Some plant ideas please.....

Sarcococca hookeriana Winter Gem (Sweet box) is evergreen, has beautifully scented white flowers in winter followed by berries.

I'm with Callistemon21 on Hellebores. I keep popping out to look at this one in my garden.

Low growing Euonymus and creeping Juniper might fit the bill too.

I must buy some more hellebores, the ones I have are the rather boring ones which seem to self-seed but there are some beauties out there.

I remember Monty saying that self seeded Hellebores don't come true to type and become increasingly less vibrant and pretty. His suggestion was to add a few new ones to the mix every couple of years. That was all the excuse I needed for a trip to the garden centre.

That probably explains it Coastpath

Low growing Campanulas, pulmonaria, various euphorbias…

Lemon Thyme, ajuga (blue flowers), alpine campanula (pale mauve flowers), snowdrops for early colour and they form lovely clumps of flowers.

Rosemary is good, scent, flowers and for flavouring. If you want to let it grow taller, put it in corners.

Good luck and have fun!

Make sure most of the flowers are single not double, to attract all insects but bees in particular.

I find rosemary very good and it has kept well all winter, my lavender hasn't faired so well. I've clumps of rose campion in my gardens, the silver leaves stay all winter and then the lovely taller cerise flowers arrive in summer. I also use periwinkle that clumps really well.

Prostrate Rosemary is beautiful, is great with roast potatoes, smells wonderful and the bees love it. However, it does grow very big!

Oh how lovely to be able to choose for a new garden... I am an Acer lover - have 11 in my small garden, very easy to care for a beautiful small tree for height: plus heucheras, rosemary, thyme, alliums, penstemon, clematis, rudbeckia, climbing rose "Mortimer Sackler" pink with lovely perfume and Sweet Haze a "shrublet" rose which the bees love as single flowers grows well up and over a fence, Jasmine, campanula "Iridescent Bells", Hellebores!

Hardy geraniums, all sorts of shapes, colours and sizes look gorgeous in spring and summer

"Drummond's Pink" creeping phlox. Covered in beautiful pink flowers in spring and stays evergreen throughout winter.

On garden edges - aubretia mixed with varied polyanthus - lovely in the spring. My polyanthus seem to flower all the year round - some out now. For later in the year, pinks and wallflowers, for a lovely perfumed garden.

hardy geraniums will do well and flower from May to October.You would need the lowgrowing varieties as some are quite tall. They are troublefree! The slugs leave them alone.

How about grasses - clump forming ones - I have Hakanacheo ( spelt wrong I think !) bright green low floppy Japanese grasses and look amazing mixed with dark plummy black heuchera
Grasses aren’t evergreen but in winter they have anice structure then you cut them back in spring and off they go again

I just ordered some ground cover roses ,from QVC ,I have phlox and campanula as ground cover at the front and these will fill a space the size of a 3 seater sofa according to the presenter.Anything that keeps the weeds at bay is my type of gardening .I'm not sure how my camanula will do this year as Icaught a young deer feasting on it at 3am last month

There is a smaller Alchemilla which is not invasive but does flop a little so you need to plant it well back from the edge of the path. Geranium Kashmir White (not a spreader), Hellebore Red Lady and Amemone White Swan (both lovely and not invasive).
At the edge of the raised bed a prostrate rosemary would be good, but a less vigorous one such as Severn Seas. Personally I love salvias which would be nice next to the raised bed or fence but some are huge and need cutting back hard or replacing. You can stick the prunings in the ground and they will grow. Hayloft plant sell plug plants of lots of suitable plants but look them up elsewhere to check the sizes and if they spread too much.
I also love London Pride but it is a spreader.

My list is growing! - thank you.

How lovely a new bed from fresh !
Can you manage a trellis ?
Clematis Montana is so lovely and tough .It produces pink lilac blooms.
At the back of the border -Japanese Anemones in white or pink for wonderful late summer colour .

English lavender is a beautiful edging plant
Remember to prune it hard at the end of the season .
Otherwise-Dianthus -Pinks are a joy and easy to grow. I love the hummocks of grey leaves with the gorgeous perfumed blooms they produce.
Heathers are easy if your soil is acidic .
Hellebores for early colour .The green are spectacular .
They hybridise themselves -cut any nasty leaves off and throw out .
I grow bearded irises and the old varieties are so easy to grow only requiring their rhizomes to be divided every three years.
I have a whole bed of Ola Kala , which are pure yellow .They are 36 " high so not in the front of the border .
I had a magnificent show of Carnival Time .
The old purple ones are amazingly prolific .
Day Lilies produce bright orange trumpets. They are indestructible.
Miniature roses are easy .
Geraniums are even more forgiving.
You can winter them indoors.

Vinca can spread though they are so lovely.

Don't forget spring bulbs like perennial Muscari and hyacinths.
Tulips usually need replanting yearly . I think that the dwarf ones ie :Red Riding Hood are wonderful .

I throw Godeta seed on a well prepared bed and am always thrilled.

Winter pansies are pretty too ...

I tend to plant my flowers sticking to one colour of each variety for more impact .

If you don't feel like planting you could just fill the border in with pots and change them as you like.
Pots needs more watering .

I also highly recommend a slow release fertiliser like Vitax Q 4 .

I’d second the last suggestion of cc’s which was dwarf Ladies Mantle. I’ve just been cutting mine back from the path edges this morning. It really softens the edges. It needs keeping in check but is pretty though I chop the flowers off after a while as they flip and look messy.

I’m not a gardener and have nothing like the knowledge that others on here have, but I do like seeing colour in the garden and I too have back problems.

My daughter in South East England has had a patch of lowgrowing blue flowers by her front door for the last 20 years. I thought they were Campanula but it turns out that they are a hardy Geranium. Here in Portugal in a shady area are three tubs of what DH bought thinking they were Pelegoniums but turned out to be an evergreen Geranium with a dark green leaf and just bursting into flower now, very pretty lilac flowers.
Other stuff that grows here probably wouldn’t in England so I can’t really be much help. Some violas did very well last year but now we’ve mostly given in and planted succulents, even they struggle with the combination of builders rubble and underground rocks.
Oh and we’ve allowed ourselves a gardener for an hour a month.

Auntieflo

How about Alchemilla Mollis?
I just love the leaves that catch rain drops and the dew. They should also clump up.

.......and is an absolute THUGG!

Depends where you are,in UK? Or further? North/south/east/West? It makes a vast difference as to what will or won't survive! Check very carefully the hardiness of your choices and recommend of locations where they will survive or you may find yourself in a heavy loss financially! Plants are expensive and some places will sell specimens totally unsuited to outdoor growing in some areas.be careful and happy planting! On a high note, put as many cards/narcissus/crocus as your can shove in!!! They're a delightful repeat performance for very little outlay!

agree with Mummer 100%. Looking at all the ideas expressed here already, I think evergreen low growing hebes and rosemary are two of the best; and the former flowers in a range of colours - the purples are especially attractive. Both easy to prune and will withstand wind, wet and cold weather.
Heathers can be good - but only if you have acid soil. Check out your soil type and feed/compost it accordingly - it does make a difference.
Lavender is lovely but doesn't last for ever; it can get messy; and may not survive weather extremes. Good luck!