Starting another new garden from scratch

I think you have an opportunity here which might save you a lot of work and a rotten lawn in future. In my experience, turf laid at new builds by builders is generally poor. It's laid badly on a poorly prepared surface, not flat, full of stones etc. Can you get the turf laid by a gardener instead?

Unless you are very lucky, the topsoil won't be brilliant so I'd spend some time improving the soil. Find out what sort you have and then add gravel or sand etc to make it more what you'd like. By all means put any paving, paths etc down but I think the secret to a good garden is all year interest, so you might like to think about a structure of evergreen plants. We often buy small and grow on in pots as we have a courtyard which needs prettying up, you could do this now, enjoy the plants but delay planting in their permanent spot and save money too. Totally agree with thinking about where to plant according to the sun's passage. I also love to add height in the garden by having pergolas etc and for me no garden is complete without some beautiful scented old fashioned roses. Also think about what colour schemes you like, visits to some other gardens always inspire me!

All the above advice is very good.
Take your time and plan.
I've just downsized two years ago, from a large farm house in rural Ireland. The house was too big and the formal garden far too big.
In my lovely new small bungalow, I needed an easy to keep garden, but one that I enjoyed being in. In my front garden I planted annual and perienial wild flowers, they look stunning in the summer and I put up with their untidy winter look.
I'm my back garden I planted more wild flowers around the edge and I have a lawn in the middle, I bought a brilliant robot lawnmower, which keeps the grass looking very neat all year around. This lawnmower is the best thing I ever bought. My very neat lawn contrasts nicely with the untidy wild flowers. I need a fair size lawn for my grandchildren to play on. The only gardening I do is tending to my pots on a large deck, an enjoyable job, and looking at my robot mower, which I call William, mowing the grass, while I sit in the sun.

Thank you for all the suggestions loads of great ideas, I particularly like the idea of sitting out with a glass of wine and planning. Our new build is an eco-house with lots of glass to look out on the views and the garden. I think that this summer we will do the hard landscaping, putting in paths, small garden shed and grow in containers till we see what the climate is like. I would like an area to attract bees/butterflies, a wildlife pond and perhaps a gravel section with containers, more Mediterranean influenced but we are elevated in a valley surrounded by hills, Pines and there is a river nearby so lavender etc may not do too well. I think it will be trial and error.

What about sewing wildflower seeds Lots of different types flowers in packet. The last and self seed. You don't need fertiliser poor soil is best for wildflowers you get lots of bees ? in garden.

Sounds daunting! As it's a new build, assume neighbours houses are the same so no clues there!
I would have in mind whether you want any garden buildings (shed/greenhouse etc) then go to a good garden centre and ask for advice - you may have to pay, but would be worth it to not waste money on mistakes - plants are expensive and if starting from scratch you'll need plenty: Or my daughter tells me you can get "borders on a roll" where you roll out a paper pattern and it has holes for suggested plants and you just follow the planting pattern. Found this link www.gardenonaroll.com/
Good luck!

What a wonderful opportunity!
Just for now find out where it's sunny put down some paving stones. Find some reclaimed chairs so you can sit in the sun (when we get some) with a glass of wine and design the garden.
Watch how the light moves. Decide what you want.
An eco garden with wildlife in mind? Something smart? Something Zen? Easy care or traditional?
Generally you will need a shed and a seating area.
Let us know what you decide.

A good plant to fertilise subsoil is white Dutch clover easily grow from seed and I have grown this on mixed subsoil in a new house garden. Great for bees. Lovely scent. After the clover has done its job grass will flourish next season.

I don not know your priorities but my priority is seclusion i.e. not being overlooked by neighbouring windows. A very fast grower in this regard is buddleia especially the wild variety.

Silver birch gives a pretty see-through screen even after leaf fall, and is not an enormous tree. Silver birches look pretty in a close group of three.

For an evergreen screen I like cotoneaster and cherry laurel, but I do not like Leylandii or any conifers.

Immediate screening can be provided by trellis panels, or willow screening by the roll, although that is not high enough to hide upstairs windows.

I had a 90 x 40 foot new garden to sort out and I would recommend taking your time. It's coming up to summer, look for the areas you would use for sitting in, find privacy in or where privacy can be created. Decide where any buildings eg shed summerhouse would go. Also as lawn hasn't been laid yet, look for the areas where drainage may be a problem- builders cover up a multitude of sins with top soil! Take your time appreciate you will probably not get everything right first time and yes a garden is a money pit. Good luck.

Draw a scale plan of your garden and plot the path of the sun throughout the day. This will help you eventually decide on the plants and the conditions they grown in. Then find out the type of soil you have, simply done with a jar of water,roughly clay will sink and loam will float.
Do you want to place a veg plot, greenhouse, shed? Inspiration might be found on Pinterest. I’d scroll though the images and plot anything I like on my plan.

It depends how big it is, and also what you decide that you want.

For example, would you like a wild flower meadow that also has some daffodils as they flower early?

Do you like buttercups and daisies and dandelions?

Some people do, delighting in their naturalness, some people regard them as weeds.

Do you use weedkiller, or do you shun the very idea of putting stuff like that on a garden?

Do you like the idea of having your garden like a smaller version of a sculpture garden?

Do you like the idea of a formal garden with everything in rectangular sections so that it has symmety when viewed from an upstairs window?

Do you like trees? If so, how many could you have in your garden?

What is your policy to plants that just appear? For example, if you spotted a small birch tree about 6 inches high that had grown from a seed that blew in on the wind and landed where it did and germinated and grew? Would you remove it, or would you regard it as a happy thing that had happened and leave it to grow, but if it is right by the fence or the house carefully move it in a large cube of soil and resite it, even if it takes a bit of work?

Or would you like a mixed garden? A number of small areas around a path, a wild meadow area, a sculpture garden, and so on.

Do you like the idea of a sundial as a feature?

What would you do if you found a dock plant growing in your garden? Regard it as a weed and destroy it? Or delight that nature had provided you with a native plant?

What about a packet og giant teazel seeds?

Good luck with your new garden it will be exciting getting it prepared. Draw some simple plans I am doing that at the back of our garden.

Don’t be in a hurry this year. See what the seasons bring, where the hot spots and shady spots are, whether it’s a windy garden like mine (even in the summer!), how it drains....... it will certainly eat up loads of money if you rush to put plants in that don’t suit their space. And whatever you do, don’t grow bamboo!!