Impatient gardener - how long do things take to grow?

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Starting from scratch really as whole garden dug up to put in new septic tank system. Long garden, ancient apple tree plus some new ish fruit trees which survived the mini digger. Plus couple of lilacs. Boundary onto fields mostly blackberry with some blackthorn. Grass has mostly grown back so lots of green, but very boring at the moment.

I've put in a couple of new beds with new shrubs - ceanothus, cotoneaster, fatsia and a few Elaeagnus and Euonymus. Please excuse spelling!

I suppose I could put in some perennials or annuals to give a bit of interest whilst the shrubs grow. How long before they start to fill out? It all looks a bit pathetic at the moment. I know I'm impatient!

Take a picture now, and you'll be amazed at how much they've grown by this time next year! Give it 2-3 years and they'll look full. Then in 5 years you'll be complaining that you are having to prune some of them back!!

Up until April, a lot of plants just 'sit' without putting on much new growth. Things will get going really soon, though!

Filling up the borders with annuals and perennials is a great idea to give you some colour in the summer.

The plants you mention above are slow growing, especially as they're evergreens and young. I feel this spring is slow going so far anyway. Ask advice at a garden centre about filling in with other plants. Good luck.

Brilliant thank you, really helpful.

Bought a few perennials today (hardy geraniums) which I love and should fill in the gaps a little and give some lovely colour.

I can't imagine a time when I'll be complaining that they've grown too much! Looking forward to that though.

Thanks again