As a keen gardener, (and a professional textile designer by trade) I have had to cope with similar problem of my own in the past, marrying the aesthetic with the practical and fairly easy to do in such a space with the same type of morning light. I read many books and talked to many gardeners and came to much the same conclusions as a earlier commentator above (Tom Flanagan). I would say his suggestions are excellent, he obviously knows what he is talking about. Low growing ground cover plants, won't give you any height (which you really need) and climbing plants won't give you any foliage or flowers in winter (they can look messy very quickly too), lavender and such like, fine is high summer, not so the rest of the year. No, I would go with his suggestions of of a few hebe, daphne, euonymus, viburnum davidii and skimmia. These will give height and all year round foliage, and provide the backbone of the border. You can then add a few extra perennials if you wish and most of all - bulbs, which are much under used in these situations, but absolutely brilliant! You can have ones that flower in spring, summer, autumn and even winter (the wonderful kaffir lily which comes in bright pink or red flowers from late autumn through winter, even in the snow). This means you have colour among the backbone of shrubs, providing year round interest. The great thing is, you don't need to do anything much with bulbs either, once you've planted them the first year. Good luck!

There's lots of great ideas for plants here, but I would strongly suggest you get answers to the following questions before you choose a plant/plants. - What direction does the wall face? - What sort of soil is there at the base of the wall? (Ask neighbours or post a photo of a spadeful of soil here which will probably let people identify the soil type) - Does water which falls on the tarmac run towards the wall or away from it? Walls cast a 'rain shadow' so if the water runs away from the wall that patch of ground is likely to be extremely dry. You would have to choose a particularly drought-resistant climber or be prepared to add extra water in some way. If you choose a plant which likes the conditions you have, it'll thrive. If you don't it will probably die and then you'll end up feeling like you're a rubbish gardener. Those Spanish Bluebells you liked are extremely tough though, and should do well wherever. ...also, if the conditions are right, I'd like to put in a word for my favourite climber, the evergreen and fast-growing Clematis armandii.

Well done on all the work done so far. It’s looking great. However, in my opinion, the bed along the left hand fence is too narrow, especially for the kind of plants you’re after which are often on the larger side. I like the triangular shape as it gives a modern feel but also think a curve in that corner point would work well, losing some of the lawn and making the bed bigger. That would give you room to plant your tree fern in the ground in the corner there rather than in the pot. Tree ferns have shallow roots that spread outwards & in time, that pot wouldn’t be big enough. We have 2 that I bought as 6 inch high ferns & now (17years later) the trunks alone would fill that pot. Other suggestions for tropical type plants are fatsia japonica & canna lilies though you’d need to check whether they would suit your north west position. Agapanthus would look good but also like the sun. Clematis to climb up your fence come in lots lots of colour options. Star jasmine which is evergreen would also be good fence cover. However both would need support - trellis or wires to climb up. Hydrangea Annabelle, although not quite the look you’re after are lovely & would suit a more shaded garden. However, most of these would need bigger beds to grow in. In smaller beds, lavender, euonymous, box & hebes would fit & suit your garden but perhaps wouldn’t create the look you’re after. However, they would look good & are easy to look after. Have fun finishing your garden & post some more photos when it’s done.

@Joanne Evans thank you! i would love to be able to make it that wide but we don’t have a huge garden and need to leave space for the boys to play. I will hopefully dig another small bed on the other side of the garden once I know i have done this one right. I am content with small plants and flowers, I just need flowers And plants Which can survive footballs etc!! I will google for a soil probe- will any do the job?