Margaret, the design of your garden is anything you want. It should be labour saving. Look around your area to see what other people have done or have had done. The design is one expense, laying it out can be costly. On this site there are many people who will be ready to help you as I am. What size is the area, North, South or any other angle. Do you want it formal or natural. These are a few of the things needed to start with.

im doing the same and everyone here has been most helpful,just go with the flow margaret and see what catches your eye

Start with a bit at a time; a corner, a border ~ don't try and do the whole area at once; think of a colour ~ multiply it by many............ The garden is only limited by your imagination, so just close your eyes and let your inspiration begin. No-one can tell you what you want; your garden is your personal area. I wouldn't dream of telling you how to decorate your house, just as I wouldn't dream of telling you how to design your garden. All I will say is to take a look at gardens in the surrounding area, see what is growing well there, if you like it consider it for your garden. It's a good starting point. You are at a very exciting stage of any garden ...........all the plants and shrubs are there waiting for you to make your choice. Happy gardening, and please keep us posted on your progress.

Thank you to all of those who responded will take on board

Regards
Margaret

I would just add Margaret that having a good browse at the bookshop or your library for ideas - especially if you find one with lots of nice photos to inspire you!
If you're not yet a very experienced gardener, or your time for spending out there on maintenance is limited, I'd also say definitely go for plants that are not too fussy to start off with. Try jotting down the ones that you like in each season - eg daffs or bluebells in late Spring, and see how you get on. Some people on here have seeds to swap with you, and another tip is that sometimes at open gardens or nurseries you can get bargain plants.

Another consideration is what type of soil do you have? If not sure, post a photo on here or ask a good gardening neighbour.

Take it a step at a time and enjoy yourself!

taking the time to think about what you actualy want from your garden is a big part of design.will you want it easy maintanace ,minimalistic,realy busy,cottagy , tropical,do you have children,do you like water or fish formal , flowers or shrubs i think its possibly the most importent part . id do some sort of scrap book of all the things you like and mite need from your garden .then i would maybe pick the top few ideas you like the most and are most importent to you . the rest will just happen . if your doing any raised beds and soil moving i would design that first as you can the probably think of the plants and take your time over them.

it would be worth going to chelsea flower show or quite a few garden centres and photogragh things you realy like .

Wow, Margaret there are at least 6 people on this site just as excited as you are about replanning your garden!
Sometimes things don't have to be scary costwise and unexpected savings are possible. We're going to put an extra bit of path in our garden, and I'd been thinking I'd get someone in to lay pretty brick, or to concrete it properly. Well, yesterday on a whim I went to the local DIY builders' yard and found some good edging stones at half price, have also bought anti-weed membrane stuff and a bag of bark to start off with. My son and I are just going to experiment and probably save a small fortune.

thers more than one way to skin a cat especialy in gardening .

: o )