Front garden from scratch

[Hughfearnley]

We've had a driveway done and in the process had our front garden area flattened so we're pretty much starting from scratch. The garden bit is raised up about 60 cm behind a retaining wall and measures about 3m by 4m
There were a whole load of mature but straggly shrubs in there before. We need a combination of height to provide privacy (but obviously not too high) and ground cover. I would like it to be as low maintenance as possible.
I had got as far as thinking I would like some sky rocket conifers and perhaps another conifer that is a bit wider and not quite as high, possibly some Hebes, ground cover conifers but other than this I am completely lacking in inspiration. One problem is that we had to have a soak away drain fitted in one corner of this patch so I suspect that area could get a bit wet at times.
Please help. Am looking for inspiration! It's nice to be starting from scratch but a bit daunting!

If you're looking for low maintenance evergreen shrubs (and the plot gets some sun) try Ceanothus thrysiflorus repens which will spread nicely over the wall with blue flowers in the spring and there are several types of Abelia which flower in the autumn and have reddish tints to the leaves. Both these would contrast well with your Sky Rocket but go easy on too many other conifers! Also try Photinia Red Robin or similar which can be pruned to keep a compact size and promote bright red new foliage.

Thanks! Photinia great idea and has now been purchased! Decided against a sky rocket in the end and went for a couple of bushier conifers which will get to about 2m, a selection of smaller conifers, and some ground cover conifer a rosemary, and a vinca. Got some Helibores for around the soak away drain which may be wetter than the rest of the garden so we'll see how they do!