Hello

We have just moved into a new house and have inherited uncared for gardens.
The back I'm not to worried about at the moment as it's a quite big and mainly laid to lawn so with a bit of general housekeeping done to it and a few summer pots it will soon look better.
It's the small patch out the front which needs sorting.
It's only about 4ft x 4ft and was a complete mass of weeds, which have now been pulled out. It slopes slightly towards the house and has steps on 2 sides. It's also west facing but is shaded from the south by the storeroom so doesn't get hardly any sun.

I would ideally like to plant something there which can be left to pretty much look after itself but I'm drawn between planting a conifer with ground cover plants or a fern or a hydrangea....

Any inspiration much appreciated!!
BTW I'm in Stevenage Herts

Thanks
Lisa