Hi Rich lovely to hear from you again. Heathers and heaths are both easy maintenance and pretty. then some of the smaller leaved hebes might fit the bill. hardy geraniums come in all colours and there will be many that fit the bill here. you will get lots of other suggestions to. most plants i grow are not fussy, as i dont have the time.

hiya seabrngirl, i remember you from years back, thankyou for names etc, i hadent given up on gardening, just didnt have one, ive recently acquired a monstaireia( if how spelt) a devils ivy, weeping fig so am in my element at the moment

bet your little ones are much bigger now. my eldest is at uni Yikes!!
have a browse of my garden list as I have lots of easy to maintain plants.

You'll need a few shrubs in with the perennials - how big is the garden, or rather, the area you want to plant?

hi again all,sorry i havent replied,theres about six acres of land but only abou an acre to be gardenised as such,whatshrubs would you Reccomend bamboo? and yeah seaburngirl theyve definitely grown up alot, my eldest abd her mum recently moved down to be nearer to family so is brilliant atm, hope your all good and well,cheers for advice

Cold and windy restricts the choice enormously, I'm afraid. The list for that would be Berberis varieties, Buddleia, Tamarix (both these two need hard pruning in spring, the tamarix after flowering, Buddleia in March), Caragana, Ilex, Leucothoe (somewhere it doesn't dry out completely). In spots with a bit less wind in full or part sun, Spirea Goldflame or Goldmound, Hebe youngii, Santolina, Senecio (now called Brachyglottis, but still sold under Senecio 'sunshine' usually),Viburnum davidii, Viburnums generally, Helianthemums, Halimiocistus. Aucuba japonica and Prunus laurocerasus will tolerate a fair bit of shade and are very hardy - a much smaller version of the Prunus is P. 'Otto Luyken'.

Thankyou bamboo,ill put these plants to them and see what they think.Thankyou very much