Here's a picture if that helps any.

{{gwi:20357}}

Gorgeous house, I love the color. Take a look at my post a few down, Foundation Ideas for a Northern Garden. I asked a very similar question and received lots of good advice from experienced New England gardeners. We're in similar zones. In terms of design ideas, I heavily use this forum, as well as the Cottage Garden forum, the Daylily forum (less useful for your issue but some good landscape shots), the New England forum, and the Trees forum. Also the Landscaping forum - you can post your image there and likely someone will come up with a design for you. Might be helpful to have a wider shot of the house situated in the yard, as well as sun/shade/soil information. There are some excellent books available too. Anything by Tracy DiSabato-Aust, esp. "The Well Designed Mixed Garden." I also love "Creating Beds and Borders" by Fine Gardening, as well as "The Perennial Gardener's Design Primer" by Stephanie Cohen and Nancy Ondra. Ondra also has an excellent blog, Hayfield.com.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nancy Ondra's blog

i wish i had a dollar for every time i write this ...

start by understanding.. that foundation plantings.. are planted TO HIDE THE FOUNDATION .... not 'ON' THE FOUNDATION ... of most importance to me.. is to leave 2 to 3 feet at the foundation to walk ... for xmas lights.. window washing.. ladders ... maintenance.. etc ...

so i would start by building some nice foundation beds ....

on the left ... by the steps ... the garage.. i would build a wall ... to make a leave bed ... its not hard.. but it needs to be done properly .... and in that bed.. i would go with perennials .... nothing big ... just a selection of plants that will give some flower interest all summer and fall ... is there a man or a burly son available.. to move retaining wall bricks ... its not that you cant do it.. but it can get heavy ... [after messing with your pic.. i dont know about the wall.. lol] .. its hard to grow things on a steep hill.. one solution is the retaining wall and leveling it all .. but that might be a long term plan

i would then put a minimum 3 to 4 foot bed on the outside of the sidewalk ... and go all the way around the front of the house ... but not a straight line ...

and then i would go 20 to 30 feet out in the lawn.. and look for some trees or shrubs.. to lend a vertical to it all

i am not familiar with the 'new england look' ... so be this what it may ...

use your money to build good beds.. and get a few of the bigger plants in ... and fill in with some annuals for this year ... and consider the rest your new 'hobby' .. lol ...

check out the link for how to do the beds .. and use the search function above for 'building new beds' .. or some such thing ...

your worst mistake IMHO .. is to think that this has to be all done this year.. and only with that budget ... build the backbones.. and the rest will follow ... gardening is a lifetime thing.. and usually not instant gratification ... [and i bet those are the landscapes you are not liking in the area ... unlimited budget.. and had to be done all at once ...]

and just cruise the 'hood' .. and steal ideas ... lol .. and see if you can differentiate between those peeps who jammed it all right on the foundation.. and those that have used the area ...

as i tried to describe above ... i bet the ones you dislike.. were perfect the day they were planted.. but those darn plants just keep growing.. and all of a sudden.. it looks like the jungle is trying to swallow the house ... [in fact .. take pix of the ones you dont like.. and post them here.. and we might be able to tell you why you dont like them .. its a back door to figure out what you do like]

after the backbones.. and the beds.. i just collect thing i like.. i dont really care what others think.. nor how 'professionals' [and i use the term lightly] ... would do it ... its my castle.. its my realm .. and i am the king .. and if you dont like.. bite me.. lol [actually my boy did once.. dont say that to a 3 year old.. lol]

my bottom line.. i just wanted to get your head out of that small space between the walkway and the porch.. and make you understand you have a big ugly lawn out there.. use it ... who needs grass to mow ...

ken

ps: we can work on the back of the house next year.. and the side in 3 years ... as the budget allows ... dont spread yourself too thin.. do it right the first time ... and dont look back ... in fact.. with $1000 bucks .. we can build the beds all around the house.. and get some backbone large plants in real easy.. if you can do the labor yourself ... i am hitting send .... cuz this thing may never end.. lol ..

{{gwi:241089}}

Here is a link that might be useful: link

I definitely know you don't plant stuff right up against the foundation. lol Thanks. I like what you did on the left and that was my thought for that area exactly.

I think there is more space on the other side of the walkway than is seen in the pictures. I was thinking of some type of simple border plant along the walkway. It's definitely something to think about. I need to read through the responses so far and think on it some more. I am running out the door as soon as I hit submit, but I did want to respond and say thank you for all your responses!

I like evergreen shrubs for foundation planting. Deciduous shrubs planted with evergreens look like missing teeth in the winter.
Mike