Please help me fix up the garden

[KeenOrca]

Hi all. I’m trying to fix up my aunts garden but my only experience gardening is cutting the grass!

the first 3 pics are in the front garden. The only problem here is the tree, or what I thought was the tree. Apparently the trees were/are Cyprus trees. But what I thought was the leaves are the weeds that have taken over.
My aunt thinks they are dead and need cutting down but I think they are alive under the weeds. There’s a few spots like in the third pic that looks like the tree growing through the weeds. Can I just cut the weeds down and let the tree come back to life?

Now the back garden. In the 4th pic Is a rose bush that hasn’t bloomed for a couple of years. Is there something I can do to bring this back to life? It has been there at least 35 years.
the last pic is the back garden. I could just cut it all down and leave it but as I was doing this I noticed the amount of bees feeding off the flowering weeds. I left a couple spots as you can see for the bees but they need cutting down too. So I’m thinking to buy seeds and plant flowers around the edge. But I’ve never planted anything before so would like some advice. Something to look good around the edges, something that’s easy to look after and that the bees can feed from. I’m gonna take a trip to b&q at the weekend so any advice is very much appreciated.

Thank you.

What you are calling weeds looks like a Virginia Creeper which someone will have planted deliberately, mainly for its autumn colour. Cypress aren’t very good at growing back from old wood.

the house was rented out a few years ago so I guess they must have planted it. My Nan used to pull it away thinking it was weeds trying to take over.
so I should cut it all down? It would be a real shame as it creates a wall away from the car park.

Those conifers are never going to look good, that's probably why someone covered it in climbers. I'm doing the same on a half dead conifer in my garden. I would leave them be if they're giving you privacy.

Is there any sign of growth from that rose bush? Looks to me like it doesn't have any leaves, which I would expect it to by now.

If you want something easy to look after I would try some shrubs rather than seeds, which will need more maintenance.

Ok so I’ll leave the trees as it looks 100x better than it would with just the wire fence and the car park. I actually think it looks good from the outside especially now I know they are not weeds. But looking underneath and seeing the dead tree isn’t so pretty.

no, no sign of life from the rose bush for a couple years apparently. I just thought I’d ask if they could be revived before I tear them out as it’s kind of sentimental.

shrubs seems more like what I need if they are easier lol. Just want something that looks pretty and feeds the bees.

If the rose has sentimental value I would pull out all the stops before ripping it out!
Providing it is not rocking about when you touch it....in which case the following will probably not save it...
Cut the stems back about 6 inches at a time to see if you can find any green, keep going, within 6 inches of the soil level if you have to.
Clear away any vegetation at its base, loosen up the soil a wee bit, water it, then give it a liquid rose feed, then put down a mulch of bark or compost round the base to keep in the moisture. Give it a good watering once a week over the rest of the summer.
Be patient... it might take a couple of months to see anything happen.
Or it might be a complete waste of time!!
But I would try!!
Good Luck.

If you want something easy to look after I would try some shrubs rather than seeds, which will need more maintenance.
Shrubs will also give some height; the garden is very flat as it is.

When you say 'fix up', what do you mean? It's important to have an idea of what you want from a garden. What does aunt want? - flowers, privacy, seating, water feature, shed, fruit tree, etc, etc.
Don't just rush out and buy the first thing you see; have a concept and a plan. (Actually you can be impulsive with annuals; it's the permanent features that need more thought.)

TYVM, i will definitely give this a go.

Tbh none of us have bothered with the garden before it was always my nan. If I showed you the before picture it was just really tall grass and weeds as it hadn’t been cut since last year.
my initial plan was just to cut the grass and be done with it but being out in the garden I thought I could do more. I’m really just thinking to make it look a bit nicer and have something for the bees. I was surprised how many I see going for the pollen from the flowering weeds. I felt kinda bad chopping it all down.
before coming to ask here I was just planning to get grass seeds and flower seeds and pull the “weeds” from the trees to save them.
Now I’m gonna look for shrubs instead of seeds. I’m going to leave the “virgina creeper” as the trees need to stay at the front as a barricade from the car park. I’m going to get a “mulch” and rose feed to try and save the bush. And I still need grass seeds to fill in the patches.

it will be my first time doing any gardening other than cutting the grass so thank you for all the help.

I was surprised how many I see going for the pollen from the flowering weeds. I felt kinda bad chopping it all down.
Don't feel bad - spring flowers are coming to a natural end now anyway. Move on to summer flowers.

Fingers crossed for your plans and I hope that you get the gardening bug!

I would put in some shrubs -you can afford to have quite big ones as there is the space I would put one in the tight hand corner and two or three in the left -don’t put them too near the fence as they might grow and push against so maybe half a metre away . Philadelphus, buddleia, Deutzia, Kolkwitzia, weigela, fuschia. Check the height they grow as many shrubs are bred to stay small for small gardens. Clear a circle of soil round each shrub and put bark on it or the stems risk being damaged by the strimmer.