Extreme Makeover - Extreme Novice

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum as you can see but I'm hoping to stick around and get some help off you experts on here regarding hints and tips for my back garden. Background story is, we bought a house 2.5 years ago with a nice and big south facing back garden. The previous owner was retired and she took great care of her garden until we arrived. I'm not saying I neglected it, I mow it all the time, kill weeds prune rose bushes and that sort of thing. My problem is, I'm just not experienced enough when it comes to the workings of the soil, choice of plants for certain seasons and what I can generally do to make things look better and hopefully get the garden back to somewhere near it's former glory. I will attach a before and after pic of the garden and I would love it if you could suggest some things for me. I'm thinking of getting plants planted in the beds that return each year. I already have daffs that are beautiful but they go fairly soon and then I'm left with empty beds which is not attractive at all. Also, the beds are quite flat, there's not a lot of soil, will I plant some suggested plants, throw some compost over these and then finish with some woodchips to keep the weeds down? Would you agree with that? Also, What would you suggest for greener lawns? I seem to have small pale 'hay' like patches on the lawn which take away the look of it. Is there a green feed you can use to brighten these patches up? Finally (for now ), I would love some more rose bushes, how big do you buy these in a garden centre and how long before they bloom into a big rose bush?

Thanks and I really appreciate your time and effort.
Ger

EDIT: IT seems I haven't got a current pic of the garden so I'll post the garden the way it used to look and how I'd like it to look today.

 

The 'before' photograph will help.

Make a list of what you want from the garden - lots of flowers, somewhere to relax, vegetables, children's play area? This might be better than trying to re-create how it used to look like. If the previous owner was an avid gardener and retired, she will have had more time to put the work into the garden than you might have. It would also help if you tell us where you are in the country, how exposed the garden is and how much sunshine you get.

I will say one thing - those flower beds need extending if you want more plants in them!

Edited to add - ah, that is how it used to look!