Glad you are getting a grip on your garden OTH... YAY!
I only have a courtyard garden, half patio and back half two raised rail sleeper beds. One has a water feature, the other an olive tree (getting big!) They are filled in with cobbles, with just a few containers in them. All round the sleeper edges and on the ground gravel surrounding them I have containers. Masses of them. Most have evergreen plants or mini-shrubs. Don't want the mess of leaf drop in a small area, except for a wee acer by the water feature.
Am posting because I got fed up with snails/slugs and found that zonal geraniums in almost every pot and trough do well, as do the small waxy begonias. Fuschias do well too, am surprised they are not bothered by slugs... but it seems to be after they are mature plants.
The best thing about all three of these supposed annual bedding plants is that here in the southwest (Bristol), I just cut them down to stubs by Sept/Oct and leave them. And they come back next year.
I also have troughs in the patio area (and on the extension roof) that have the begonias and geraniums and beneath them are bulbs for mini-daffodils, so once I cut all down, tidy the surfaces, I just wait for spring and the daffs. After that, I cut the daff fronds (even though you are supposed to wait till they fall over, I don't) then by May the 'annuals' start growing again. I get about 3 years out of them before having to replace the zonals... the begonias seem to go on and on. Fuschias are more fussy, but return most of the time.
Saved tonnes of cash this way. Pics (roof not shown)... mesh is to keep debris and DGC from venturing through the railings to basement courtyard!
Sorry for long post, but this works for me as I have had a bad back and surgery. I do not lift these pots, and for the big ones I am changing over to the moulded plastic when the present ones crack from root spread. Much easier for OH to help me as well.
Lewlew I leave my fuschias (mostly planted in the ground) and they often carry on flowering for weeks well into the autumn, then usually chop them down in March. They survive (mostly), one thing that does grow in our garden.
Sometimes in a mild winter the zonal geraniums and fuschias in large pots will survive, other years I have to replace them, but they always give a good show of colour because the flower borders are very hit and miss (more miss than hit this year).
Yours all look lovely (better than mine 
)
oh, just checked Beth Chatto's garden, too far away
hitty-missy 
that sounds like mine gillybob
Lewlew - I wish we had a garden like that - it's sensible but pretty.
Where we live the climate is almost tropical in the spring, summer and autumn. We have very fertile clay soil, so the combination produces masses of growth, especially giant weeds.
We still have quite a good veg. plot, husband does most of the work. But no-one grows flowers in beds here, they're all in pots, lots of geraniums and surfinia. And things like lavender and santolina do well.
My main rule is to do as little as possible heavy work. Grass needs cutting at least once a week from March to Oct.inclusive.I do most of that, we have a siton. And look after the flowers in pots. Otherwise, just sit and admire
I am very 
of that lovely wall Lewlew
gillybob TriciaF shysal Jalima seacliff Thank you all for the compliments... 
The garden sort of evolved. That huge shed was my way of getting OH's tools and stuff out of our too small flat! So lost some garden there, and had a rethink. Before I had way too many containers of large shrubs which don't do well over time. Vine weevil is my enemy and I have to treat twice a year.
Yes, we live in Bristol and the garden is pretty sheltered, so that is an advantage to annuals surviving. I still cut them down hard. This happened by accident as I had my back surgery in the spring, and the autumn before was not able to do anything, so OH cut all back so at least the bulbs would come, and when they did, I sent him up (post op) to trim the fronds and he reported that the geraniums were leafing out. 
So he let them go, and only watered when needed, added liquid fertilser, and when I saw them a month later going strong, I did a mental happy dance as I didn't know how I was going to plant up the containers having just had the operation in April. This has made life much easier!
The wall on the right by water feature is the one crumbing from ivy creeping over, the mortar is like crumbly sand. The other wall is the double one that I still get ivy creep from but not as bad.
We have a hosepipe out back for the last dozen years or so, we didn't at the beginning and although that was before back trouble, it was awful watering. I didn't show you the roof of the extension which also have troughs of zonals on it. That was horrid taking the watering can up to.
I have one of those X-Hoses and they are amazing and don't take up any room. I have one on the roof, too, that hangs down through the gutter outlet to the downpipe, so it is tucked behind it. When I water the roof, I un-hitch the ground level hosepipe and switch over to the roof one, then pop up and water all.
Really recommend X-Hose and get a good one... they are so much lighter and you don't have to coil them up again.
Someone mentioned lavender... I have some of that too, it's the only thing the bees come to now. Where have they all gone? 
Bought some more plants though.
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