Ideas for a low maintenance border, please.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I am a terrible gardener - my mother is a first class gardener and plantswoman, but that gene certainly skipped a generation with me!

Dh and I have done almost no gardening in our garden, but we need to do something with out one border, along the back fence. It is a sunny spot, and currently has a couple of conifers, an apple tree sapling, some rosemary, a bush that has red stems (can't remember the name), and lots and lots of crocosmia (which I want to get rid of).

I want to put in some bushy things at the back - with nice foliage (and flowers if possible), some medium height things in the middle (lavender etc), and something low across the front, to delineate the border from the lawn - maybe sedum.

I spent some time at a garden centre yesterday, just looking at plants to see what I like the look of, and have a list - sedum, astilbe, acer palmatum, some grasses, hebe, a shrub with dark, almost purple foliage, salvia, viburnum, buddelia - but I am sure there are lots of other things I could consider.

Mum has said that, if I send her a list of plants I am considering, she will tell them if they will do OK in my garden.

If you have any suggestions, I would be so grateful - thanks in advance!

I think it's a lovely idea to convert an annual border to something more permanent. Choose a colour scheme, and let us know your conditions (rough location, soil, aspect) and I am sure we can suggest some plants that would fit.

One thing that is useful when planning is to write a list of the months on a piece of paper, and make sure you have something in the right colour that flowers in each one - it really makes you focus on the darker months of the year, which is when you most need the colour! Don't forget evergreens, as these will give you something interesting to look at in the winter.