My garden is paved with concrete slabs. I want to create a lawn and plant colourful bedding plants. I’d also like to add privacy to both side boundaries with shrubs no more than 2m high. Any ideas?

A pat on the back for liberating your outdoor space. Do not do your back in removing the concrete slabs, and don’t use a spade to lift them – it will eventually snap. Wear steel toe-capped boots and gloves, too.

The soil underneath may be compacted and poor. Instead of digging it over, add a good layer of compost. Your cheapest option is probably compost made from green waste; worms will do the rest.

As for shrubs, Eleagnus x ebbingei can be pruned into a hedge or trimmed to keep it as the desired height. It is nitrogen fixing, so will also improve the soil.

You could try a loquat (Eriobotrya japonica), a small tree that can be kept as a shrub. It’s evergreen, has scented cream flowers in winter and bright orange, edible fruit in summer. Bay, yew, Viburnum tinus, or ivy (Hedera helix ‘Arborescens’) will all work. Or if you want something totally different, Euphorbia x pasteurii is evergreen and handsome.

• Got a question for Alys? Email askalys@theguardian.com