Landscaping advice needed please

Hi all,
Please see attached image.

Over the past few weeks I have been taking up the turf step by step, and believe me, it's hard work.

Now, what I am wanting to do is plant maybe some connifers and evergreen shrubs.

Once done, I will lay some 20mm stones over it all to prevent weeds (a never ending problem here)

The distance from the end flags to the tree at the back is about 30-35Ft and the dug up section at its widest is about 6Ft

It's an Autumn/Winter project so there's no rush. I need ideas on what to plant and where.
Ideally, I would like plenty of colour and nothing that grows overly tall.
I have done a bit of digging on ebay and Azaleas and Blue Arrow connifers look nice. I'm not sure what else is available though.

Any advice welcome.

Cheers guys

Michael.

 

I'm reading from this - low maintenance - ie. perennials.

Have a look at Rudbeckia - it's bullet proof - only needs a good prune once a year - comes back year after year - lovely flowers - insects love them. Echinacea if you want a wider range of colours.

Or, as I did a couple of years ago - purchase a 'border pack' - something like this:

Ready-made border Fiery summer

Saves a lot of bother sourcing separate plants - but have a good google as I've seen complete borders for far less than the link.

 

One other thing I wanted to say - go for 10mm stone. 20mm stones have large gaps between them which increases the chance of weeds popping through. From my experience, a good thick layer of 10mm stones and you don't need a weed membrane.

 

I wouldn't plant conifers within 40ft of any building or mains services Michael. Their roots are shallow and will spread over that distance, possibly damaging foundations and pipework in search of water. They will also sap the soil of water and nutrients making it difficult to grow other plants.

Here's a link to the RHS showing evergreen shrubs that you might like to consider....

Buy evergreen shrubs: (rhsplants.co.uk)

Quite often wrong plant choices are made for the size of garden, so please consider the eventual mature height and spread, allowing space for them to grow when planting.

I'd be wary of buying from Ebay too. I bought two shrubs on there earlier this year for the first time. Both are not as stated.