Help for eager novice

[jollyhollyday]

Hi I'm driving myself mad and hoping for some help as I find there are so many clever people on these threads. I would love to transform my back garden to have colour and shrubs and trees. Currently it is very plain and I don't have much luck with potted plants. I tried to dig holes under the membrane under the stones but the earth underneath seems to be clay? It's really wet and grey. Not the deep brown I was hoping for so I filled the holes back in. I need advice if possible about whether I can plant under the membrane and also for some ideas for fast growing shrubs and plants for the garden. I've attached some photos of this helps at all. Really appreciate any help.

So the quickest way to get colour for this summer is to get big pots and put some bedding plants in from the garden centre.

Longer term, you've probably only got space for one small tree. Crab apple or Sorbus (rowan) are both good for small gardens.

It would also be good to have lots of climbers on the fence - clematis (type III not type I) are good, and Jasmine but not wisteria because it will get too big.

Do you plan to remove the stones & use that area as flower bed? I'd recommend taking off a big area of stones + membrane to have a good look at the earth underneath. If it is clay, you will probably want to add sand / compost to improve drainage. It is worth making an effort to prepare the beds & improve the soil before putting in big expensive things like trees & shrubs. But many of those are best planted in autumn / winter so you have plenty of time to get things ready.

Thank you for that! Yes I would like to remove some of the stones as it seems so bare! I'll get some compost ordered and start to plan where to plant
Thank you

Good ideas from pp. I’d also think of putting in some creeping plants that happily grow amongst stones to make a gravel garden. Easier than digging everything up. These are usually sold for rockeries, such as Aubretia, it’s out now in shades of pink/ purple, Saxifrage, creeping Thyme, Erigeron, creeping phlox and pinks. You will need to dig and make little holes in the gravel, put in a small amount of compost for the plants. They will creep along and multiply themselves.
Lots of ideas and information on the internet.

Am I right in thinking that the garden is either patio, artificial grass or membrane-covered-in-slate-chips! Did the previous people give up because they were bad gardeners or because it was a bad garden? Have your neighbours managed to achieve anything with the wet, grey clay?

I think that you need to adopt a policy of 'do it once and do it right'. Spend time/money on getting the soil better or else you are always fighting a losing battle.

Is the stoney area sunny?
If yes I would plant a Mediterranean style garden trough the stones
Maybe a Bromeliad, an Agave, some Lavender, for some height at the back Eucalyptus gunnii, and some grasses and cordyline.

Thank you all, will be googling and ordering
Yes indeed it's all patio or membrane. The area we are in means most gardens are muddy and retain a lot of water meaning people are left with brown grass so a lot of people have done similar.
My next door neighbour has some bushes growing so I guess the clay must be suitable for plants at some level?

Roses, hydrangeas and hardy geraniums grow well on clay. Before planting fork in some soil improver. Sold in 50L bags in garden centres. Once planted you can top dress with more soil improver each year.

Thank you @Beebumble2
I didn't realise you could do that