Here is the lot in case anyone is confused. I put bushes in the layout in the general area of where I need to add beds, there are currently hostas and a scraggly bleeding heart in front of the screen room, and a half dead azalea and some sort of ornamental grass next to set the stairs (bottom green dots in image). I also added the purposefully planted trees in the plan as well. Besides the patch between the deck and driveway to the left of the house, and the "front" (back) patch area in front of the screen room, all of the other white space is wooded:

ETA: after reading other posts, I will add better images of the space when I return home.

Entrance:

View coming up the driveway. we are having rock delivered for under the deck and I plan to plant hostas and ferns under there. That fence panel that is supposed to be hiding the ac unit will be replaced as well. As you can see, the section in the bottom right was once a garden bed. It collapsed at some point before we bought the house, so now its just dirt with the occasional plant popping up.

You are focusing on a face of the house that cannot be seen from the street or the approach from the front?

Why are you placing gravel below the deck? It seems like so much more expense, bother and potential difficulty if you ever decide in the future to change the scheme. A plant-based mulch would be less expensive and so much more forgiving.

Looking at the picture of the screen porch, it does not seem that the yard is a good candidate for a turf lawn. It looks like it might be too shady. Consider turning the whole lawn area into groundcover.

Here's a simple idea that I think would make a big difference. It seems like you could make a couple of nice octagon shaped beds below the small trees. (That is, if you don't do the whole lawn in groundcover.) And then put color along the whole front of the screened in porch.

When you're doing the planning, it will be easier to do your imagineering on a plan that is oriented to the direction that you are working on:

Haha, yeah we have to reseed every year. It also doesn't help we have squirrels and some sort of creature that constant digs holes to get under the deck. A turf lawn in this area would be seen of as something completely out of place, we are very rural. Even the local high schools still have grass. We are working on a moss lawn in the fenced area, but it's slow going,

We are focusing on the part that cannot be seen from the road. but is seen by every person that comes to the house. The house cannot be seen from the road at all except for in the winter, and even then it's obscured by so many trees you can't see it very well.

The rocks are mainly because my husband wanted to put rocks everywhere, and I talked him into just there. Also, I'm not completely positive we can actually grow anything under there, let alone add rocks or a ground cover at all, so that is something we have to look into at a later time. The ground there is a ridge and furrow setup with netting. We had an issue with water seeping into the basement along one part of that area, but that was solved with laying plastic and adding another drain.

The well is directly under the screened porch. Would planting a tree that close be an issue? The existing tree in the image is about 25' from the well cap.

Hi Katie

A whole lot to address here... too much for one post. That said ...two things:

1st -Try to resolve the hardscape (everything BUT the plantings) issues wherever possible before you do the plantings. The second level of the deck for example (large step up) in the first photo you posted appears to be sinking and lopsided. It may need to be reset to a sub strate or set to posts and leveled. Think of the plantings as the icing on the cake...its the fun part , but not addressing the other stuff is putting the cart before the horse. Many pro landscape design / install companies address both.

2nd - You should have a fairly accurate idea how much direct sunlight any area you envision new plantings gets in the course of a typical day. On first glance this looks to be a heavily wooded area. Your reference to using a shade perennial (Hasta) reinforced that somewhat. You may need to wait till the leaves come out on the trees to measure this but its key to understanding what will flourish and what will not. Generally speaking, the less sun it gets the smaller the number of plant choices.

Hope that helps a little bit!

fd -The Brooklyn Garden Club

The Brooklyn Garden Club It's already on the spring list! Technically it is built very lopsided too. It appears to have been a diy addition. The entire deck and most of the posts will have to be replaced in the next 10 years as well, but with 800 sq. ft of decking, it's going to be a task.

As for the sun, I can tell you now. The left hand side of the walkway gets morning sun, and is shaded the rest of the day, with little pockets of sunshine, but not enough for it to even be considered part shade. On the right side, it gets morning sun in front of the screen room, and then full shade the rest of the day. A little past the screened room gets full, direct sun in the afternoon. The hostas burn past the electric meter in the middle of the summer.

Did you say you are planting hostas UNDER the deck? IN the rocks? Don't do that.

Very few plants will grow under a deck. Too dark. Too dry. And hostas certainly don't like to grow in rocks, even out in the open. Too dry, and rocks attract slugs (which eat hostas).

If your DH must have rocks, make sure they are all under the deck with nothing planted in them.

We really need to know where you are located as well. Zone 7b only tells us the cold tolerance of plant possibilities, not the other conditions unique to an area that can limit plant selection. As an example, I live pretty far north but in a very mild maritime climate. Because summer sun is not very intense this far north, I can safely grow most hostas in full sun all day.

Located in Southern York County PA. Mild summers and winters, but they can be intense some years.