Start with your budget, what is it? Make a plan, gardening is not an overnight transformation, it takes time but that for many of us is the sheer joy of it. A year of all around plant interest is possible in time. I would spend my budget on getting the basics in place, so decide what you want e.g. do you want a patio and large beds and no grass, or some grass? If your local college has an agricultural course running they might be willing to help you as the students would learn a lot here, maybe ask? What is your soil type e.g. is it heavy clay or sandy? Is it acidic, alkaline or neutral, these facts are deciding factors on whether or not plants will thrive. Look at what plants are thriving in your local area that is a good guide to your soil, e.g. if there are lots of rhododendrons thriving near by then the soil will be acidic. If it were me, I would get it all dug up, lay a patio, add large beds (put in lots of fine bark compost), and no grass, just gravel. Work with your site, right plant right place is a mantra for a very good reason (!), there is no point planting sun loving plants if you get little sun so do your research on plants that thrive in shade, one good website is Plantsforshade. I would add lots of trellis to grow climbers as they will give you height and trick the eye into making your garden appear bigger, climbing hydrangeas, star jasmine ( for scent) some roses but choose carefully. Now draw up a year's plan so you can start planting for all year round colour, take your time and it's not daunting. Add attractive tubs (often on sale on our local Facebook!) and and plant appropriate annuals, there is loads of advice on line. Best of luck.

I like the plants Sonia suggested. We can't see the rest of the garden, but I have a feeling it would benefit from some clear shapes. I mean, if you for example give the lawn a clear shape, maybe a circle, and plant around it, it will often make a huge change and look so much better. And it's such a simple thing to do. But I'm only speculating based on the part where the grass meets the path. Also, add loads of organic matter to the soil if you plant your new plants. Lots and lots of compost works wonders.

I’m in a semi detached but might as well be classed as a terraced as there’s no direct access straight through to the garden. The access is difficult as everything would need to taken down a very narrow path (access for small cars to be parked in rear garages) I’ve been told there‘s a lot of manual work which is why the cost altogether is quite high. I’ve been quoted £300 per day for labour and it will take 7days for everything to be taken out completely from the garden. On top of this a minimum of 3 skips costing around £700. The garage is also quite high up and I would need a retaining wall once taken out and landscaping starts. Our budget was around £7k for completing everything but we getting quotes around £9500. 😩

Hi there Sarah, It looks like a nice blank canvas in there! It looks like it is in a slope. Is this area levelled? If it isnt, you should factor in the cost of levelling it out if you are thinking about using it as a seating area as moving soil out can be a bit of a dent in the budget. There are some options to hard paving such as gravel etc. You could also use some of the area for plant beds, which would add interest to your seating area. It is also important to keep the rest of the garden in mind when designing this area so that they are tied together! I offer a range of online based garden design services to fit different budgets. From cost effective simple sketches to full on garden plans with planting schedules. Please have a look at my website for details and portfolio and get in touch if interested. www.therootedconceptgardendesign.co.uk  deborahbiasoli@gmail.com  All the best, Deborah