Much more info needed! What type of hedges? Important if you want to plant beneath them. Where does the sun rise and set? What's the soil like - wet/dry; acid/alkaline; free draining/ soggy? Unless you have children - who love big play areas - try not to put the borders all round the edges with grass in the middle. What style of garden do you like, country/formal/modern?

Bed(s) in the middle of the garden will make your garden look bigger. Try to relate the layout of the slabs to the shed, to something more in keeping with the path around the house or perhaps link it to a prospective shape for a bed in the middle of the garden. Sorry to throw this back at you but anyone giving you advice will want to know all this,

In other words write yourself a brief by asking yourself the basic questions bearing in mind physical constraints, such as the hedges - then ask us the questions! Shouldn't take long. A few photographs would help too.

Look on the internet and see what strikes you as good (given your situation i.e. hedges, hedge heights, aspect (N/S) etc). Browse through the Houzz website, for example, plenty of gardens there, then ask your sharper questions.

Hope that helps although it may sound like a step backwards it will be easier for others to help.

Hi, I would do one thing here. Have a trellis put up against the wall of the neighbour's house/garage, maybe extending it across the gap to link up with your house and the other two doors. Make the trellis quite high, say about 6 feet, but not high enough to interfere with the guttering on the wall opposite. As the wall belongs to your neighbour you'll have to put in upright posts (rather than put vine eyes into their wall) and either attach wooden trellis to them or stretch (and I mean stretch so that it's taught) wire between the posts. Then select a climber suitable for that site, preferably evergreen, to plant beneath. Go to a plant nursery and look for the right plant - that is one that grows OK in shade, grows to about 2 metres, and doesn't grow outwards (across your patio/passage door) too much.

There isn't a great choice of plants for here and you may well find that Ivy is your only choice. But on the plus side Ivy has many types that are variegated - which I think is a good idea for that space - to brighten up the passageway. I might even consider taking out that big plant that is in the gap closer to your house to extend the ivy/climber across the gap. A uniform texture/colour will suit it and your taste for modern, better.

The other good news is that ivy is fairly easy to look after and is also good for wildlife. It flowers late in the year and has those berries that Blackbirds love from January onwards.

I suggest you go to a Plant Nursery rather than a Garden Centre because there will be a wider choice of plants, not necessarily in flower, and a wider selection of varieties and sizes. Be prepared to pay a good amount for largish plants for more immediate impact.

Don't forget to read the label on the plant to get the right one.

Hope that helps

ps, you'll have to make sure your builders leave squares in the patio, under the wall, in which you can plant the Ivy. You'll need planting squares (pockets) about every 1 metre. And make sure that soil is good enough to plant in - you may need to buy compost to refill those holes if the soil is poor (full of bricks and cement being highly likely!)

What sort of hedge is it? But if it's green why do you need more plants underneath except that it seems the conventional thing to do?

Take a look at the grass at the bottom of the hedge and note whether it's struggling to grow. If it is, it's likely that any plants you put there will be the same, that is, struggling and will never look their best.

Much better would be to have a flower bed well away from the roots and shade of the hedge to distract your eye from looking at the hedge. This does work I can assure you. So make yourself a simple circular bed in the middle of the lawn leaving a path behind it wide enough to walk along and to mow behind. The plants in the bed will take away the dominance of the hedge, and if the grass is poor you'll only be able to see that when you walk behind the new bed. You'll also be able to tend to the plants at the back of the new bed more easily than if they were hard against the hedge.

You should also weed and feed all the grass and at the base of the hedge to keep it looking as green as possible. Any big superstore will sell the ingredients in a pack in the Autumn and Spring with good clear instructions.

Simples!

Great advise from Cowen Garden Design there. Make sure you spend time planning and working out what you want, rather than just digging in!

For the hedge, why not chat to the neighbour who's hedge it is - if you're not sure try and find out by politely knocking on doors. Ask about timing the hedge further, so that it allows more light into your garden, as it is already very substantial.

Good luck and enjoy the process!

This is where we need to know more about your hedge which I can't tell from the photo. If it's Leylandii you cannot cut it behind the last green shoot because it will not re-shoot and you'll be looking at a brown curtain forever. If it's brown because it's diseased then that is another problem altogether! My suggestion is you join the Royal Horticultural Society and then send them a sample of the dead clipping for them to pronounce upon! I can't tell you about diseases for sure and not at a distance. You'll also get plenty of plant advice from them generally. www.rhs.org.ik you'll be in safe hands there (it's only about £40 per year and has other benefits too. Good luck.

Hi there your blank walls may look great with a Decori Ltd Panel on them this will form a great backdrop. take a look at ttps://www.decori.co.uk

I would live with your garden for now to get a feel for it and plan for the spring when you will have had time to think it through. Planting in haste never works and you will only have more work in the long run. Totally agree that you do not need all those beds. Have you thought of one spectacular raised bed with an incorporated seating area? Look at the small London gardens on Houzz. Simple but stunning.....Good luck.

That should be www.rhs.org.uk of course, sorry mistyped there.

Angie - Your garden looks fantastic, did a neat job .

Specially after looking at before/after pictures, just fab.