Quote from Lee Garden Ninja on 25th March 2026, 5:58 pm

Hi Heidi,

Firstly, welcome to the Garden Ninja community, and congratulations on starting the 30 Garden Design Templates course. It's brilliant that you've taken that step, and I hope it sparks a real passion for the garden.

I have to be honest with you, though the forum really isn't the right place to unpick a design challenge like this one. What you're describing isn't a simple question with a quick answer. It's a full spatial design problem involving aspect, proportion, traffic flow, and the way different zones relate to one another throughout the whole garden. Giving you a piecemeal answer here could actually send you further round in circles rather than helping you land on something you'll love for years to come.

What I'd genuinely recommend is booking a garden design consultation with me. This is exactly the kind of situation a consult is built for. We'd look at your dimensions, your aspect, how you use the space across the day, and what you actually want from the garden long term, and come out the other side with a clear direction that makes every subsequent decision much easier. You can find out more and book here: Garden Ninja Consultations

That said, I don't want to leave you with nothing, so here are a few things worth sitting with while you think it through.

The single biggest mistake I see in new build gardens is laying a large patio without a clear plan for how it will actually be used across the whole day. A south-facing garden in the north east of England sounds ideal on paper, but the reality is that where you want to sit at 10am is rarely where you want to sit at 6pm, and a patio that hasn't been designed around those movement patterns quickly becomes either too exposed or too shaded at the moments it matters most.

You've already identified this instinctively by noticing the patio is in the wrong place for where you actually want to be.

The other thing I'd flag about extending a patio without a coherent plan is proportion. A 12 metre wide garden is generous, but patio coverage that isn't anchored by planting, structure, or a clear focal point can feel bleak and exposed rather than welcoming. Hard landscaping without softening creates what I call a "car park effect," especially in new builds where the soil is often compacted and the surroundings still feel raw.

The templates course will help you see how planting layers and structure work together with hard surfaces to create something that feels intentional rather than improvised.

Your instinct about option three, the flower border and path along the east fence with a patio extension set back from it, is actually the most spatially intelligent of the options you've listed. It creates layers, adds depth to the garden, and avoids the wall-to-wall hard-surface problem. But how far to extend it, how to resolve the garage side, and what happens on the west are exactly the questions that need proper design thinking rather than a forum guess. However, there's also the issue of privacy, what kinds of trees and height structures you may need, all of which need careful consideration.

I'd consider booking the consult, Heidi. It will be the best investment you make in this garden and will save you from a far more costly mistake further down the line.

Lee Garden Ninja — Garden Ninja

Quote from HeidiK on 26th March 2026, 8:57 am

Hello Lee

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge with such a detailed response. Everything you said makes so much sense. And I'm glad to know that I'm at least moving on the right direction!

I think I will go ahead and book the consultation. But to use the time wisely, would you recommend waiting until I've finished the course? Or is it better to get the advice first and the head into the course with that?

Much appreciated!

Heidi