Plant which are pretty tough:

Fatsia Japonica-has large hand shaped leaves and prefers a shady/sheltered corner.This is sometimes refered to as the 'castor oil plant' which is wrong! Genuine castor oil plants are not hardy and poisonous!

Mexican orange blossom (chyosia)-Comes in either lime green and standard dark green.Flowers twice a year,has a wonderful smell (hence name "mexican orange blossom"),cuttings root everso easily,reasonbly fast grower and should achieve 6ft high/4ft wide in 5 years.I have several of these and when you brush against them-the smell wafts everywhere!

Ornamental elders-in either 'golden' or 'black'.I have both and these are very fast growers.Every spring,i have to cut them back really hard to prevent them maturing as trees,but their flowers and later in autumn-berries always attract the birdies to the garden.Bear in mind though,the berries are poisonous (stomach upset-not terminal!),but if you cut it back into old wood every year-it stops them from forming flowers (which turn into berries).The sap also is a skin irritant,so wear gloves if you have sensitive skin-like me...

Buxus (box)-this is most commonly used for topiary and also for low level hedging.It is a slow grower so lots of patience is required,but intresting shapes can be achieved with time.I have a ball,tube and pyramid all in big cermaic pots and they love a sunny aspect.

Eucalyptus-this is a very understated tree which gives off a smell (think of Vicks vapour rub!) which we humans cannot smell,but gnats/bugs etc can and dont like it-so garden parties dont involve continual swatting! These are rapid growers though and once mature-can increase their height by as much as 5ft per year! They can be pruned to whatever size you desire and can even be sawn down to ground level if it ever got out of hand and it would still re-grow! They are shallow rooted trees so your foundations and sewers would never be interfered with,but sometimes need staking for a few years if loose/sandy soil to prevent being blown over.

Tracycarpus fortunei (chinese windmill palm)-this looks like a true palm tree and once establised-will bear either flowers or seed pods.Growth rate is slow-so expect to pay more for bigger plants.Smaller ones can be bought for around £20 and will need around 20 years to achieve 15ft high.Wonderful to watch and give a tropical look to any garden!

Yuccas-variegated are best,but require well drained soil (put some gravel in hole before plant to aid drainage) and look out for the very sharp leaf tips!

Cabbage palm (cordyline)-not a true palm tree,but stunning all the same.They come in either plain green or red,but the red one gives best colour when grown in partial shade.Again,a slow grower but will eventually achieve 20ft+ in 25 years.Eventually,they flower once mature and have big white bell shaped flowers.

And finally if you have a wet/boggy corner of garden-Gunnerra manicatta (giant rhubarb)-this will after a few years grow massive 5ft wide leaves with a flower spike equally impressive! The leaf stem have thorns all the way down,but they are soft and you cannot hurt yourself.Children love to play under them and look prehistoric.It needs plenty of space to mature though,but well worth it.Not fully hardy and needs the crown covering with horticultural fleece in winter to stop it from freezing.

Steve - wow what a breakdown - fantastic!!!!!!

Thank you so much - going to check out the photographs now

Really appreciate the time you have taken to write this!

possibly, a Loral, not sure of the proper name!!!
Lobelia
Buddleia (sp?), often known as the butterfly bush
the sailx willow tree
well i can think of a few other hardy plants, but no others that will survive a puppy!!!!
These are the plants that are non-florriefied in our garden!

Thanks Woofer, you will make my OH very happy with comments like that

Thanks Luke, will check these ones out too

I have a couple of lovely bottlebrush bushes! They have great flowers, are evergreen and seem to be growing fairly quickly but not too huge!

Its going to look stunning when finished MC

Thanks MP I will look into bottle brushes as well

Thank you Sazzy, let's hope that it'll look good by the end of it - we haven't a single room in house that is finished....not from will of trying - we've paid workmen to do the job and they never have completed a single task properly, it's kind of frustrating...I'm hopeful that the garden task will be completed fully though - I intend of overseeing it with a whip in hand

Time will tell Thanks Sazzy

New Garden design just completed by my OH - it's got a bit more features including a built in seat which is quite a nice idea, and a slate flooring as there is a elder berry tree above the area so we can avoid staining.

Wow Ingrid, that looks amazing!!!!!!!!!!