I am a newbie to gardening and trying to do the front of my house. It is a very shady spot in front of the house--gets only a couple hours or less of filtered sunlight. It is a bi-level house and the roof extends so no rain gets to the plants except for where I extended the garden area. For those plants against the house, the only water they get is from me.

I would love to see your houses with a shade front. I am really struggling with what to do. I bought a lot of hostas so can use those. I thought I'd get a hydrangea to replace the one that is almost dead. At the end are upright boxwood that aren't doing the best but hoping to help them make a comeback. I think they got freezer burn during the winters. I have other plant ideas but just don't know how to put it all together. If I can see what some of you have done, maybe something will click. Thanks.

I just googled "shade garden at front of house" and got lots of good ideas. Give it a try and see if you can find something similar to your spot. I saw one with Astlbe, lots of them, all blooming, and it looked great.

For water, you could add a drip line hose on a timer so that it gets water every day for those plants that like more water.

I did try googl-e but wasn't coming up with many arrangements along the side of the house. Most had areas in an area but not along the front. I'll try your words and see if other pictures show up.

I like your water idea. Several years ago I had a flat hose that had holes in it for watering. It worked well but got chewed up by the snow blower (left it out too long!). I never thought about a timer. I'll have to look and see if I can find that.

Thanks.

You might flood your house with drip irrigation close to the wall. Sometimes there nothing that you want will grow in such low light. Personally I would consider some garden art, pottery etc as a decor.

Love your nickname! I've been called that! :+)

What zone/city/state are you in? Are you looking for perennials, annuals, both? Having a pic of the spot would help generate more specific feedback.

If you are unsure of your zone, you can find it here:
https://garden.org/nga/zipzone...

You can store it in your profile so it shows up automatically in your posts. Everything about gardening is in relation to the location/climate in which it is being done.