Your zone? Mostly sun above the wall?

And by the way, highly unlikely that forsythia destroyed your wall.

And get the landscape fabric out of the bed near the house before it becomes a nightmare to deal with. Weeds will happily grow on top of it and then through it.

If the area near the house is mostly shady as it appears in the picture, and you have acidic soil, then low azaleas/rhodies (make sure you choose cultivars that will stay under 3 or 4 ft) would work. I'd also like some bulbs. Since you want low/no maintenance, no perennials.

Thanks! Yes it’s mostly sunny above the wall and front of house I’d say partially sunny. It gets sun for maybe 5 hours of the day.

I didn’t know weeds grew on top of the landscape fabric. I thought the purpose of it was to keep them out! Thanks for the tip!

My growing zone is 6a

Mtn. Laurel should work well for you. It should be native to you, too. I'd soften the end with some moss phlox. You can do grasses, too.

At what time of day is the 5 hours of sun? Morning sun, afternoon shade is fine. The other way around much more difficult for rhodies/pieris/kalmias/ azaleas.

landscape fabric is the biggest ripoff in the world.. most seed are airborne.. and minutes after you put down fabric.. the seeds are landing on top.. eventually enough stuff lands on top.. and make a soil.. and weed grow in it..

its useless.. and if god intended you to be gardening on top of plastic.. all the garden plants would be plastic...

ken

I would check local nurseries what they have for your area.

Some option to go

I agree that not having any matinence is just not possible when it comes to gardening.

I also agree that the landscape fabric causes more problems than it solves. Tons of people with not much experience in the garden think this stuff is a quick fix to a mother nature solution and discover after tons of money spent that it isn't.

It looks like you basically have a clean slate to work with. The best way of getting ideas is to look at what is aready planted AND successful in your neighborhood. Make notes, ask people about their plants, then research what it's going to take to care for them

Also visualize what your planting space will look like in 5-10 years. That always puts things in perspective.

Good luck !

Thank you all for the advice! I love the visual renderings! Is there an app I can use to see how to plan this out?

Here are a few ideas:

I'd do some panicle hydrangea and ornamental grasses. The ornamental grasses will give you some winter interest, and the panicles are much lower maintenance, tolerant of sun, and less thirsty than other hydrangea.

For minimal maintenance and year-round interest, I would go with mostly evergreen smaller/low-growing plants like miniature rhododendrons, variegated euonymus, barberry, miniature mugo pine, creeping junipers, etc.

Plants are expensive and labor intensive—make a scale drawing of your space, some Pintrest boards of stuff you like ans that go with your house, and superimpose basic shapes and proportions. if you arent into gardening, someone at a local nursery can help you choose plants (low-handholding), or you can hire a gardener or a landscape architect (high-handholding). Have fun with your blank slate!