Where to start?!

[plus3]

I am a complete gardening novice - can anyone recommend a website or give some advice to what will easily transform quite a bleak garden?

I need borders mostly - fairly low maintenance until I learn the ropes, but would like a bit of colour. I would like to do it myself. Happy with planting pots & hanging baskets.
I would also like to reclaim some lawn back - there is a very large patio which is too much !
TIA

[Methe]

At the beginning! Where else? [:D]

The gardeners world website is very good. Pinterest is fantastic for showing you what you like, and don't.

My only recommendations would be buildings/paths/fences and planting trees need to be done first and learn about the light.

[plus3]

It is a very good place to start

I will look at the gardener's world website - thank you

We might be moving the garage which has the potential to alter the garden hugely, so trees might not go in just yet...it just looks so bare. There is a lot of fence showing at the moment!

[Ferguson]

If you know any of the plants that interest you, pretty well every plant has its 'fan base' and a dedicated web site.

An easy plant to grow, in many different ways, is very colourful, and easy to propagate is the Fuchsia. Thirty years ago we had dozens of different ones:

www.thebfs.org.uk/

www.fuchsiaflower.co.uk/index.htm

The fence might be a good place to support clematis - and there are many varieties of clematis. They like their roots to be cool, so cover with slabs, bark or thick mulch.

www.britishclematis.org.uk/

And this is an unusual community garden, which may give you some ideas. The 'Links' tab gives many other gardening sites:

www.holehirdgardens.org.uk/

[florentina1]

GrowsonYou is a very good gardening website. Amateur gardeners answer questions and post pictures. Also a good idea to order plant catalogogues , Spaldings, Thomson&Morgan and Parkers. This will help you to see plants you like and learn there names.

When I had a new garden I cut out the pictures and names of stuff I liked and took it to the garden centre. I find that staff in the independent nurseries are much more helpful than the big chains.