"mdemetri2" wrote in message
...

Firstly, I have over the last 2 months or so being contemplating
removing the soil/clay from our flower bed about a foot or so and
replacing with new soil mixed in with sand but adding more depth - so
allowing for a total of 15 inches of decent soil to replace the harsh
stuff we have now. Lots of digging out and replacing.....good idea?

No - not a good idea unless you go up rather than dig down. If you jsut dig
down and replace what is already there but leave allt he surroudnign clay,
you will in effect be building a bog garden if you get lots of rain.

As an aside, we had our lawn put down 2 years ago, and only now over the
last month or two with some sunshine and lots of rain has it come back
to life as it were....was previously, quite thinned out especially when
cut and not really great looking - although fine when it looks like it
needs cutting, again due to the clay soil and poor drainage - but I do
throw down aftercut lawn care every so often when I mow it.

You've probably been cutting it too short. People who are into 'lawns'
often do that because they don't think of it as being made up of 'grass'.
Set your mower at it's highest level and give the poor grass a chance and if
anyone starts making silly comments, tell them it's grass, and the funtion
of grass is groudn cover, weedy species suppression, dust abatement.

In terms of going forward and planting, what types of shrubs, plants,
flowers that are all year round, and keep coming back are best suited
for the environment I describe?

Dunno, but I'd suggest 2 things - a walk round the neirghbourhood with a
notepad and one of the Hessayan books on shrubs would be the way to go given
that you are int he UK - a local library would probably have one or be able
to get one for you.