Planting advice please!

[looloo247]

As a very inexperienced gardener I'm after a bit of advice please. We have a newly built sleeper bed against an existing fence which needs planting. It is 10m long but only 40cm wide, gets a fair amount of sun throughout the day. I'd like some evergreen shrubs but a bit of colour for the summer, it is against the fence so some height would be good in some places too. I literally have no idea other than to fill it with lavender plants and hope for the best!

What kind of look are you going for? Do you like neatness and uniformity? Or more natural and flowing? Are you looking to attract wildlife? Do you want low maintenance or happy with being able to tend to things? All of this will help your decision.

Something climbing would be lovely, a clematis, Rose or honeysuckle, make sure they’re not varieties that overwhelm.
At a lower level some structure In the form of evergreens, but that really depends on the look you’re going for. For colour in the summer, annuals would allow you to change colour palates every year.
If you post back with a look style that you’re aiming for then plant suggestions could be made.

I'm also a new gardener and have bought so many plants for my flower beds since the garden centres reopened.

I'd advise going and having a browse. I've found most plants are labelled well saying whether they are evergreen or not, how big they get and what the best growing conditions are. You can do a quick google on a mobile if you find one you like that doesn't have the info. I ended up with a couple of hebes and euonymus, a pittosporum and choisya that I think (hope!) fit into the evergreen shrub category- but check the sizes as some are bigger than the others.

I've done some research too and read lots of old threads on here but unless you're happy to order online you may not find specific plants that you are looking for.

Good luck!

Oh, and campanula for summer colour (sorry, I fixated on you mentioning shrubs!)

With any shrubs you like the look of, check the eventual size. Many shrubs will grow to a size where they're spilling out of a bed that's only 40cm wide, although some can be kept small by regular pruning.

Thanks, we're looking for something quite low maintenance ideally. It's quite a modern garden look we've gone for but I don't want too minimalist. So modern but with a natural edge maybe? This idea is probably showing how novice I am at gardening