Maybe the ground is not good - had poision or weedkiller spread excessively on it.

Thanks for that what would you suggest I do

Hold on there - what do you mean, they've all died? What were you growing there? Was it perennial plants and shrubs, or just annuals? When you say you're a novice, not sure whether you mean at gardening or at website stuff, but if its gardening, perennials are plants which come back year after year, shrubs remain above the ground but may drop their leaves in winter, annuals grow and die in one year. Did you plant stuff this year and it's all died?

I am a novice at gardening, when I moved in someone had dumped furniture on top of plants that had been planted there previously. The plants had been badly damaged.

Areyou sure they're all dead, or are there still signs of life? If you want ideas, need to know which way it faces, whether its in sun or shade all day. Wherever the sun is now, at 8.35 this evening, is West, maybe you can work it out from that if you don't know? A photo of the area would be useful too...

They are all dead, to badly damaged to save.

Shade all day, gets the sun about 17.00. Will have to look for camera still in a box. lol

Blimey, might be some time before a photo gets here then, lol! How about a clue as to size, length and width? And is there a fence on the outside edge of this strip, or a house next door?

Its about 5 meters length and 1.5 meter in width. House next door.

Not sure what to do with it or because of time of year what plants/shrubs to put in?

I think you should get the dumped furniture off the garden and wait a few weeks to see what pops up. You'd be AMAZED at how tenacious some plants can be. It would be a mistake to rush in and plant random stuff before you know what you've got now, even if all that comes back is brambles.

We will need photos to help you here, so have a look for the camera when you can.

Ok will do, thanks for your help.

If and when you do get it cleared, Angie, it sounds just the sort of area for ferns and hellebores, and other shade-loving plants. There are masses of them, and they can look really good. Look on the net for 'plants for shady areas' and there'll be loads of ideas. Some hardy geraniums will tolerate shade, and foxgloves, ornamental grasses, pulmonaria and quite a few of the euonymus, cornus and mahonia shrubs will also. So you have plenty of choice. As Beattie says, it would be a good idea to wait and see what comes up, if you haven't already done that, and do some planting in the Autumn, with the rest done in the spring, as there could be bulbs under the ground waiting to come up in Spring. Good luck with it, anyway. It sounds a bit of a challenge. Annie (Cumbria)

Best time to plant is September for most things, Angie, and you'll need a bit of time to clear the area and dig it over, incorporating some soil conditioning compost (from the garden centre) as you go. Given its such a narrow area, you might be better off with a shade tolerant climber up the fence, such as Hydrangea anomala. Shrubs which will tolerate that degree of shade are few, but Prunus 'Otto Luyken' is one, as is Mahonia aquifolium - both are relatively small, though you will, eventually, probably have to clip them back a bit. Both are evergreen too. Ruscus is another one worth trying, along with some ferns - some ferns are quite happy in total shade, others aren't, need a bit of extra light. Lamium varieties such as 'White Nancy' are good ground cover in shade, along with Ajuga reptans. All plants mentioned are fully hardy.