Designing garden area

[UtterlyUnimaginativeUsername]

There's a patch of my front garden that I want to change. It's roughly oblong, 22m wide by 10m deep, more or less. At the moment it's got various mature shrubs (some viburnum, buddleia, photinia, smoke bush, and some more that I can't remember the names of. There are also a few conifers of various shapes, some taller and skinner, some more rounded. There's a mature whitebeam tree, 5 young apple trees and 2 young pears. In between, one end is halfway respectable grass and the other is 50% moss, 50% dandelions.

What I really want to do is have a windy path across the width of it, and fill the rest with planting: medium and small shrubs with flowers and berries for wildlife, nice straightforward perennials and annuals that'll reseed freely. I'm not fussed about tidiness, if things want to carve themselves out a wee niche far from where I planted them, they're more than welcome. Except lawn - that can feck off with itself. I've more than enough elsewhere.

Is this feasible? I don't really have much of a clue what I'm doing, and I don't want to make a terrible mess. I don't mind maintenance as long as it's not complicated; I'm fine wheelbarrowing tonnes of compost around but very technical pruning would be a no!

I would say that's very feasible. In fact it sound lovely. I would keep most of your existing shrubs and trees and start with planting your new border that will be where your lawn is now I presume. All the shrubs you mention will regrow even if they are cut right back if you think they are too big for your current plans.

I'm definitely keeping everything that's there - the only thing going is the brambles that keep invading from the hedge across the road. I won't give garden space to things that are actively trying to kill me, generally.

I don't think anything's too big, really. So far.

Sounds lovely.

I would start with the area that is moss and dandelions and keep the respectable grass for now until you've got the rest established. Be careful with annuals as I find they leave space for the weeds to grow and they need a lot of sun and water. Find 3 or 4 plants you like and that grow well near you and repeat plant them. I think some climbing roses would be nice.