Renee, what a wonderful opportunity! Yes, it does look like it was once a garden. I'd try to ID anything before tearing it out. Do you know what those shrubs are? It looks like there's shade there cast by something other than those trees; is it always shady or is there some sun? I can't tell what kind of trees they are, the one in front looks like an evergreen of some sort ... holly?

I think you can do a lot more than you think in that spot. Looks like there's already a bird feeder - something like that (feeder, bird bath, sundial or bench) is a nice feature. You will have to find out whether the trees are shallow-rooted varieties or not. If they're not naturally shallow-rooted, some soil may have washed away and you could build it up ... perhaps a raised bed? (It needn't have walls.)

It's hard for me to say what would be right for you, but just to give you an idea, here's what I have growing within the same distance of my trees, most of which are tall, deeply-rooted oaks, but there are a few shallow-rooted understory trees also:

Shrubs: forsythia, privet, pieris, mock orange, rainbow leucothoe, azalea, rhododendron, boxwood, variegated weigela, yew, hydrangea (nikko blue and lady in red).

Perennials: anemone, astilbe, achillea, bugbane (cimicifuga racemosa 'hillside black beauty'), bleeding heart (winter hardy), scotch broom ('burkwoodii'), candytuft, caradonna sage (salvia nemorosa 'caradonna'), columbine, coral bells (heuchera 'palace purple'), coreopsis (zagreb), daylilies, ferns, foxglove (digitalis mertonensis), hardy geranium (crane's bill), hellebores (Christmas rose), hosta, mayapple, Montauk daisy, primroses, spiderwort (tradescantia 'sweet kate'), tree mallow (lavatera olbia 'barnsley'), turtlehead (chelone lyonii 'hot lips') and an unidentified volunteer salvia of a glorious vivid blue that appeared late this summer.

Still within that range, but at the farther edge: clematis 'ramona', coreopsis 'heaven's gate', bearded iris, spanish lavender, russian sage, tree peony 'feng dan, herbaceous peony 'Sara Bernhardt' and English roses 'Miss Alice' and 'Tradescant'.

Bulbs: Allium, chinodoxa, daffodil, dutch iris, lily of the valley, snowdrop, tulip.

Groundcovers: pachysandra, ivy, sweet woodruff and goats beard.

All of the above get varying degrees of sun/dappled shade. I just make sure to enrich the soil like crazy when I plant, and moderately each spring and fall thereafter. If I run into a root while planting, I just work around it, push it aside, or, occasionally, if necessary, cut it out ... nothing seems to have suffered.

Tuberous begonias do very well in dappled shade, some rival roses and peonies in beauty, but I have better luck planting them in containers than in the ground, where they attract squirrels/chipmunks. And you must dig up the corms and bring them inside before frost.

I see woods off in the background - if there are deer in the vicinity you'll want to look for plants that they won't feast upon. Otherwise, you've got lots of options, many more than I've listed ... and a whole winter to pore over catalogs and make your plans! I've found that many plants that prefer full sun will grow very happily with some afternoon shade, especially in areas with hotter summers.

Good luck, and I hope you'll have fun dreaming and planning ... and renovating that garden!

Diane

Thanks Diane, I really appreciate your suggestions. That area is pretty well lit during the day, but when I tool that picture the sun was on its way down. And a peice of information I forgot to add, there hasn't been anything growning there for 4 years except those trees, and there is an excessive amout of weeds and small trees growing there. my Boyfriend is planning on getting some big thing from the hardwear store to rip up all of that stuff so that we can start fresh. It had the little plastic fencing things around it, but my BF took those out.

If you value the trees, then as little as possible should be done to disturb their roots. That means no rototilling, no adding a whole bunch of top soil. If the trees are of no importance (and I can't imagine that) to your boyfriend or if they don't add to the property value, then go right ahead and do what ever you want. Mature tree roots do not take kindly to rototilling, however.

We have no idea what part of SC you are in. Many of the plants mentioned in the great post previously will not work if you are in the lower portions of SC.

I'm near Greenville(upstate SC). AND I doubt my BF would cry about those trees being gotten rid of or whatever, he HATES cleaning out the rain gutters lol. AND the kids aren't very thrilled about the holly tree, the leaves stick their feet!

Buy your BF those fine-mesh gutter guards (they really do work!) and then take another look at the trees. Especially consider how valuable the shade might be in the summer... and whether you want to pay the increased utility bills for AC. But I really think you can have both good looks and shade benefits; and like Dorie says, there are a lot of "full sun" plants that do better with afternoon shade when in hot summer zones.

i was wondering how can i bring my ferns back to life even if there are no leaves left.