Don't know where to start with my first garden

[Simpsonsfan]

One third patio, two third stones. No grass at all. North facing. I do not know where to start with making it look nice! I guess pots but I don't want them to look random

i would start by looking on Pinterest, put in landscape gardening . Screen shot or bookmark thing you and what will emerge is a style that you favour.

i have been gardening a very long time but when I had a garden makeover 4 years ago, I found the best help came from this forum. I had great fun charting my makeover progress with mumnetters.

Once you find your style, they will help you with practical details.

Too early to be coherent. I mean screen shot things that you like

I agree, you need to search for designs and start to collect together ideas.

Best to think about the shape/structure first, and then add the detail. You also need to work out where the sun is - even north facing will have sun.

I love pots, but they do take a lot of watering and are actually quite high maintenance.

I would get a landscape gardener to make a plan. You can always do it in stages then as money allows but, at least, you know where you are heading. And l like random pots..hate organised, set ones. I just plant everything l like but l do stick to a colour palette of pink/ white/ purple and blue. No red, orange or yellow and lots of foliage. The rest of my garden is low maintenance so this is my fun bit. As you already have a patio you could start there while the work on the rest happens.

The best ways to stop pots looking random are.
Use all the same pots and vary the plants.
Choose very similar plants. For example, ferns which are great in a shady garden or varieties of cypress and heathers then have free range for the pots.
Use different sizes and styles of pots but stick to the same colour
i always think that pots looked better grouped together rather than place individually.

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Think about what you want to do in the garden. Find where your sun is - likely to be the end furthest from the house. Make sure you can have a “work” area - bags of compost, pots that are yet to look their best.

There’s lots of plants that cope with shade, not just ferns. And if you’re anywhere that’s getting really high temperatures, a shady garden is a blessing

Personally I’d have to start clearing a small section of stones, lifting the membrane if there is one and seeing what the soil’s like underneath. I’ll garden in pots if I have to, but I hate the constant watering and feel like I’m constantly fighting to make things survive, they very rarely look really happy until I put them in the ground.

The issue you might have if it’s a new build is that there’s likely a lot of rubble underneath and no topsoil to speak of. Not impossible to fix, but harder.

Pots can be hard work OP. They require constant watering and other maintenance and as PP says, you need to be thoughtful about what you grow in pots if you want it to thrive. I'd second the idea of seeing what's under the stones.

Can you post a photo of the garden?

Container garden is slightly more challenging and where MN experience will help. It is less of a problem in a shady garden. I love container gardens because a lot of plants look better in containers and raised off the ground. I find them easier than plants in the soil.

Grouping plants together cuts out a lot of the need for watering. Use broad leaved plants to shade the smaller ones and use your garden stones to prevent evaporation

I've got a shady paved area and it is one of my favourite part of the garden - partly as it needs less watering!

If you can put stuff in the ground it is much easier. Also think about whether you can put big containers in - I've got a couple of large wooden planters made by a local charity who also delivered. They have ferns in them.

I've also got acers in pots, a fatsia spiderweb, brunnera, Hakonechloa macra grass, a climbing hydrangea going up the wall and hostas.

Google north facing yards - there are some excellent ideas.