"Matt" wrote in message
gy.com...
We are trying to come up with a plan for planting a bed along a north
facing garage wall along the front of our house. The garage is on the
front
of the house (road side), but it is a side entry garage, meaning the
garage
door is on the side, not the front facing the street. So now we have this
large plain wall facing the street that guests must walk around to reach
the
front of the house from the driveway. There is a sidewalk that runs
parrallel to the wall, leaving a 6' wide (x 26' long) bed. The garage
wall
is 24' long, two stories, peaks at the center about 24' above grade. The
wall has two windows, each about 6' in from each end, leaving a 12' space
between the windows. These windows are positioned kind of high, the
bottom
of the window is about 5' above grade. It is a big, tall, ugly, plain
wall
that needs some plantings to lessen its overpowering visual impact.
My wife feels that we should plant something tall at each end, between
the windows and the ends of the north facing wall, and also something tall
in the 12' space between the windows. And conversely, plant shorter
plants
under each window. My wife was thinking about planting Emerald Green
Arborvitaes at each end, between the windows and the wall ends. These
will
eventually get 10' to 15' tall and break up the straight edge of this
garage
wall She then wanted to plant something shorter like boxwoods or similar
groupings under the windows. Then she wanted something taller between the
windows, but she didn't have anything picked out yet. This taller
tree/shrub would draw attention away from the big flat garage wall behind
it. She then planned to fill in the areas between with various
perrenials,
grasses, rocks, etc, maybe a few annuals too.
Due to the fact that this is a north facing wall, and will only get
sun
during the morning and evening, and shade during mid-day, the plants need
to
be somewhat shade tolerant. What do you gardening experts think? Any
plant
or grouping suggestions that would work well here? This is our first
gardening project and could really use some good suggestions.
thanks,
Matt

Unless you have a very formal setting, I would avoid planting a rigidly
symmetrical plan with identical tall plants at the ends and in the middle.
I would instead plant some groupings of taller plants (small trees and
shrubs) on the ends with shorter shrubs and perennials in front of them.
The plants in each grouping shouldn't all be repeated in each grouping. The
focal point between the windows doesn't have to be a plant. You could
install a trellis or some other structure to support a vine.Furthermore, the
Emerald Green Arborvitae are deadly common and don't do that well in the
shade. Eventually one or more will decline, leaving you with a rigid
planting scheme that is ruined due to the loss of key plants. If you try to
purchase a like-size replacement in 8 years, it will be very costly. Trying
to break-up a long expanse by punctuating it with tall, cylindrical plants
seems unnatural. I would replace the arborvitae with trees such as dogwood,
crabapples, Japanese Maple, redbud, or magnolia. Instead of the boxwood, I
would consider fothergilla, itea, azaleas, spirea, clethera, or other shrubs
with multi-season interest that do well in your area.

Large garden centers often have landscape designers who will make a master
plan for a nominal fee. They will usually credit the fee if you by the
plants from them within a specified time. I would look around at commercial
and residential installations in your area and take notes and pictures.