Help a newbie breathe life back into small paved garden (with diagram!)

[Confusednovice]

Hello! Hoping you experienced Mumsnet gardeners can help me out :)

Recently moved from a flat to a house, with a fully paved over garden (was previously rented so low maintenance for tenants I guess) but its pretty grim to look at......

We have ripped up the main section of it, to put turf down (don't mind a bit of mowing, and its nicer for the dog!) but I really need your help to decide how to plant up the rest of it! The diagrams show 'before' and then what I'm thinking for 'after'. The aspects are the actual aspects, so basically the right hand side of the diagram is the south facing side.

Googling is a bit overwhelming with so much advice for aspect, soil type, cottage, mediteranean etc etc I don't know where to start! So here goes...

• what to plant in the south facing bed? I'm really keen for things that attract bees/butterflies. and its against a tall fence so maybe a climber? but the bed will also be pretty narrow because of the step.

• year round interest would be nice

• Things that are quick to establish would be nice (this isn't a forever home, probably 5 years or so) although i'm thinking a rose in a container might be nice that we could take with us eventually.

• Should I plant up the left of the new turf area too? this is north facing.

• What trees are nice in containers? will they survive?? I don't really want to plant in the ground as the garden is quite small.

• What plants for the beds that are either low maintenance or completely fool proof. i.e. I don't mind some maintenance but don't really want a mixture of plants with all sorts of different requirements that I have to remember. (First baby arriving June so will be pre-occupied too)

• any other hints, tips or ideas welcome

THANK YOU!

p.s. I dont have the budget or energy to rip up the triangle enclosed by sleepers, hence planning pots in that area

Couple of questions for practicality: you're going to have a lawn that's about 5m x 3m - that's pretty tiny, how do you plan to mow it etc? do you have access down the side of the house or is it all through the house?

Do you know what's under the bark in the triangular bit? can you plant right into it rather than have containers on the top?

Do you have a tap close by or (better) somewhere you can collect rainwater into a waterbutt for watering the plants?

The bed on the south facing side is going to be what - 20cm deep? It's pretty tight and the soil under is going to be absolute rubbish so be prepared to have to dig in a decent amount of soil improver.

Given you're not that into gardening and given the width of that bed I'd definitely agree on a climber or two for the fence. Couple of clematis would be nice, choose ones you cut back every year as that will keep them under control. In my garden the plants the bees love best that I'd recommend for the space you've got are crocus (can shovel bulbs in this autumn among everything else), the hyssops (agastache, always have bees on them), verbena bonariensis, any of the scabious, foxgloves (poisonous so you need to decide how you feel about that). Shrubby salvias too, and there are loads of them that are really pretty (check out Hotlips and similar in the other colours).

Aim for NOT 'one of each', be very very selective.

Thank you @Purplewithred - great to have a selection of plants recommend to start with. Will do some googling of those tonight :)

I know it will be a small amount of grass, but really want it for the dog and small child in a few years, plus all the other gardens in our row have grass.

We have side access, an outdoor tap, and a water butt! Plus outdoor plug for small basic mower.

The hardcore has all been removed and there is decent soil underneath. We've got a tonne of new topsoil ready to dig through it on the weekend. I think the right hand border will be about 50cm so a bit more to play with but will stick with climbers and maybe one or two types of shrub

Good points made above. I’d think about rounding off the lawned area so that the flower bed (s) ( try to put one on the other side as well) are wider at the corners and the lawn a attractive shape. This gives you opportunity for larger plants.
Low growing plants for easy maintenance could be Hebes, crainsbill (hardy)geraniums and penstemons. Persicaria is a good plant that attracts many insects, has a long flowering period and covers the ground in awkward places.
Acers ( Japanese Maples) are good in pots, but you must plant them in ericaceous compost, easily obtained from Homebase. I grow eucalyptus and bamboo in large pots. The eucalyptus has pretty green/ grey leaves and the bamboo is lovely in the breeze.

Don’t forget, next Autumn to plant some bulbs to enjoy next spring.

Although it was more expensive I bought a rechargeable battery mower which I absolutely love on my little laws, so much easier than a corded one. Lovely to have access and water, makes so much difference!

Things that are quick to establish

Beware of fast-growing plants. It might be better to buy an adult plant that won't grow much bigger.

I'd put shade loving plants on the north-facing bed, or summer annuals.