Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: need help choosing shrub, 2 by firstyard

firstyard wrote:
Mippi, you were right! I took a few new pics this morning and remeasured and the space is closer to 5 ft.. (How did I miss by that much?!)

I want a little clear space behind and around each shrub tho. Also I'd like to let the hydrangea grow a tiny bit wider since I have more room than I thought. So that would give me 3 1/2' instead of 2 1/2'. Yea!

Abt the new pics: I changed to a different potted plant; Long story abt why the nandina is shaped like that; The garden looked so much better before I had to prune off all the damage from the sheets of ice/snow that slid off the roof directly into the shrubs (I could have just cried!).

Just thought of another idea. When I moved here, the hydrangea was huge! I could stop pruning it and also stop pruning that side of the nandina. In a couple of years, there wouldn't be a hole to fill! And I can keep a potted plant there in the meantime. That is truly the lazy gardener's way out! I can live with that.

When my daughter's braces and a few other things get paid off, maybe I can tackle the kind of project missingrosie described.