded about 5x5 along the walls with taller accent plants at the corners. The shrubs are fronted with a mix of perennials roughly 3 feet tall. Since my house is low, the proportions work to relate it to the site. The beds are 12 to 15 feet deep. Hello, my name is Cecily, I'm a plant addict. Both the shrubs and many of the perennials are evergreen. We live along the I-95 corridor just south of DC so snow cover is rare. Therefore I want plenty of plant material to look at through winter.

Your home is much taller than mine so you will need to include taller shrubs. I really want to either move or execute your crape. For me, crapes are among the last trees to leaf out. Since yours is in a location where you will keep topping it, it's going to be bare and ugly for half of each calendar year.

General shapes... plant a tall shrub/small tree at the corner of the garage and near each downspout. Shrubs along the wall between those will be shorter and rounded. As Ken suggested, the larger corner shrubs will be planted ten feet from the foundation while the smaller rounded shrubs will be planted five feet from the foundation.

Since you said you don't have neighbors, I'm thinking your home is in a rural area thus well & septic so the front yard is your septic field. If that's the case, then unfortunately it will remain treeless.

cicily said: I'm bummed that Ken is planting flowering trees on the lawn. I wanted to plant a spruce or three there.\

===>>>

sure.. but you are kinda weird.. lol ... i usually figure.. a flowering tree might attract her attention to the possibility.. compared to say a big old green conifer tree .. lol ... my conifer collection exceeded 500 plants at one time.. so im surely not adverse to them ....

but 6 of this and half dozen of the other .. we have no clue how much property is over there.. and the best answer would be.. some of both ..

ken