North facing front garden ideas (new build)

[PensionPuzzle]

Hello lovely gardeners, I will have a north facing front garden to work with soon, it's only a small patch (drive is down the other side of the house) but I'd like it to end up being one of those gardens you walk past and say 'oh that looks nice' I think the builder will just plop cordylines in it judging by the other houses.

So what would you do, if it were yours? I've some hellebore seedlings on the go and plan to get a load of woodland-type bulbs but I'm all ears for any ideas. Don't mind foliage features, doesn't have to to be flowers. I know the soil will be absolutely awful as well as I can see now what they'll be sprinkling the bare minimum of topsoil onto so I know there'll be work to do there too.

Dry, poor soil and north facing plot, nothing like a challenge hey 😂 also considering just bark chipping it (it has a retaining wall) as we like that in part of our current garden. Maybe even not worth planting much til I've done the soil improvement but would still welcome ideas for what would do well in those conditions assuming I've already done a reasonable job of improving it?

Are you me?! I have a very similar front garden. It's tiny and shady. The shrubs the developers have planted have grown well although a couple are a bit out of shape as they've been straining forwards for the light. I'd love some colour out there. I had some success with some spring bulbs this year but I want year round colour. I thought ferns etc would be my only option but going to read responses here with interest.

The north facing part of my garden has winter sweet, fuchsias, hellebores, bluebells, choisya, primula, a variegated hebe. Soil is poor to chalky.

Oh more ideas, fab! New neighbour sent a pic this week and it looks like it's more northeast than north, which is handy, but there's a big bit that's in complete shade at teatime as well so even though it's small it will possibly have two tiny zones!

I've never dared have hostas before as we have always had a very healthy slug population and no hedgehogs or frogs to eat them but I would like to try them in the new garden. I might just pick up a couple to try, I know we'll lose a few bits and bobs while we're getting to know it anyway.

Did notice as well that one of the other houses has a lovely big pieris so maybe will drop lucky and be given some better plants by the developer than bloody cordylines that look totally out of place!

My Scottish front garden faces north, and is blocked to the east by a neighbour’s ugly large dark conifers, but it does get late afternoon sun from the west. I successfully grow roses, lavender, rhododendrons, azaleas, pieris, hostas, ferns, bulbs (snowdrops, bluebells, lily of the valley, daffodils, tulips), primroses, wallflowers, forsythia, mock orange, artemisia, weigelia, Joseph’s coat, cotoneaster, heuchera, pinks, winter jasmine, virginia creeper, juniper, oregano, snapdragons, cinneraria, cyclamen, holly and sweet peas. I fill any wee spaces with summer bedding like tagetes or nasturtiums. They all survive despite the poor clay soil and north aspect, so you may have a wider palette of plants to work with than you think, OP.