The trouble is with conifers when you try trimming back is that there is little growth behind the initial bushiness. Thus you end up very quickly with bare patches. I like the idea of lollipopping, but obviously i can't see where the two stems are. Not much is going to grow underneath as the tree will be sucking all the moisture from the ground and it will be shady, so you will be limited on the planting. I don't like the sound of concrete plynths, maybe a wooden structure?? You could do both and have steps up to a seated area under the lollipopped trees. Thus creating a new focal point and distracting from the overall wall of green.

Yes, the concrete wall at the front is mine. It runs paralell to the front of the property. I am replacing the concrete sections with fence panels and taking the gate out and increasing the fence to a normal 6 ft fence all the way around. Planning permission said I need to keep that concrete section 1m high, but can increase the height from that point all the way around the perimeter (almost similiar to where the conifers were). There wasn't a wall, there was an old decayed fence all entangles with the conifers when they were taken out.

Hi. I was going to suggest to try posting on the gardeners world forum and just checked and see that you already have so hopefully you’ll get some more expert advice. I d seen similar dilemmas to this and general consensus is to cut them back by about a third, keep watering during dry weather, and add a layer of fresh compost to retain moisture. No real need to feed now but a light sprinkle of fish blood and bone won’t hurt I think. The roots need time to settle in so the less energy they use on keeping leaves green will help them to establish. Laurels are quite vigorous plants, I accidentally left a cutting on the lawn after trimming and it rooted in the grass within weeks.

When we were thinking about our garden, I had in mind narrow borders down the sides. Then we engaged a wonderful chap who took our ideas and developed them into a wonderful space which we love and four years on it is still amazing. What he convinced us of was the value of a deep border where we could have a range of plants of various heights and textures. We’ve never regretted it. I thought I would make more work, but it’s actually made it easier to maintain. We also wanted a curved path and circular lawn and these were accommodated beautifully, and take account of the varying levels in the garden. To us it looked level, but it’s not! We also have a division part way down the garden, again recommended to us and proved to be just what was needed. What we did was more than your budget, but we had a lot of excavation work and a very robust Japanese style pond, so I’m sure you could do a great job for what you have in mind. Here are some pictures to give you and idea of the impact of the wider beds. These were taken just after the work was done. I must find some more recent ones! The recent ones are on my phone, not the iPad!