Can you provide a picture of the bed and say where it is situated? Sun? Shade? Against a wall? Also what is the soil like? Acid? Neutral? Alkaline? And zone alone is not sufficient information. You need to give a geographical location. Once all that is provided people can start giving ideas.

3.5 feet is quite narrow for shrubs so width will be restricted. And what height are you wanting?

And lastly, most shrubs flower for a relatively brief period so it is just as important to have overall shapes, leaf forms and foliage colours which are harmonious as it is flowers. So what you are really looking for is plant combinations which will look good for many months rather than just flower combinations which will only be on show for a few weeks.

Sure it’s in Easton PA, we get partial sun due to shade. The mulch bed is not in yet. But we wanted to do something alongside the perimeter of this fence. Soil is clay. Not sure about pH levels. Thanks!

Do you need height to screen a view beyond the fence or is this planting purely ornamental?

This area would be purely ornamental since we have a pond on the other side. Our other idea is to incorporate trees next to the fence and then give the mulch a curved edge for some visual interest like in the picture below.

I think your idea of curves, in general, meaning varying depths, is good. You can also read more about how to do “ curves” so as not to be random squiggles. In essence you would start thinking about WHAT small trees / larger shrubs and where, and design the bed around that, rather than carve out a huge bed and then say, what do I put here?

If you plan to DIY, you will need to spend some of your own time in designing the layout. Start with roughly to-scale drawings on graph paper, unless you are using a complete layout program, and include the whole yard do you can make a kind of easy “ bubble diagram” for where is pond, where do you sit, etc, just noodling different ideas about where you want something taller or shorter or fatter, or above fence height, where is best view for flowers or such. With this method you can also consider the project in stages, especially if your grass is not super invasive. Sort of like groupings of a smaller evergreen shrub, a small tree, some under plantings & perennials , that you could later expand & connect. A different approach could be needed if you are a do-it -all type of need to tent equipment. There also can be stages by which you need to prepare the planting area at a certain time that is convenient for you, but it might not be the right time to plant certain things or they are not as available, so you might have to look at ” bare mulch” for a bit, but it is part of the plan.

Is there a reason why the bed must be 3.5’? I strongly encourage 5’ or so, especially since there’s a fence on the backside. Many shrubs will quickly grow wide and brush up against the fence - not a good thing.

We were aiming for a 3.5-foot width as a minimum to preserve most of our yard. This new image shows the space with a 3.5-foot red ball and a 5-foot tennis ball for scale. Do you think a design with a consistent 3.5-foot width that expands to 6 feet around the trees could look good?

3.5' is skimpy. I'd start with some understory trees, like dogwoods. I'd site them to block or not block views you like want to keep or to be the beautiful view. I'd have some viburnums, too.

AI landscape design is so, so bad. That tree looks like a sapling and no sapling is going to be anywhere near that tall and when it is a few years old, the canopy will be much wider. Gravel makes a lovely neat edge in photoshops, but is a nightmare to keep looking good in reality. It will get weedy, it will get into your lawn.

Real plants never look like that. These are real pictures with flowers and shrubs woven together in a way that AI can't master.

I really admire the layered garden style. However, figuring out how to create that depth and visual interest in a small yard without making it feel cramped is a real challenge.

Here's a mockup that I did with 3.5' to 7' curves. Let me know your thoughts!

The curves have to make sense regarding the plants in the bed.

What I'm seeing here is merely an attempt to mark off the box labelled Curves on the list of so-called Rules that Houzz posters are so very fond of.

Maybe try looking at Monty Don videos (Big Dreams Small Spaces) on YouTube. Grnted, he is in the UK, but there are lots of different gardens in that series and you may see that you can create a larger garden bed while maintaining (or creating with the plants) the feeling of a larger space. I just enjoy his videos and this series shows the work the owners do which is fun to see.

Yes, this design will enable you to do a bit of layering. But you’ll still need to look for plants that don’t grow much more than 3’ wide AT MATURITY.

Also, can you mow grass easily along curves that curvy? The easiest way to determine that is to let the grass grow a few days past-due for mowing, then get on your mower and mow the curves with it.

You may need to smooth out the curves a bit. It may forever be a PITA to mow if you don’t.

What are you trying to accomplish with this bed?

What is the general feeling you are going for?

How well are you plans going to fit with the existing trees?

Is removing the fence, and replacing it with shrubbery an option?

The goal is to create a nice backdrop without taking up too much yard space. After considering your feedback and the potential complexity of adding curves, I think it may be best to keep things simple and clean with the straight lines from our original design.

Good to know. So I tried to pick shrubs that would stay under 4 ft with pruning. Would this combination look nice? From right to left, it's a sky pencil holly -> inkberry holly -> Russian Sage -> Bobo hydrangea

Substitute an azalea or dwarf rhody for the Russian sage (it needs full sun to look good).

Thanks! Also is there any recommended rules/patterns to follow when planting in a linear mulch bed? To create varying heights and visual interest without it looking random?

It's not going to look random if you have a nice, linear edge. The geometry itself is going to tie things together.

Generally, you want to mix leaf textures for interest. Most flowering shrubs bloom for a relatively short time, so for a prominent feature you want the bed to look good without flowers.

Something to keep in mind is that most plants will grow differently if they get different amounts of sun. The usual way around that is to grow plants that take well to pruning. (which is another reason to ditch the Russian sage)

Some idea

Sky Pencil Holly gets up to 10 feet tall. Not sure how they take to pruning though. Never saw anyone prune them .