Rhiannon S wrote:
"Brian" wrote in message
[...]
Our problem is that neither my wife or myself have any knowledge of
plants, so feel somewhat daunted regarding a planting scheme. Any ideas
as to how we should approach this, or recommended books would be most
appreciated. Is it the sort of thing that we could ask a garden designer
to do, given that we already have a plan of the layout?

Dunno if it helps, but there used to be a series of garden books called "The
#foo Garden Month-by-month. [...]

For a beginner it's hard to beat some of the "Expert" series. Not too
complicated or lengthy, well illustrated. You could have a look at _The
Garden Expert_ by Dr. D.G. Hessayon, and see if it suits you. There's
also one on easy-care gardens.

As a general rule, I wouldn't bring in a designer: you can't judge her
ideas without seeing several mature completed jobs in winter and in
summer, and it's much more interesting to have a crack at it yourself.
What a competent designer should do, though, is steer you away from the
occasional mistake such as planting something which will turn into a
monster (hint: no laurels or eucalyptus in a small plot!).

--
Mike.