Hello, my wife and I recently moved and inherited this garden bed. Our original dream for the front bed was a cottage style garden with lots of sun-loving perennials. However, we noticed that because the house has an overhang, faces north, and the neighborhood has many mature trees, most of the front bed seems to be in full shade.

We would love any suggestions on medium sized shrubs that would look nice against the house as well as any other ideas on how to layer this garden.

Right now there are Japanese cleyera along the house but they don't look that great we believe because of the full shade. Hydrangeas are in front of those. Off to the side we have some hellebore that's grown around a couple azalea bushes.

We are in zone 7B/Nashville, TN area. Thank you in advance for your help!

I like to use Fatsia japonica for those kinds of places - north facing wall, lots of shade, moist.
They'll grow to 6+ feet height, with large palmate leaves that stay green all winter. They'd add a nice contrast and texture against your white siding.
Ours, growing in front of a plate glass window, give us privacy from the street year round, yet we can see out well enough.
I don't know how Fatsia would do in your environs, but if they can thrive where you are, I'd recommend it.

I'm no garden design expert, but couldn't you take out some of that patchy grass and have your cottage garden further out from the shade cast by the overhang? From the photos, it looks like the shadiest bits are right up against the house, but further out, you could have some cottage-style plants. You may or may not be able to grow plants that like full-sun, but hydrangeas, azaleas (& other rhododendrons), cold-hardy camellias, fatsias, aucuba, hollies & daphnes should all be worth researching.

Columbines (Aquilegia), Common Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), Spider Flower (Cleome), Geraniums (Geranium) (not pelargoniums), Wallflower (Erysimum), Hostas (Hosta), Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus), Astilbes (Astilbe), Rodgersia, Pigsqueak (Bergenia crassifolia), Pulmonaria, Siberian Bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla), ferns, Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum), Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans), Coral Bells (Heuchera), Foamflowers (Tiarella), Balsam (Impatiens balsamina), Lobelia, Browallia, Coleus (Coleus scutellarioides), etc., are all shade-loving or shade-tolerant, and many are definitely cottage garden style.

binnerben said: Our original dream for the front bed was a cottage style garden with lots of sun-loving perennials.
However, we noticed that because the house has an overhang, faces north, and the neighborhood has many mature trees, most of the front bed seems to be in full shade.

Right now there are Japanese cleyera along the house but they don't look that great we believe because of the full shade.

Down here... Cleyera get huge... Definitely would NOT want next to house! Or anywhere...

Lots of wonderful shade flowering perennials for Nashville...

Don't give up on that dream...

I'd walk around at different times of the day and take notes on amounts of sun at what times and where... In shade gardens, there can often be areas where some sun loving perennials will thrive... And there will be areas where even shade plants won't grow...

It's gonna take a lot of observation... Shade gardens usually aren't plant and forget.

As far as large shrubs?
I like oak leaf hydrangea... hearts a bustin... Florida anise bush...

scvirginia said:
couldn't you take out some of that patchy grass and have your cottage garden further out from the shade cast by the overhang?

Yeah...
I wouldn't want that patchy turf...
My idea of a cottage garden is where the entire yard is planted in flowering plants... Or... at least mulch....

I can only add 2 cents:
I am not sure Fatsia can take the zone. Similar to my zone, I never see it around here. And with that facing north, it is on the cool side of your zone. So, just double check before committing, it IS very striking plant. I may have seen it in DC.

I ditto.. I would like more planting away from the house, not just lined up on the foundation. I don't like windows covered, myself, and since you don't have an exposed block foundation, you don't need to screen it. I think your house is better off without greenery chock up against the exterior (Please tell my much younger self ) This means a band of a couple feet of mulch at the house. Plantings will hide that, as you view them from our on the lawn.

Be sure to keep water draining away.