How to brighten up this tiny, drab front garden ?

[mechanicalpencil]

Hello!
Any suggestions for this small front garden space please?
It looks a bit drab and I would like to brighten it up with maybe flowers in pots.
I would also like to put in something along the border to next door’s garden.. maybe small potted conifer types or a small type of fence/divider.
Any ideas gratefully received!

is the picture the whole garden or does it extend to the right hand side more?

Im a big fan of pots because you can move them around and weed them easily.
You could fix some trellis to the wall and grow something up that, either dug into the ground or from a pot at the bottom for flexibility

That's a definite pot spot. Does it get much sun? Are you looking for something permanent or are you happy to change plants with the seasons?

Thanks @soupyspoon @olderbutwiser
yes, that is the entire “garden”!
I like the idea of pots, a trellis sounds great!
I don’t mind whether permanent or not, I don’t mind changing plants with the seasons.
It gets a nice bit of afternoon sun.

It looks like a perfect spot for a small rockery. It would enable you to hide the pipes and drain cover too. Along the neighbouring border you could place a row of small raised spotlights directed towards highlights in the rockery.

plants are generally happier the more soil, water and sunshine they get. So a pot (not much soil) by a wall (which creates shade and shelters from rain) is harder to grow in than eg an open, sunny garden. That means you need the biggest pots (plastic is fine) and the most bombproof plants you can find.
see if you can find one or two really big pots, if possible considerably bigger than the one on the edge of the paving.
Plants that have done well for me:

• geraniums, they die back in winter but keep coming back and are very tough
• sweet box (sarcococca), in flower at the moment, smells wonderful. Not exciting to look at but lovely glossy green leaves.
• star jasmine, likes to grow up a trellis
• bay tree, unlike other trees this one doesn’t mind a pot and will just stop growing once it’s got no more room.

I’ve had real failures in pots by walls with various other things eg roses, honeysuckle, sweet peas. I had high hopes but they needed more than they got.

Do you have a tap in the front garden? If not, make sure you plant things that are happy in dry conditions. Pots need a lot more frequent watering than open ground, and watering them is a faff if you don’t have a tap or hose. The bigger the pot, the less frequent watering needed.

Is your NDNs garden the same size? If you are friendly with them I wouldn’t necessarily put a fence in such a small space - it will look lovely as a collaborative effort.