It helps to know where you are located.

tj

It's a typical British front garden. Rebecca, nearly everyone on this forum is based in the USA and most seem to have garages bigger than our gardens. I suggest you Google something like 'ideas for small front gardens' to get ideas relevant and usable in the UK. Once you've found a layout, for North facing you'll be looking at shade tolerating plants. I'm a big fan of ferns myself.

Ps Remember to incorporate things like bin and bike storage.

Pps please don't use fake lawn or pebbles over landscape fabric. Both are age very badly and are greatly overused.

Hi. Thanks for the advice,
I actually saw someone from the UK ask something similar but it was from 7 years ago! Maybe us brits used this once upon a time!

Thanks ☺️

We do, but for our climate, gardening traditions and and location specific features the ideas offered are not always practical for us. I've been on these forums for years but I mainly join in conversations around plant ids and gardening techniques. I don't ask for ideas for my own garden because I know my situation is so different for most people's here.

The first thing I think you should do is remove the hedge next to the walkway to the front door. Then power wash the pavers and walkway.

Are you only considering the garden? My niece lives in London and she found lots of inspiration on walks. Also search Pinterest “UK terraced house front garden“. Head to a nursery to see what’s recommended for your soil, and maintenance/water/sunlight needs.

If it were me, I’d remove everything if budget permitted, or when budget allowed have a plan and do in stages.

I'd tame your front shrub. Put pots in the corners of the concrete area with huchera and ferns spilling out to soften the outer edge. Then I'd build up a series of containers around the "donut hole" in the middle. In the middle I'd place a tall sculpture, found object, or pencil shrub. You'd end up with a thick border of shrubs and plants, a narrow concrete walk way around a center bursting with more plants. To make it feel more modern, I'd play with hard and soft - structured hedges with soft edges, an a more contemporary, moody color scheme. Purples, blacks, greens.

This has a traditional feel but with more modern window boxes, different colored paint, and a contemporary planter, this basic design could work for you.

New bin store blends with the horizontal fencing · More Info

The path is laid to match the existing porch tiles · More Info

The ferns and heuchera used in this garden are shade plants and would do fine in north facing light. I like the color scheme.

Front Garden Design - Turney Road · More Info

This Brooklyn front garden uses all containers to grow lush flowers. I'd circle your donut hole with containers.

Yep, I would look to London for inspiration.

Hi.
Thank you everyone for your ideas and thoughts.
Would love to paint the lintels white but not sure if it would look out of place when the rest of the street is black? We will see. Thanks again

The hedges provide a lot of privacy. Do you want to sit out in your front patio and have some privacy? If so, reduce the hedges.

I'd start by identifying what you have and what you want. The ID of plants should be as specific as possible, what you want can be general (pretty place to sit on nice days, a modern look so I'm happy to walk up the stairs when I come home).

The hedges can be cut back dramatically, as can the cotoneaster. You can even make them wavy or some cool, modern shape. So, I'd start by hacking back what you have.

This article might help you define your style.

Hedges and highly shaped plants can be part of a modern look.

Chelsea Flower Show 2009 - Designed by Kate Gould · More Info

RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden by Aralia 'Rooftop Workplace of Tomorrow' · More Info

Another look is the very full of flowers:

RHS Chelsea Flower Show Garden 1 · More Info

This one concentrates on foliage.

RHS Chelsea Flower Show · More Info

"Do you want to sit out in your front patio and have some privacy?" It's extremely unlikely OP will sit in the front garden. It's just not done over here. Apart from being culturally not done the garden is on a road and faces north.

I suggest you start by removing all the huge shrubs that hide what seems to be a lovely town house. Then weeding and power-washing the terrace tiles and sidewalk. Install a black wood slat fence along the front of the terrace for privacy. Plant a small tree in the spot in the middle of the terrace, you can also plant some ground cover around that space. Plant mid-high plants between the sidewalk and the terrace where the shrubs used to be. Install a few planters along the hedge on the right and at the front door.

"Install a black wood slat fence ... " No, please, no! Totally out of keeping with the house and streetscape. These houses were all originally built with iron railings along the front stop a low wall. The wall is still there. The railing to the steps is a remnant. They were removed in WW2 for scrap iron.

If new railings aren't in the budget leave the low wall alone. And I would think twice about planting a tree in the middle. It'll take all the light from your north facing front room.

"Just not done over here". That's a piss-poor reason for not doing something. Follow the herd, be a sheep, never innovate.

If you look at the fence dividing the 2 townhouses, I would say the black slats are much nicer than a painted black aluminum divider. If you have the budget for something similar to what is shown below, of course that would be the perfect fit...

And the tree is a decorative element, not one that will grow large to block the view...

Just playing . . . :)

I really like the hedges. I think if you trimmed some of them up a little more, got rid of the scrubby patio-level perennials, and installed new clean-lined hardscaping (maybe a slate look paver?), it would instantly modernize the feel. Then use containers filled with annuals to add color, height, and texture where you want it.

Good point, @floral_uk, about the brick vent. The hostas were a "not exactly what I want but can't think of anything better" choice, and I didn't realize that snails thrive even in the city in the UK! (Was thinking "no deer, so should be okay"; it's deer that decimate our hostas.) What would be better there? I thought about a low boxwood hedge but wanted something that added a different color and shape (and ideally, a bit more height than hostas). Would the hart's tongue ferns on the left do well there? And has the cotoneaster just climbed over the low brick wall from in front of it, or would that wall actually be a planter with the cotoneaster in it? (I've never loved cotoneaster; it grows a bit too "every which way" for me.) I always learn something from your plant knowledge!

Yep, snails are very happy in the city! Box is problematic at the moment because we have a terrible Box Moth problem. A reasonable substitute is Ilex crenata but it is not quite as neat in growth, having alternate foliage and slightly longer internodes. I've had to replace all the box topiaries I'd made from cuttings over years. I don't see any Harts Tongues in the pictures, just Dryopteris filix-mas. Harts Tongue would be great, being evergreen, hardy and native. But if the OP is in the drier east it might not be as happy as it is in my garden. The wall is probably not a planter but I can't tell.

This is the original photo of the ferns:

I'm a bit confused. There are no Harts Tongues in the OPs photos. Did you mean they're in your inspo pix?

I have them in my garden and they're common in my area. Local woodland:

You're right; they're not in the OP's post. I cut them from the above photo to add them to my edit of the OP's photo.

Regarding urban snails.

This is the sort of thing I find in my city garden.

Here are some ideas: