I have an overcrowded garden full of established hedges in a small garden. I wwant to get rid of these and start from scratch.Not being much of a gardener i have no idea what will grow well. A large part of the planting area is shaded by the house and only gets sun in the late afternoon. I bought 2 azaleas,planted them and they have died and dont want to waste further money. Advice would be appreciated

Alot of azaleas for sale at garden centres are lacking in roots and hardiness so don't worry about them. Take a look at what your neighbours are growing, the kinds of plants that trhive for them could do well for you.

The simple way is to gravel most of your front garden and then put in one stunning plant such as amerlanchia lamarkii or euonymus alatus.

Are those hedges privet or leylandii? It may be possible to recondition them.

Hi Lynds

Before you start you need to know what sort of soil you have got... you can do this by buying a kit from the garden centre and following the instuctions.

Azalea's hate lime and if your garden is not acidic they would not thrive but you could have grown them in pots in the right compost.

But it is better to work with your garden then against it... find out what the soils is then get a book out from the library called "What Plant, Where" - it will tell you what plants will do well in your soil in shade - stick to them and you won't be wasting your money.

Angela