in reply to Perl/Tk padding only on one side

If you're using the grid geometry manager you can insert an empty column left of the widget and specify its minimum width. If there are widgets above or below that need to be in that space just colspan them.

For the pack geometry manager you can insert an empty, border-less frame sized appropriately.

With the place geometry manager you specify x and y positions; choose appropriately.

The form geometry manager has pad options for left/right/top/bottom.