Planting an entire garden from scratch

[FrostHardy]

We moved into a newish house last year and the garden was typical of a new build - poor soil and no living plants at all! We’ve just had 5 planting beds built and filled with tonnes of topsoil and compost. Now I’m looking at a lot of empty space with not too many ideas about how to fill it. I know I’d like to plant a wisteria and some lavender but I’m not sure if it’s even the right time of year to plant them?! I know I can plant bulbs now. Crocus has some ready made borders but I feel that by the time I’ve got my head around it, it’s going to be too cold. Should I just wait until spring to take on the planting?

I'd read the reviews for Primrose Hill Peonies before you order @Harrysmummy246 sounds like a website to get inspiration from before buying elsewhere!

I'm doing similar OP, 2 years ago my garden was an astro turfed wasteland with an empty single raised bed (not my doing!)

Year 1, I cut a very narrow bed and planted lots of pots, along with the existing bed.
This year, we finally got real turf down! And dug two proper beds (one north, one south facing) which I have started to fill. So I'll be following this chat with interest.

I bought a beautiful hellebore to stick in the North facing bed today, which will hopefully give it some structure. I have most of a plan for the spith facing bed, but the north facing is going to be much more hit and miss I think

I would consider how much sun it gets when planning -unless you are in a very dry part of the country most plants enjoy lots of sun but the shady parts are harder.
Also don’t just settle for what you’ve found at the local garden centre. The RHS website is good for giving size of plant once grown but sometimes it’s hard to find that specific plant - also RHS award of garden merit is worth looking out for.