I agree. Plant some evergreens out in the yard. I especially like the dwarf alberta spruce.

Dwarf Alberta Is a great shrub! Here in Cleveland it is suseptable to spider mite and winter burn. I avoid it. It's a shame. Maybe in zone 7 they do well. We have about 5 inches of snow now and you cannot tell where one yard ends and the next starts. So glad I was bold enough to try it. I was the first of three peole to take out the front lawn and do gardens. I am the only one of the three to have included evergreens. So the other two are covered now except a few dead perenials sticking out here and there.

Interesting that a tundra plant from frozen Alberta (Zone 2 hardy) should winter burn; are we creating a new sissified hybrid or is the change in provenance from it's home turf the culprit? Or is it the fact that needles with the life half sucked out of them dry the rest of the way much easier? I suspect the latter, as DAS is the perfect host for spider mite. That solid shell of foliage creates a dry, windless environment right in the plant (heaven for mites), and when they finish with those two (on either side of the door) there's two in the next yard (and the next, and the next...) Cornus has the idea; a reverse field of dreams. Don't plant it and they won't come...

Dwarf Alberta Spruce is not hardy to zone 2 like other White Spruce. It is a mutant form that occurs naturally. The fine needles are more sensitive to wind burn, although they give that soft appearance that is probably one of the reasons for its popularity.

I have beds filled with perennials and room for annuals next to my foundation. No shrubs at all. I planted what is usually called foundation plantings all along my lot line dividing my lot from 3 neighbors. Currently a mix of trees, shrubs, evergreens and flowers. I am quite pleased with the look of my large lot, as are my neighbors, who love the fact that I gave them privacy too.

Next to my foundation in front, I have a large rock fountain and basin, some tall grasses, a birdbath, many perennials, which flows into a bed with small trees and evergreens.

I have never understood that idea of clustering everything next to the house.
Pondy

I am taking advantage of the long winter to decide what shrubs to plant where. happily, the former owners here didn't do much. I read somewhere that shrubs anchor a house to the ground; i guess that meant a unanchored house would seem likely to fly off, be blown away ... I've been trying to form an opinion, looking at houses around. I'm not sure what I think.

interesting discussion...Its been on my mind. Lately I've been observing how some houses and architecture are truly integrated into the lot and some are just sitting *on* the lot. I've been thinking that I need more architecture to ground the house. I definitely see it now. It took awhile.

I now desparately want a fence, porch, pergola, arbor, deck, or stone something to help transition the house to the landscape along with more substantial plantings.

I'm not sure I am in favor of mostly perennials at the foundation (even though Pondwelr's sounds lovely). I have incorporated some perennials in front of the standard foundation plantings, but I definitely favor the concept of mostly (>50%) evergreen foundation plantings, at least in my setting with the long winters. The challenge is to make them non-boring and to mix it up with other softer things.

I just lost a 10-year old holly to a brutal cold snap two years in a row that I will have to replace. Last year it got hit hard and I had to cut down about 4' off a 6' plant. It had a chance if the winter had been more typical, but -20F this year got it. The struggling remains are turning brown. I give up and am looking for a replacement, which led me to this thread.

I really hate that evergreen Uni-bush look. I think that's all they plant in my neighborhood. We dug ours up and got rid of it.

A landscape designer giving an interview in Projo referred to the evergreens about the foundation as 'putting a tutu on the house'

That is the best description I've heard so far.

Here is a link that might be useful: My home page

I guess I'm in the minority here. I like foundation plantings of evergreens. My favorite is yew (I can hear all the groans now)! Here, they are so hardy and long-lived. I think they soften the lines of a house. I also have pines, arborvitae and juniper out in the yard though.