Help me with my garden! Amateur alert!

[evergreen7]

Finally (after taking way longer than expected on the inside of the house) we are getting around to sorting our garden. We've had some turf laid and we have 3 areas of slightly raised beds to plant in.

I'm a complete amateur at any form of gardening but would like some evergreen bushes/plants to brighten it up all year round and some general easy to maintain flowers and plants that don't need too much upkeep as I really don't trust myself and would hate to ruin them.

We've been told we have great soil and that most things take to it very well (by lovely elderly neighbour with a beautiful garden).

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Simples

Throw yourself on lovely elderly neighbour's mercy! Seriously, I bet she'd be chuffed to bits. Just ask her if she would walk you round her garden and point out some nice hardy stuff to start you off. As your nearby, you'll then know what does well locally and she might well offer you some bits of things that she needs to divide - gardeners are usually generous people and very happy to spread the love

Good luck!

Oops - assumed you r neighbour was female

Gah! * you're

Second that! Do you know which direction your garden faces? Make sure you're planting for sun and shade to ensure your plants flourish. Do you have fences you'd like to cover with climbers?

I third it. Your neighbour will be made up.

In my very sparse garden I have a camellia which is in full bloom right now, its evergreen and looks after itself really. I also have a pieris which again is evergreen. This weekend I'm on the hunt for a Choisya. I've also developed an addiction to heuchera in different colours.

The supermarkets have been selling plants cheaply recently maybe worth a look.

Check with your neighbour what flowers work in her garden too but for hassle-free reliability, I’d plant a lot of mixed bulbs - daffodils, tulips, little winter irises, crocuses etc and then plant perennials like forgetme nots or wild geraniums over the top. The bulbs come up every spring then the geraniums take over and fill the space, blocking out weeds. Care involves cutting them back at the end of the summer and general tidying. And it means you can have any colours you want.