Advice or ideas on narrow garden landscaping, partitioning and dealing with a raised patio

Scribbles indicate what I want to do asap.

The removal of the trees has just accelerated this. I've not been happy with any of it since I've moved in, but I'm at a loss on how to articulate what I want and how to make it happen.

The issue is how bare everything is. Can see the wall, can see the trellis, can see the entirety of the fence on the left side. I can't seem to hide any of it.

 

I think you may find that asap and gardening don't really go together.

 

I know, but I need to put the plants in for them to grow. The longer I wait, the longer the wait for full size plants will be.

I've been here 3 years now and have done a lot of work on the garden including plants, raised beds, widening the borders. But it's all still so bare. I need to flood it with some plants in one hit to get things moving.

 

@Dan1981, thanks for the latest photos and plans, your dilemma is much clearer now.

How about using some of those left over bricks to increase the height of the curved bed to say a metre or just over high, Then you would be able to plant something that would grow around 2-3 metres high which would help solve your problem. If you want an evergreen to give you all round cover, you could think about a single laurel bush which is quick growing and fairly dense.
I'm sure the others could come up with more plant suggestions.

I would also suggest some clematis or honeysuckle to cover the trellises.

 

I already removed two laurals because they were incredibly dense, hard to prune, and nothing could be planted near them or under them because they sucked all the moisture and nutrients out.

 

Ok, I'll have another think!

 

I appreciate the replies so far.

I am getting deeply frustrated inside because it feels like I'm getting nowhere.

I have spend several hundred on plants over the last 3 years yet the garden looks as bare as ever.

I just don't know what to do to fill it out.

 

What about a photinia pink marble, they are relatively fast growing but not as dense as a laurel.

 

Ive not long bought some Photinias but the larger ones are £60 each which only gets me one plant so I bought 5 smaller ones instead, but obviously will take ages to get bigger.

 

Griselinia littoralis is a good hardworking shrub. We have a few in our garden, mainly in front of fences and one at a corner at the front of the corner to block out neighbours when they are coming and going along their driveway. In the three years they have been there we have pruned them down many times to a manageable height( for us).( 6-8 feet) If left alone I would imagine they would be quite large by now. Evergreen, dense foliage, grows outwards as well upwards.Lovely little white flowers( tiny). At our last home we found a birds nest ( finished with) after one pruning. Little,,if any, maintenance.
We are in clay ish soil here, west facing. At old home we were south facing and heavy soil. In Both situations the shrubs have thrived.

 

I've suggested this idea to others in the past, it's worth thinking about and you'll be able to plant underneath.

pleached trees images - Search Images

 

That's what I've been saying @Plantminded - change the patio.
That's a more expensive option though, but the simple solution I suggested re a corner pergola/screen would also solve the problem at minimal cost - just a bit of diy. Where the little bit of trellis is in one of the pix - put a 6 foot one across that area [or create one with battens as I described] which would then be joined up to the existing boundary fence/screening, with some battens across the top for a climber [planted in the adjacent bed on the lower level] and you'd have the view altered right away. It would also solve the serious issue of that drop to the lower level.
Repeat on the other side of the patio, and you have plenty of privacy on that patio.
The rest of the garden can then be addressed later on.

 

I have a bit of an aversion to climbers as they are very flat rather than having volume.

But I get the idea of having something sitting on the edge of that wall.

A 6 ft square trellis would immediately help the situation, but the climbing plant would still take a while to grow the full 9ft from the soil level below.

I was also thinking of making a large rectangular planter and putting some grasses and conifers in. Planter would be 2m long, 0.5m high and 0.6m wide. Could take a fair amount of plants?

If I make the planter it would be pretty solid. A shop bought piece of trellis on the other hand is pretty flimsy. Could I make a better upright screen, perhaps something attached to a built planter?

 

If anyone has example photos or websites of trellis structures that would be great. I'm willing to spend a bit on materials and build something sturdy.