Northeast Gardening: Front Yard - Next Steps, 0 by evie_beevie

evie_beevie wrote:
I'd like to hear your guys' ideas for my front yard. I think it has come a long way -- see the progression here: http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/viewentry/199189/. Go ahead and look, it'll help explain some of the below.

I have a professional plan which solves the problem of the stupid walk to the front door. It has a new walk that nicely curves to the driveway, enlarging the bed in front of the porch allowing for a nice small crabapple. It also expands the bed in front of the bay window, with a small path to go to the side. It basically leaves a half moon of grass on the sidewalk side.

It is a lovely plan, however we don't do our own heavy lifting so we'd have to pay someone to do a lot of the work. And we're wondering if we can come up with a solution to best deal with the stupid walk and that stupid little bed between the walk and the porch (can I tell you how I really feel?!!). It is literally 2 feet of space, and as you can see in the below picture the space next to the driveway is empty. 2 spirea have died there, and I frankly don't know if any shrub will grow there. Perennials seem to do ok, my guess is that they are more shallow rooted and the roots will "stay" in the good soil which only lasts probably 12 inches. Below that is lots of rock, sand, and who knows what from the construction. My guess is blocking the roots on two sides (walk and driveway) are just too much for the roots.

So any ideas on what I should do with this bed?? Is there anything I can do to make it work?

[Note: The picture was taken in late April. Those little mounds are nepeta, and the shrubs in the corner are winterberry hollies.]