Looks good. Gate looks good staying in black but the front door I would go for a dark grey with chrome door furniture or a duck egg blue. On the left would you consider a long bed all along the fence with standard bays running along or some sort of hedge on a 'stem' - a friend of mine has that sort of look you get the stems then the bushes grow into each other at the top. Or I would just put a line of planters/containers along there with standard bays in or olive trees & don't have olive trees at the front. Or lavender always looks good as it nice n hardy.

Maybe a bench with some box topiary either side for a focal point. Box balls and lavender mixed with some perennial grasses like stipe tennuissima, and bulbs for different seasons eg tulips, lilies, verbena bonariensis.

Thank you for helpful comments. Lavender has been top of our list, if we do it in tall pots or in a raised bed, what can I mix in for a bit more height to provide a bit of screening?

I agree with Rory, keep things simple and use quality plant stock, the front of your house is the first impression visitors get so make it an impressive one! There are some great suppliers of instant hedging now which provide you with a ready grown and maintained hedges of numerous varieties. I would suggest a consisent hedge line along the left hand side to screen the existing tired fence, kept to the same height as the fence as not to become over bearing. Hornbeam, Yew, Privet make good manageable hedge species all but Hornbeam are evergreen. You can then plant a line of lavender in front along the path edge. Painting the door a lighter colour would lift it more when viewed from the front, similar to next door, perhaps a Duck egg Blue or light French Grey colour with large chrome door furniture. Its a beautiful house so you've got a fantastic back drop to a new garden.

I would go for white rounded door and I would also change the gate for natural wood or paint it white as well, rounded one, they would go with the windows. Plant a bush all along the path on the left which would grow a bit lower that the fence. 1/3 of available space. In the corner on the left hand side the bush should be higher and more dense, as high as the gate. In the corner where house begins on the right of the path I would put a pot with a plant approx. one meter high and would place another plant in the corner on the right side of the window which would be nearly as high as half of the window. I would also plant a bush in front of the house as high as the gate. It would be good to see the picture of the right side of the small garden for more ideas. / Marcin

Actually I would also change the path to the house, removed the concrete plates and fill it up with little stones like the once on the right but much smaller. I would do the same with the little garden in front of the house, it would make the space more natural and softer.

Hi, just check out for an aluminium pedestrian gate, mixed infill or open panel structure. Pedstrian gates from Mistergatesdirect.com

I agree with neiljones design - a hedge is simple, easy to look after and does a brilliant job of screening your neighbours.