Mulch and ferns.

I love Vinca for evergreen groundcover it loves shade and I just trim mine back if it starts going where I don't want it. I am not sure where you live so that will of coure have some issues for plantings. I live in zone 6 in Canada and Vinca loves it here in the shade even in the hottest days of summer.

wood chips with a nice border (such as with rocks or landscape edging). if the chip bed is thick enough, it will help cut down on weeds and it will also help prevent water evaporation. yes you need to refill them every couple of years, but you can get chips for free from local arborists.

I like rock beds but didn't choose them because dirt and leaves collect in them and it's a PITA to clean out. also, the landscape fabric that goes under them inhibits water from getting to your tree roots.

Thanks: I am in the Northeast US

Don't plant ferns. They go crazy and they're hard to get rid of once they take hold. If the pachysandra isn't doing well you could replace it, but my experience is that it grows pretty well in shade and if you transplant some to roughly fill in, over time it will fill in itself. But mulch could be a good choice as well.

Thanks my lanscaper discouraged replanting pachysandra for the expense and as well as the blight that has killed a lot of it around here

Plant native ferns like Marginal wood fern. Don't do Vinca, which is not native. It escapes cultivation and invades other people's gardens. Native groundcovers for shade include Tiarella and woodland Phlox Divircata.

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I especially like geranium macrorhizum because it successfully blocks weeds and spreads to form patches.

Before planting, you're gonna use a straight edge to define your beds & mulch 'em, right?

Hostas?

Geranium macrorrhizum--evergreen in zone 6, semi evergreen in 5, highly deer resistant, very weed suppressing, needs no attention, very easy to keep under control. Handles even dry shade very well.

Hosta are a plant and walk away. Ferns:be sure to get a clumping one not a wanderer. My vinca vine is glorious in the early spring when the flower bloom but it takes plenty of thinning! Astilbe can give some later summer color. There are probably hundreds of options. I would consult with your local nursery--they are the most qualified to give you advice.

NE US is one quarter off the Us.. how about a big city name...

your lawn i weak .... due to lack of water ... and that is why your plants are failing under your super aggressive water hog trees.. that are sucking all the water and life out of your plants..

if you dont figure that part out ... then it really doesnt matter what you plant..

if you pachysandra failed.. hosta will fail even faster ...

design is the least of your problem.. you need to find and ID the plants that work there after solving the water issue.. ergo.. your posting in design forums.. might not get you far...

there are annual.. perennial and shrub forums which might be of much more assistance in finding plants that work there... and after that.. worry about design .. and once you ID them.. there are many plant specific forums....

no paving under trees.. unless you want to kill the trees.. and personally.. NEVER use rock .. unless you plan on moving before they all need to be removed ... they look good for one season.. and its all downhill from there ....

ken

We are climate zone 4. The pachysandra thrived for years until the blight: there was a severe drought last summer.

We had a pachysandra die off a few years ago, but it has come back. After 30 years in our neighborhood, I have seen similar episodes a few times. Patience. I would leave what is there, but weed vigorously. Mulch with brown mulch, no stones. And I would plant swaths of different types of hosta. And ferns. And Astilbe. Those are my three go-to plants in my heavily shaded (oak) yard. Then consider rhododendrons, azaleas, etc. if your yard can support them. I can do hydrangea, but they require lots of water. I am a HUGE advocate of crisp, deep bed edging. Hand edging with a sharp steel garden shovel. Be sure, too, to plant daffodil bulbs, etc. this fall, in clumps that will naturalize through your bed. And maybe install a birdbath? Good luck! Happy spring!

If you value the Japanese maples, then be very cautious about how much digging and cultivating goes on in their root zone. Their roots are very sensitive to disturbance and digging, dividing and soil cultivation in that area can lead to serious pathogen development that could well prove fatal to the trees.

Use a groundcover, something that will spread easily from just a few initial plugs or starters. The geranium is a good choice; same with the epimediums. I'd consider the vinca as a possibility as well or even replacing the pachysandra if that is a possibility.

I have some hostas in very dry shade under a bunch of very large trees. They barely get watered. They are thriving. I also have a bunch of hostas right next to the trunk of a huge oak, they are nestled between the roots. I'm not a hosta fan, but they will do just fine with lots of root competition and neglect from the gardener.

IME, many things will grow under maples. And Japanese maples are quite well behaved for the genus. So many, many things will grow under them. It is really a matter of what appeals.

Beech are a completely different creature. They really are what a lot of people think maples are in regard to competing with other plants.

So under the maples, find a groundcover that floats your boat, and have at it. Under the beeches, think about mulch.

Vinca minor is very popular under shade trees here. I have some under a Japanese maple.