short term front garden tart up - ideas?

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Our front garden is currently quite dismal, it has concrete paving (fake York stone so they catch all the rain and leaves and dirt) and no planting at all. There is a nice enough brick wall and iron railings at the front and a repro Victorian path (which I don't really like) to the front door. Otherwise it's literally just the paving. About 18/20 ft wide by maybe 7 or 8 feet deep.

I would love to redo it properly but in a few years' time we'll hopefully be doing a building project that will flatten the front garden so I don't want to invest lots of time and money in it at the moment. But I'd like it to look a little bit less unloved...

Any quick/cheapish ideas to make the garden look better in the meantime? Pots would be one idea but I don't want to have to water or move a whole load of pots any time the weather isn't ideal

any help appreciated, I am clueless about gardens.

As it's now coming into Winter there's not a lot you can do other than clean the pavers and add some winter flowering plants in pots or hanging baskets, things like winter pansies ....you could plant some bulbs now...which will flower in spring....so tulips, daffodils, crocus and grape hyacinths....they'll give a lovely show of colour.

Thanks Jitney. Yes some bulbs in pots by the door would look nice, the front door is blue so grape hyacinths or full size hyacinths maybe. or iris. do these flower every year?

What about later on... once it's spring?

Some bulbs flower every year but if you're going to leave them in the pots it puts the pots our of action for the rest of the year. I have some lovely lilies which I hide once they've gone over and bring them out again each spring. You could do get some box balls or something that look nice all year round in a pot? Or standard holly bushes (the ones that look like lollipops?)

If you want something to last into spring you could plant up some pots with a nice spiky sort of something (I'm rubbish with names but cordyline/carex?) with some winter flowering pansies, then in the spring/ summer keep the spiky plant but replace the pansies with something bring and new. You will need to water pots in the summer but there are lots of things that don't need that much watering (make sure you check before buying anything you want to last). Also if you use porous terracotta pots line them with a bin liner or old compost bag before you put the compost in as it really helps stop the water escaping through the sides, use the biggest pots you can and always use that water retaining gel (and slow release plant food).

You could grow a climber in a pot and let it romp across your railings? Rose, clematis, honeysuckle etc?

ICameOnTheJitney is right about cleaning the paving as well. We borrowed one of these off our neighbours and it was amazing, and made so much difference so might be worth the investment?

Sarcococca might be nice in a pot. It's not an exciting looking shrub but it's neat and tidy with smallish shiny leaves. And it has a gorgeous scent in late winter so it's really nice in a front garden at that time of year. The common name is Christmas box but I've found it usually flowers for me Jan/Feb.