Help with climbers, groundcover, well everything really!

[2Happy]

dh and I moved into our house just over a year ago. We've done next to nothing with the garden so we have an idea which plants we want to keep (very few) and which horrible concrete edifices we want to sledgehammer (all!). But neither of us is exactly a gardening expert. We've got Alan Titchmarsh's and the RHS gardening books, but I think we're suffering from a bit too much information IYKWIM!
I was wondering if you lovely MN gardening experts had any really favourite plants you'd recommend, or tips for starting a new garden. We would like climbers front (NE facing) and back (SW facing), and groundcover for a rocky area in the back that's hard to reach for weeding. I'd love things that smell beautiful. Are wisteria/jasmine climbing types easy to care for? What can we do to inject some life and colour into this sad garden of ours?
For info, the back is SW and rocky as I said, the front is NE but the bottom gets some sun all day in the summer, and is lawned which we'll probably put a couple of beds into. And we'll put a veg/herb patch somewhere (is this best in full sun or partial shade?). The soil is good quality, not clay or sandy. Crikey, what a long post! Sorry All suggestions gratefully received!!

[cece]

climbers
wisteria - not really a beginners plant and can take many years before it flowers.
jasmine - don't know
clematis - we grow a lot of these. mile a minute is nice and easy to grow.
russian vines - you'll never stop cutting it back and may live to regret
other
hebe - nice little compact shrubs.
lavender - easy to grow and smell nice
sedums - also nice
acquiligas - self seed and nice flowers
periwinkle - used for ground cover but a bit of nightmare as grows everywhere... you have been warned
creeping jenny - low ground cover OK imy
geraniums - not the bright red but old fashioned ones, lovely summer flowers and comes back every year...
hostas - nice but diffiuclt if you have snails and die back in winter
crocosmia - my favourite but dies back in winter..


hope this gets you started

[Fauve]

I'd go for herbs as ground cover in the rocky, sunny bit. I like variegated lemon balm (melissa), which spreads everywhere, like mad, but IMO is easy to pull up if it spreads somewhere you don't want it. It smells lovely, looks lovely, and you can make a good-for-you tea with the leaves.

[2Happy]

Ooh these are fabulous, thanks very much. Disappointed by the Wisterias - think I am too obsessed with desperate housewives!!!
I've ordered a catalogue from crocus.co.uk, and I'll look all your suggestions up in the RHS book

[hub2dee]

I'd start with structure: architectural shapes to guide the eye; evergreens to ensure it's not bare in Winter.

Also, start with trees: get them in early and you will enjoy them for longer, and get a mature feeling sooner rather than later.