Please...can anyone help me choose some plants for my spartan garden??

[SpawnChorus]

I've uploaded a pic of the 'garden' for reference. As you can hopefully see, it is tiered with small walls. We moved in last year and still haven't got round to doing anything, mainly because we are utterly clueless.

Should we cut some borders into the lawn above and below each wall (iyswim?)?

Seriously, even the most basic advice would be gratefully received. We're garden numpties

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Can't see your piccies Spawn.
Do you want shrubs or smaller plants?

Bushy plants: rosemary and lavender are tough, scented and attract bees. Geraniums (not pelargoniums) will spread and some types are just non-stop flowering all summer
Heather will ramble nicely over the tiers, so will chamomile

Shrubs/small trees: my favourites are lilac, magnolia stellata, box (first two flower)

Climbing things for the back/sides of the garden: runner beans have lovely red flowers and then of course you can EAT the produce
Sweet peas smell and look gorgeous but I've never had any luck with them . Honeysuckle also lovely but prey to greenfly.

I'm not really much of a gardener but didn't want you to be unanswered

Marina - thank you!! The pic is on my profile...the photo is actually of DS and his granny, but the garden is in the background.

Heather and chamomile sound exactly like the sort of thing I'm after. Should I intermingle other plants among the heather/cham?

Am also going to get lots of nice planters for dotting around the garden.

Further guidance much appreciated

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spawnchorus - we cna't access your profile. Maybe you have not made it public or something? I wonder if you need some trailing plants that would trail over your walls? What about growing strawberries?

I think you have to be careful with euphorbia - the sap can cause skin irritation, so best to plant at the back of a border, where any DCs won't be able to get at it and pick bits.

spawnchorus yo need to make your profile public.

Aha ...is that better? It's not even a very clear picture anyway!

Am digesting all your wonderful advice. It really is invaluable!! Thanks so much

Will most of these plants have leaves throughout the year, or are they deciduous? (I realise I am disclosing the full extent of my gardening ignorance here!!). I do find leafless plants a bit depressing in the winter.

So is that bit where your DS and his granny are nearest the house and a patio and the garden slopes upwards with the shed at the top? Are there steps up to the first lawn behind the people?

I would start with the bit around the shed and maybe get some taller growing shrubs in there. Also think about the sun. Is it sunny on the patio at the right time of day, or would you like to create an alternative seating area? Where is DS going to play?

Then create some borders. It seems like quite a long narrow garden so although borders at the side to cover the fence would be nice, they might make it a bit like a corridor. I think I would make a narrow border above the wall, where things can trail down and a wider border below it where you can plant a wider variety of things.

lavatera is a great shrub for a novice gardener..lots of flowers for a long period, grows fast and you can prune it recklessly and in the right position the kids can hide under it etc

here

may I chip in with a query too?

last night I laid into my very overgrown rosemary (some of the root bit had split and half had died) and salvaged quite a bit - it's very leggy but the ends have lots of healthy looking spiny leaves and even some flowers. should i prune these further back? (the bottom couple of feet of each branch is woody) or will it die?

and what can i put in the gap I've made? it's a very sunny front garden and therefore needs to be something which will reach a similar height to the rosemary and obviously best if it thrives on neglect

rosemary doesn't renew well from old wood as far as i know it is a bit like lavender in that respect....there comes a point when if it hasn't been regularly cut back to generate new stuff it might need replacing if it is very unwieldy

I think that you can get away with just about anything with a rosemary grown in sun. I have a huge one which I have hacked away at, taking off some of the main branches because it was just so big. You can cut the tips to make it more shapely if you want.

Are you wanting a shrub to go next to it?

and you could put lavender with it!

try the french one with the butterfly like flowers or a stubby grower like hidcote

buddleia is easy peasy....again you get a more unusual pink one

zippi I always think of lavendar and rosemary as being similar but have found my rosemary more forgiving of harsh pruning treatment than lavendar. Maybe I have just been lucky?

Agree with bozza about deciding what areas will be used for - flattest area for playing, paddling pool and future position for climbing frame or swing. Could have some climbing plants along the fences, instead of borders. Clematis armandii is evergreen and has scented flowers around now.
The shed is a focal point, you could move it to one side, or add some trellis and climbing plants.

Honeysuckle's a good climber, as is wisteria but neither looks good in the winter.

and of course I meant you could get a pink one

yes I have a feeling that rosemary might be more forgiving there are a couple of common ones an upright one and a more bushy one

I have been sadly gardenless for 7 years so this is the nearest i now get

hydrangea petiolaris is not a climber as such but can be used against a wall fence etc and looks nice all year

if you wanted to break it up with any small trees then a mountain ash would be nice

and a brown fig against the fence

soft fruit canes against the fence?

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OK, I've been googling away like mad, and so far I love the idea of:

Heather
Chamomile
Runner beans (for the fence / shed)
Lamium
Ajuga reptans
Golden hop (for the fence)....does it smell hoppy?
Lavatera - is that a climby plant, or a bush? Could it go in a shady spot? It's v beautiful.

Zippi - can't find pics of a brown fig...does it have an official name? Ficus....erm..brunus? lol!

Jackie- good tip about the euphorbia. DD and DS are danger-magnets

Bozza - yes Granny and DS are on the patio which is by the house. It's quite shady on the patio (North facing garden, I think) but last summer that was A Good Thing. DD has a sand/water play-table onthe patio, and we have a small table and chairs. It's sheltered from the wind, so although shady it never seemed to chilly to sit out in the summer.

There are steps up to the garden on the right (can't see them in the photo).

Totally agree that side borders would make narrrow garfden too corridor-y, so am focussing on plants like golden hop, ivy? clematis?

Mintchoc - yes, a trellis would be a good idea for the shed.

We have a greengage tree next to the shed, so it's generally a bit shady in that area. Any ideas for a shade loving climber for the end fence?

Finally - any ideas for rose bushes? Partic climbing ones for the fence. It gets a lot of sin there.

Thanks again for all this advice. You lot deserve medals, you do