Questions

Please see picture attached,this bed to the left of the path on the way up to our patio is approx 4 yards x 3 yards and contains clay. Could you suggest what low growing low maintenance plants we could plant here that would be suitable in clay and would not grow too high that would block our view from the kitchen window. Perhaps we need to wait until autumn to plant or perhaps we need to change from clay to other soil?

a lot of the garden is covered with grass, as high as 3 foot. I think I get the strimmer & cut the grass to the butt. Do I then take the top layer off before rotavating the soil or do I just start rotavating? Can I start now in the summer? I have help now that the lads are home from college. I won't have it after August and I can't manage it myself. I want to sow foxgloves and lupins to start with & then create another bed for roses & peonies. I have a lot of perennials in tubs & it seems a waste to let the garden go to seed so to speak when the ground could be utilised much better. There is a lot of garden gone to seed (best part of an acre) with trees (mostly apple) dotted around.

I have recently made a raised circular bed in my lawn approx 15 ft in diameter. nothing has been planted yet. i am thinking of something evergreen, that will look good even in winter. the soil here is heavy clay.what wound i put in the middle of the bed. dont want shrubs that will take over. any suggestions?.

I would like to create an area on my lawn which is awkward to mow. It is at the entrance to our driveway. The wall is curved and there would be some shade. I would like something that would not require too much work but would like a bit of colour also and some year round plants.

Could you suggest to me plants/shrubs that would grow in a rocky area that is shaded by trees, plants that spread and don't need a lot of maintances, have already put in heathers and no joy, soil not great in it...would appreciate a few suggestions.

I am nearing completion of my new build (3 weeks away) and have found a small spring about 10 ft from the house which will naturally slope away from house. Any ideas for using this natural feature? My husband sees it as a problem which should be drained away with piping underground (up to €1,000!!), I see it as an opportunity but not sure how to approach. We have just an acre. It slopes to the back away from the house into a shook, so it can easily be drained away but such a wasted opportunity is it not?I would appreciate any ideas - I haven't really started garden planning yet, just a few ideas floating around, and since the bottom 5-6 metres are a softish bog I was hoping for a more natural water feature there (not fighting nature etc etc)I haven't seen it yet as we only discovered this today, but it is only a trickle. I am open minded - stream, pond, bog garden at bottom, using it as natural irrigation around the site......I would appreciate help on where to go from here, so I can stop those pipes going in and do something long term.