Care to help me how to improve my garden and add greenery in there?

[littlecrystal]

I have a fairly bland (and small) garden, mostly patio with soil beds on either side and a narrow soil strip next to the back fence.

My plants are currently quite random. One side: magnolia tree, some conifer and small evergreen azalea. Another side: several roses ranging from very small to very big, some yellow-blooming bush, small Japanese acer, small lilac bush, small peony, lavender, small climbing jasmine.
The plants range from very small to 6ft tall and this makes it look very random and bland.

I recently tried to sell my house (did not sell in the end) and couldn?t help but notice how bland my garden looks in the picture. If you care enough look for the garden picture here: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41162783.html

Ideally I would like to have up to 6ft greenery all around fences, to balance it out in size (not to have big-small-big-small-big plants) and some small plants/flowers so the soil is not visible.

Ideally low maintenance, evergreen, distracting from neighbours and fences, and it would be nice to attract some birds. The garden is west facing.

Any advice would be very much appreciated, TIA!

Sorry the link here

Something like a climber over that back fence, maybe Boston Ivy?

TBH that patio kind of takes over the garden, could you change it? Or at least widen the borders, and make it a bit smaller?

From a non-plant pov, how about getting some nicer garden furniture? A lovely big teak type table, more in the middle than shoved down the end? Then you can sort of 'dress' it when people come round with table cloth, flowers, candles etc.

Also think what you want it for - entertaining? Play area? Or simply to help sell the house?

Paint the fences green, maybe the shed too?

I'd definitely add a few pots for seasonal colour. In fact when you put your house on the market next, you could pop to the garden centre and buy some pots with currently flowering plants in them.

Putting your chairs and table in the centre of the patio would definitely help, as the pp said. For the look of it, I prefer wrought iron style furniture, but yours looks more comfy.

Some wigwams of runner beans in the borders would give height and colour (and beans!) if you're after a quick fix.

What do you think about painting the fences a light colour to increase feeling of space while your trees grow? I'd defo paint the concrete borders white to break up the grey.
I've seen some 'garden art' and mirrors for garden walls, have a look on line and see what you think.
I'd definitely get some solar powered lights for trees and maybe the planter types for the borders.
Paint the patio furniture in bright colours/ get cushions and umbrella.
And don't forget the cocktails!

Putting a load of bright flowery bedding plants in would brighten it up for the season. Things like pansies, primroses, daffs, etc are usually cheap and you just plonk them in.

I agree treating the woodwork with green would smarten it up and add some green. You could attach some trellis to the back fence and plant some climbers like honeysuckle?

I have just put some bright coloured solar lights in my borders, DS picked them at asda so they aren't particularly classy but they look bright and family friendly.

Oh yes paint the shed! We did ours like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?start=125&sa=X&hl=en&biw=1246&bih=774&tbm=isch&tbnid=FhF_RgEYA3lqNM:&imgrefurl=www.craftsmanshed.com/sheds.html&docid=A1pmg_uWnkgBBM&imgurl=www.craftsmanshed.com/images/TNsbig/BlueShed.JPG&w=750&h=562&ei=2Y2DUfPHA6aL4ASRoIBg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=125&page=5&tbnh=140&tbnw=196&ndsp=31&ved=1t:429,r:50,s:100,i:154&tx=81&ty=91" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this, its just a cheap shed but looks much, much better now. In a small garden like ours (& yours!) every little bit needs to look good, so a boring brown shed is a bit dull.

Oh, that's lovely, Pootles.

My house is not for sale anymore (change of circumstances), so I am not sure if the suggestion for fancy patio furniture are relevant?
True, my eyes long for green, I am off to researching all your suggestions.

Do all climbers need a net/trellis? (that wooden squared thing)

Are there any 6ft shrubs that would grow tall but not wide and are evergreen (and have orange berries for birds)? I am thinking this for my back fence.

Depends what you want, if you want it to look nice for entertaining etc, it is. If you're happy with your furniture, then obviously thats fine!

Garden furniture is ridiculously expensive.

I have just painted my shed willow green. I bought it in wilkinsons and it is their own brand and just as good as the Shades range. A £10 tin was enough to do the whole shed with 2 coats.
Then a couple of pots by the shed with some bedding plants.
In the beds some Hebe Veronica , Buddleia, Hydrangea and Choisya Sundance would look nice.

Lots of different plans make a small space look smaller. I'd go with mass planting in both side beds of something tall and narrow (and ideally evergreen for privacy) like bamboo. Then large feature pots for seasonal colour. If the shed isn't essential (ie you can live without it) I'd turn it into a little summer house for a bit of extra space when you want to use the garden and it's not great weather.

Plants! Not plans...

How can I make something like <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=artificial+grass+on+patio&um=1&sa=N&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=Z3-IHI1AIFFDcM:&imgrefurl=www.synlawn.ca/photo-galleries/roof-deck-patio-installations/&docid=uHcYirRzmQaMiM&imgurl=www.synlawn.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/synlawn-roof-deck-patio-installations/new_york_artificial_grass_rooftops_3.jpg&w=1024&h=768&ei=5pmDUeqxOcHDhAeU0IGQBA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=569&vpy=2&dur=4337&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=151&ty=97&page=4&tbnh=115&tbnw=169&start=36&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:39,s:0,i:208&biw=1011&bih=444" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this or possibly <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=artificial+grass+on+patio&um=1&sa=N&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=XT8ZTzNWKb1fmM:&imgrefurl=rhsblog.co.uk/%3Fp%3D884&docid=YorPPm_7IZHi3M&imgurl=rhsblog.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/wave-brick-patio-london-paving-company-fake-grass-easy-lawn-anewgarden.jpg&w=640&h=384&ei=mZqDUZunIca47AaQrYCAAw&zoom=1&biw=1011&bih=444&iact=rc&dur=951&page=1&tbnh=156&tbnw=286&start=0&ndsp=9&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0,i:91&tx=223&ty=58" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this ?

Both pictures are with artificial grass....