Rob - which zone 8? Nearest large city will help with plant suggestions. Did you intend to post more than the 1 pic? First thought I offer is whatever evergreen you do plant for the year round back bone, don’t plant in a straight row along the fence. You already have the straight fence so it’s a nicer look to stagger the row of base plants along the fence. Plant something taller - maybe blooming perennial - behind the plants that sit in the forward position of the zig zag row. Second thought is boxwoods are a good standard but do consider evergreen conifers - some color up in winter cold & some have lots of yellow color in sun. Evergreen conifers that are boxwood shaped - 3 x 3 abound with choices. They are much less maintenance than boxwoods too. But, don’t know exactly where you are. Do a search on dwarf mounding conifers. Sooo many!

Yes sorry I tried to attach another picture but it didn’t do so- trying again.

City is Atlanta - zone 8a.

Also the fence isn’t completely straight - it actually curves around to match the curve of the street in front of my house if that makes sense

Boxwood are so rife with issues I would not want to plant them in large numbers in what looks like a somewhat inaccessible location.

Beyond that, hard to say much without knowing more about growing conditions (light, etc.).

Will you need to be concerned with moisture? Looking at all those trees and imagining a forest of thirsty roots underground ……..

The entire front by the curb (the whole length) is irrigated with sprayers so it will cover the entire area between the street and slightly beyond the rail fence too.

They are proposing using korean wintergreen boxwoods which are cold hearty and less susceptible to blight.

The entire area is fully accessible - it’s on the street in front of the house

Rob, who is ’they’ who are recommending the Korean Boxwoods? It’s great if you’ve got a landscape designer involved in what looks like a pretty large project & a considerable $$ investment in plant material! If it’s a local nursery person’s advice, well that’s helpful too. You’ve told us the planting bed has good depth - from 5’ to 18’. And, that it has irrigation so can be watered to support competition from all the tree roots. The other question is orientation & sunlight - especially in summer & with all the tree canopy. There’s also the question of length of planting bed. If you aren’t using a designer, then I recommend you make your own drawing of the planting bed including where sprinkler heads are & get everything mapped out on paper before buying any plants. Plan the placement & distance between plants & around irrigation. As for plant selection, the boxwoods might be a good choice for your area. But, my suggestion is to have more than one primary evergreen - don’t create a monoculture - choose 2 or 3 & plan how to mix them. Reason is that if one plant type doesn’t thrive, it’s not the whole planting area that needs replacing. Also, you said ’cottage garden’. To me, that’s a planned mix of plants that creates a less formal look than a row of boxwoods that are typically used for hedges. You’re in Atlanta area - don’t azaleas do well there? Think about the impact a mass of spring flowering shrubs would have along that stretch mixed in with the backdrop of evergreen boxwoods - or dwarf conifers! Stunning!

There are plenty of native, flowering evergreen shrubs that will do fine in your spot. Mt. Laurel, rhodos, etc. Winterberry holly isn't evergreen, but it has a lot of red berries for winter interest. I like moss phlox for a groundcover.

When planning the plantings bear in mind too visibility for drivers emerging from your driveway onto the road. Especially since the frontage appears to be on a curve. You don't want to be driving out of a hidden entrance.

^^^ what @floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK said! Excellent point! The plantings might affect views for those just driving around the curve too for seeing you come out of your driveways.

I think boxwoods would be a mistake. If you really are envisioning a cottage garden, it seems that boxwood which are usually pruned into a tight-ish shape would not give you what you are looking for. Maybe a couple placed among looser plants including some evergreens that have a softer, more open habit and that would be easy to keep short would suit you better. Camellias are evergreen, will give you some height variation, and will bloom from late fall into spring depending on which ones you choose.

I like simplynatural's suggestions and photo. I also plant mostly natives . Lots of plants are pollinators, but the native ones are also host plants for the egg-laying and larva of those pollinators. Different plants are hosts for different butterflies and also sustain bees better. You may be seeing lots of bees on non-native plants, but often those are like feeding them a junk food diet.

If you are receiving advice from a nursery (Korean Boxwoods), they could be steering you in that direction because they have a lot of them in stock perhaps. As HU-918 said, boxwoods can be difficult. There are several kinds of blights that will kill them and make them unslightly before they succumb, mites, leaf spot, etc. I found this from U. of Maryland: Common diseases include Volutella blight and Macrophoma leaf spot. Be on the lookout for a new potential invasive insect, box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis), which feeds on boxwoods. If you notice chewing damage on boxwood leaves, this could be a symptom of the box tree moth.Aug 12, 2024

You have a marvelous spot there. Hope you will keep us posted as you proceed.

I have ostensibly disease-resistant cultivars and most of them have had at least one issue, some multiple, including volutella blight, leafminer, and psyllid. Although I love the look of boxwood I would only use them sparingly in an area where they can be coddled and closely supervised although, perhaps counterintuitively, I wouldn't use blight-resistant varieties because the looser, more open form that aids in disease resistance doesn't have the same effect as the very dense and very green classic English/American boxwood.

Thanks everyone for your comments and recommendations. After thinking it over, we agree that boxwoods are not the look we're going for (it's OK to have them sporatically but not structured at every post). So we're going to seed a microclover in the front and design a bunch of local pollinator flowering perennials all along the fence (of varying heights) and mix in some whimsical mounding conifers and some other smaller trees for some height at various spots) so it's much more of an abundant, natural look.

Rob, thanks for coming back to tell us what direction you’re taking after thinking about all the input your post generated. Your new vision sounds like an excellent plan. Have fun with it!