Hello Moomin. Thank you for posting your query. A planting design takes time, weighing up the site, your style and maintenance. Year round structure for aesthetics as well as screening and privacy come first. Always a shame when planting is an afterthought after landscaping! However this is very common and I've had some experience of planting design commissions after landscaping has been done. My initial thoughts do not take into account many things which can't be conveyed in one photo provided here (as designers we take into account the various views within the garden amongst other things) but I will outline here a sketchy response to demonstrate some considerations. There have been some good suggestions made above. Jonathandb1972 has a good one, planting a carefully selected tree, so the canopy softens (but not hides) the view of the conservatory behind. Olive could be an option but depends on the aspect given that your a fellow Yorkshire resident! Alternatively there's Pyrus salicifolia, or Prunus lusitanica the latter responding particularly well to pruning to retain the size. Always talk to your neighbour about your careful choices and help them to understand that you've considered maintenance.... And the benefit of planting for them! For best results a planter at least 50cm deep and nearly as much wide to help a tree flourish. Deeper would be better. Keeping a collection of containers of the same/similar material would unify the view. Perhaps allowing a climber up the adjacent wall which faces you when descending the steps? A third container might fit in the corner in front of the downpipe? Although the dimensions of space available would determine if this is possible. The dark colour of the fence is receding and also provides a lovely neutral colour to show off the foliage of the specimen. A very rough sketch is shown here in a version of your photo below. I've just done it on the iPad so is a bit rough and ready. In order to avoid the tree becoming too much of a focal point (you're trying to avoid looking at the building behind) a bold evergreen plant to the left corner next to the steps would draw your eye within the garden. This could then be balanced out with another one to the right of the tree or possibly one up the steps against the fence. This all depends on scale and space available. This would be my first draft concept but might well come to a different response when seeing the garden for real. Happy planting!

Trees can grow incredibly tall and wide 20 ft to 100 ft depending on the species. There aren’t any trees that grow just over 6 feet and no more, unless you try fruit trees that are grafted onto a dwarf rootstock which keeps them small. . However there are some lovel shrubs (multistemmed) that grow 6-10 feet high. You need to check aspect (sunny/shaded) as well as soil type. You can get a tester from garden centres for a couple of quid. You could try Viburnum tinus an evergreen with white or pink flowers in winter. There is Photinia which is also evergreen where the new growth is red and very pretty. Cotinus is deciduous and has lovely purple leaves and frothy flowers in summer.. Lilac (Syringa) is a large very well known shrub with fragrant flowers, although it does tend to spread. My favourite at the moment is Sambucus Black Lace (I’ve just bought one!) with gorgeous Lacey purple leaves and pink flowers. There are so many wonderful shrubs you can plant, but it depends how much time you want to spend tending your garden. The plants I’ve suggested are really easy to grow. I also like holly, but I detest laurel (sorry Jonathan!) - it’s the garden version of magnolia paint. Here’s some pics of my suggestions Sambucus Viburnum Cotinus (purple plant) Photinia

As others have said, if you cut the grass at the back and remove any obvious weeds, then you’ll have your “canvas”. I wouldn’t use a designer as a) I’m Yorkshire and far too tight and b) if you don’t know what you want yet, you’ll be in danger of really going OTT, to find out later, it’s not really you. D never really had a decent garden and moved into a new build over 10 years ago with a landscaped garden, I then filled a lot of gaps as I didn’t take into account, that plants grow. (Who knew?). 5 years later, I realised that I wasn’t that much of a gardener and that spending hours and hours every week tending it wasn’t my plan, so we stripped out loads of smaller plants and simplified it. If you want to sit out and enjoy it with fiends and family but don’t want to spend ages looking after it, then go for shrubs around the edges. If you want a new hobby or to test your gardening skills and like-ability I’d create a tiny herb patch near your door. This will give you an idea of whether you like gardening or not. I wouldn’t try and create your masterpiece in one go. Measure it all and play around with different designs.(PowerPoint worked fine for me) and then do a side at a time. As for your front garden, to be honest I’d tackle that first as it’s what you see every day when you come home and it’ll look lovely at Christmas. Just turf where it is, as I see it already has edging, again just cutting that and treating it with lawn care should be fine for now. A pot either side of the front door and then decide on the driveway. The resin ones do look nice, we have block paving that also looks nice but still has to be weeded and fresh sand brushed in between the bricks every year. Whatever you decide, have fun doing it.

Hi Eve, It looks like you have a very nice blank canvas to work with! The trees are far enough away from the house, and as you said, they don't cast too much shade so they shouldn't be a problem at all. I agree with what was said previously. You should observe the garden space in different times of the day and decide where is it that you would like to sit (Maybe it is the case that you would like to sit with your morning coffee in a spot, and have a barbecue at lunch time at another spot). Once you choose where the seating areas will be, you can determine the planting places. There are plants for every situation from deep shade to hot sun, so this is not a limitation, you will just have to match the right plants with the right places. The only thing with planting that you should consider is if you do want to grow vegetables. Then a place in the sun is advised. I offer a garden sketch that can be done online- a drawing not to scale that gives you an idea of how best to divide your garden to cater for your needs and tastes. This is very cost effective way to have an initial idea when you are stuck. Please do let me know if you are interested and good luck with your new garden!