A WWYD? New garden!

[sparklins]

We've recently moved and have been tackling our new garden which has not been tended to for the past 3 years or so. We have two very long borders which have a few mature shrubs but 60% of the borders was brambles, nettles and other overgrowth which we have pretty much all cleared now.

Please note we are both complete novices!
I am quite keen on looking up some shrubs, evergreens and other plants to fill the new fresh gaps as to avoid having to redo the gaps all over again next summer. I am also hoping to grab a few deals as I have seen sales on in lots of garden centers near us!
DH thinks we should focus on cleaning and sorting other parts of the garden (patio, retaining wall and path - all stuff that's a been green and filthy) and leave planting until next summer.
He thinks we should think longer about what plants we would want in the borders rather than deciding now and he reckons the weeds won't be as bad as they have been this time around because this was obviously untended for years so we can just start again.

I keep thinking that if we don't plant the gaps, some as large as 2.5 meters, we have spent a lot of time for nothing as we will be having to sift and sort again.

Could we please get some advice?

I’m with DH, don’t plant yet. If you want to prevent weeds stick some cardboard down -Amazon delivery boxes or whatever- make sure to take off all the tape and labels and then cover the cardboard with a layer of compost. You can spend the winter making plans and by the time you come to plant in spring the soil will be great.
https://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/expert-advice/garden-management/soil/the-nodig-method

You're right that if you don't plant the gaps, the weeds will plant themselves - unless you put down some kind of anti-weed screen (it wouldn't need to be fancy - thick layers of cardboard weighted with bricks would do the job until next year, and the cardboard will start to rot so you can just dig it in later on.

You will end up doing a lot of weeding for a few years whatever you do, because the weed seeds will have become stored up in the soil.

If it were me, I'd probably put some 'placeholder' stuff in, because bare earth makes me feel sad. You could buy a load of spring bulbs (which are reasonably cheap) and tuck them in, and they would be easily moved later if you so chose. Of course, you couldn't then use weed-proofing.

I'd be slightly cautious of garden centres and garden centre deals. Usually, a garden centre is 1) pricey and 2) not actually very good at looking after plants. What you really want is to find a decent local plant nursery. Broadly, garden centres are the ones with a big cafe and loads of tat to sell, and a few plants out back. You can also buy from online nurseries. Often, they will be cheaper even than the garden centre 'sale' bargains.

FWIW the best time to plant shrubs is in the dormant season (late autumn/winter), though it can be done at any time.

I agree with your DH, take time to decide what plants you want, it’s a bit late for some flowering shrubs, although if you see some for sale in the supermarkets, Home Bargains etc, you should get some. Nothing stopping you just getting a few now to plant and to see how they grow over the winter.

Excellent advice.

Watch the garden for a year before significantly investing.