Clueless beginner gardener - help!

[MagsMagnolia]

I've decided that this is the year I get into gardening at the grand age of 51. We are blessed with a long narrow front garden in a seaside location (West Wales). We have a narrow border the full length of the garden with a few shrubs, an apple tree and a plum tree and a very neglected, mossy and uneven lawn. The border has a fence at the boundary and the other side has a huge hedge. I'll try to attach a diagram of sorts or a photo if I'm able again now.
I do enjoy getting out in the garden but up until now this has consisted of power weeding and trimming back the hedge. I have no knowledge, don't know what I should be doing or planting but have dreams of a lovely well stocked garden where I can sit and drink tea on a ~rare~ sunny morning.
Can anyone help or suggest how/where to learn? I feel a bit overwhelmed!!

Still can't post pictures - will try again later

Long narrow gardens usually need to be divided into zones so you don't look from one end to the other like a bowling alley. Small specimen trees or little clumps of shrubs, and somewhere to sit part way down. Is it flat?
Chris Beardshaw answered a question about this in Gardeners Question Time. He suggested putting focal points on either side, zigzagging down the garden one side then the other with a final focal point at the far end. It fools your brain into thinking the garden is wider.

It's never too late to get into gardening.
You may do both of these already but if not, become a regular watcher of Gardeners World (BBC TV) and a regular listener of Gardeners Question time (Radio 4). Both are informative and inspiring for gardeners new and old.
Consider whether you want a big re-landscape, (and can you pay a professional to design and do), or if you're happy to potter and do but by bit and learn by doing. I've always just pottered and gradually you learn by doing.
If you can, come spring or summer, visit open gardens (look up National Garden Scheme). Visit other gardens to work out what you like, then try it in your own place.
As the previous poster said, it's good to break up long narrow gardens with things to draw the eye from side to side if you see what I mean. Gardening is a long game. Good luck, enjoy!

To start within you're in west Wales and on the coast, you're going to be mild, so can probably grow quite tender stuff. Wind might be a problem, and your soil might be sandy. If you choose the right plants, I'd say you have a pretty privileged location for a garden.

have dreams of a lovely well stocked garden where I can sit and drink tea on a rare sunny morning.
This is a good start. You need to know what you want from your garden because how else will you know what to prioritise?
Can anyone help or suggest how/where to learn?
I have learnt that the important thing is not "well stocked" but "well designed".
I like Alexandra Campbell's videos, she is great at explaining gardening in a knowledgeable but accessible way. She has a video on long narrow gardens as well as other videos on all manner of subjects (including seaside gardens and well-stocked gardens!)
The other important thing is "right plant, right place". You can have all sorts of wonderful ideas but if they don't suit your garden then they won't work. You have to do what your soil and aspect (direction and strength of sun) will allow or you will be forever fighting against your garden.
Good luck!

Thank you so much! That's definitely given me a start point. You're right @Bideshi that it's fairly mild (rarely get a hard frost) but we do suffer in the wind at times. Soil is relatively good I think but sandy when I dig deep. Can't afford a landscaper and actually would like to see the fruits of my own labour as it were - not afraid of a bit of hard work, but just lack confidence! I'll have a look at that video and I will post a pic or diagram as soon as we're able to do that again.

This is the garden - any suggestions?

Where does the sun hit at different times of the day - for example do you get evening sun, if so where? Can you put a table and chairs there for evening sun?
(Obviously you'll get more sun in the summer but I'm presuming you've lived there a while so may know).
From there I'd consider views from the house - what can you see for example from a kitchen or living room window - if appropriate use those as the focal points to inspire designing a 'view'.
For me I'd think about trees, I'd put one in at the end maybe, and a couple of smaller ones around the middle of the length to break it up.
Straight lines are rarely good so I'd increase the size of the bed on the left but in lumps, if you see what I mean?
If you're up for changing the path I'd meander that through the garden a bit. It's all those straight lines you want to visually break up basically.
What a lovely project for you to have! Enjoy

Don't take this pic literally but breaking up the straight line of the left bed will be a good idea

I think we need a re-set. We are all used to thinking about back gardens but this is a front garden.

1. It is standard advice to not have a straight-line path in a long, narrow garden but, instead, to introduce a sinuous, meandering path. However Postie / Ocado is not going to thank you for that! If that path is up to the job (no slip / trip hazards) then you might be better off keeping it.
2. You said that the lawn is not the best. Presumably it's a faff traipsing the equipment round to the front so maybe you should forgo the lawn altogether and have something else instead. Look into Cottage Garden design; they don't have lawns (loads of video on YouTube). But they are quite 'busy' so you may need some sort of compromise between this aspect, Point 2, and the next one, Point 3.
3. Try to keep the garden fairly low maintenance. This is the front of the house so any slacking is going to be on show to all the neighbours! One of the easiest ways to be low maintenance is to repeat plants: if you have loads of different plants with different requirements then that is hard work but if you have only (say) roses and lavender then that's only two regimes to follow. You can get more adventurous in future years as you get more into gardening.
4. I think that it is an idea to consider kerb appeal. Look at your house architecture and marry the garden to that. Copy shapes (e.g. roof lines, front door design) into the garden. Copy the colour (of brick / stone / paintwork) into the garden.
5. Don't just design your garden for your dreams of tea-drinking on a sunny morning. Design it for the rest of the year, too. Make it interesting in all seasons by using hard landscaping (paths, walls, terraces, arches, seating, water features, etc). Have evergreens, put in winter bulbs (daffs, ofc!), etc.

@StillSittingInACornerIHaunt fantastic thank you! You literally drawn what I'd thought for the border but wasn't brave enough to crack on with it! Love the tree idea too.
Thank you so much x

@senua yes! It's a long enough path already and the postman will definitely not enjoy a meander, no matter how beautiful the garden ends up looking! Thanks for your advice, especially about keeping it simple to begin with 🙂
I'll update at some point and show what I've done!
Thanks again for all the contributions x

Ah... I'd missed that it was a front garden sorry! Yes I agree the path should stay straight. And whilst I still think adding trees is good, where they are placed really depends on views from the house, what type of street you're on, etc.
If it is a front garden, are there others on the street that you really like? No harm in being inspired by others on the street.