Well, none of those are evergreen. You could start with something like a mounding juniper in the back, then the dogwoods and winterberry, and then some perennials in front of that. It will eat up a fair amount of space, but it looks like you have it.

Oak leaf hydrangeas are marginally hardy here. Paniculatas do well, but aren't as interesting during the winter.

I'd avoid the symmetry because the trees on the left side will affect the plants growth assymetrically. It's better to plan for that from the start.

Thanks for the feedback. I think I will go back to the drawing board to think of an asymmetrical design because I can see you are right about that. And you're right of course too that I didn't mention any evergreens. I think in my mind I meant winter interest -- so the red berries, twigs etc. appeal to me. :)

The reason I thought of an oakleaf is because I've seen them here in Rochester. I'm from the West Coast originally and don't recall seeing them there at all -- so it's interesting that they are marginally hearty. What do you mean by that? That they are picky about soil? Won't grow very tall?

So here's another try using mad_gallica's asymmetrical idea. I like it better. The red bushes are burning bush and the lighter smaller bush is a variegated dwarf red twig.

Same idea, two angles:

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Burning bush have beautiful fall color, but are boring as heck in the summer and even winter. I may be biased, we just tore out 6 massive specimens that had overgrown (they were the size of VW Beetles).

I also think the assymetry idea is good. What if you took the bed on the left side of the window and made it deeper than the area near the door? That would let you do more layering of taller stuff toward the back & narrower plants near the front. You could have a dogwood toward the back, some birds-nest spruces in front (they grow really slowly, so they won't take over like the arborvitae did). And interplant with perennials and other stuff.

I love winterberry holly for many, many reasons. But it does tend to like wet soil, or at least plenty of moisture. Is this a dry area? If so you might want to choose something else for winter interest there (rosa rugosa? But it's crazy-thorny).

One more idea. Is this better?

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Left to right: birds-nest spruce, viburnum carlesii, red trig dogwood, azaela, birds-nest spruce, viburnum carlesii,

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