Hi Kerry, you have not indicated the age of your mum ( and rightly so) but one really important consideration is making the garden age proof. My very fit mum moved house a few years ago and when we redesigned her garden we factored in her love of gardening but also the need for her to be able to continue using the space as she got older. A number of years on, her decline in strength has not hampered her from being able to potter and continue her love of gardening. Whatever you decide to go with, it would be worthwhile keeping this factor in the mixing pot. The steep steps without a handrail may work now but the fact the washing needs to be carried as you negotiate these may be problematic in the future. If you are redesigning, then maybe ensuring the area directly outside the house on the house level is increased in size to accommodate the washing area and the access to the upper area is improved. My mum gets such a boost from being able to access her garden and is out enjoying being outdoors on a daily basis.

We’ve had a large summerhouse built and have been using it since Dec. It has a toilet and shower and sink for doing a little washing up. It’s being used as an office as well as a man games room. It’s about 70m from our house and the water supply and drainage was a must to gain maximum usage and also stop dirty children running through the house in the summer. We did have a water supply half way up from a previous installation. The drainage added cost, but the company we went with used a pumped system which needed much less digging and can be hidden in bushes. We have 2 wall heaters for heat, as we decided to save on the cost of under floor heating. The floor is very cold, slippers are a must - I’m not sure that underfloor would have been enough though. Here’s some pics

Thank you all for your suggestions- I totally agree with most- the evergreen though would be much smaller in height therefore leaving the sun shine through and still allow space for nesting etc... so I definitely to have lots of greenery etc. The house is a 1990s Tudor style home and the rest of the front garden has a Mediterranean feel with olive trees and lavender..

Hi Sarah, You have a nice space with a beautiful established tree, which is great! With a narrow long garden, it is good to divide it in sections. At the moment, the path down the middle with nothing for your eyes to rest on in the way, is taking your gaze directly to the end of the garden!). What will these sections be depends on what you want from your garden (space for entertaining, sunbathing, area to sit in shade, vegetable beds etc) and the conditions of your garden as well (aspect, wind exposure, microclimates etc). I would be tempted to increase your patio area. Maybe using decking (budget friendly) instead of concrete slabs, and make this one section. Where you have the table to the bottom of the garden, I would either pave it or at least make a gravel covered sitting area (budget friendly) from it, and that would be another section. Planting borders along the middle with maybe a bench or somewhere to sit in, or areas to grow vegetables (again, this depends on what you want/need from your garden and your garden's conditions). I offer a range of online- based garden design services from garden sketches (very budget friendly) to garden plans with 3D visuals and planting plans ad-ons. Please, visit my website to learn more about it if you are interested, and I will be glad to help you more with your garden! Deborah