I live in Central Maryland - Zone 6

I would like to plant some sort of evergreen on the side of the house. The
problem is that this area does not receive much sun - only a few hours a
day. I have a Cedar siding covered Cinder Block house and do not want
something that is going to try to grow into the cinder blocks and cause
damage to the house and leaks in the basement. I want something that only
gets a couple feet high.

Right now the house looks depressing because the crushed rock driveway
extends all the way to the house and I need some kind of border adjacent to
the house to isolate it from the driveway. I also need advise on what to
use for the containment and border - stone, bricks, wood ???. The cedar
siding comes down to within a couple inches of the ground (driveway)

Any suggestins appreciated.

Hi Paul,
I too live in Maryland and have a similar situation. I planted Nandina domestica 'Nana'. There are several different cultivars and they stay in a lovely globe shape, will do well with just a couple of hours of sun and aren't invasive.

http://www.ag.auburn.edu/landscape/dbpages/237.html
http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modzz/00002375.html

My concern is the level of your soil in relation to the building. After planting and mulching there should be at least 8" from the top of the mulch to the lowest point of the siding. You may have to do some grading.

As to the edging, that would be whatever you happen to like that will go with the style of your garden. Personally I like stone. Bricks tend to move in the soil and wood will rot eventually. There is also stone-like block.

Newt