Many people find them boring and insignificant and unable to get excited about. However, choose with care and you can create something modern and architectural that will sit easily in any contemporary setting. This group planting of Phormiums makes a dramatic statement in winter sun. As a garden designer in Hitchin, they are a versatile evergreen that I like to use in people’s gardens. With their increasing number of colourful varities you can have fun with your colour palette as well!

Another evergreen that I use (nearly) all the time is Sarcococca. It makes a dense shrub with glossy leaves but it is it’s winter flower that you must plant it for. Between December – March

it will be covered in tiny unassuming white flowers that have the most amazing vanilla scent. In fact  many people consider Sarcococcas to have one of the strongest winter perfumes of all plants.

They prefer partial to full shade which is useful if you have a dark corner or doorway that you will walk past in the winter months and catch their smell. The National Trust garden at Anglesey Abbey has many Sarcococca planted in it’s Winter Garden. My favourites though are those planted in one long line almost as hedging in the carpark. You have to walk past them to get in to the entrance which to me is perfect planting.

There are a variety of Sarcococca to choose from varying in size and habit. My favourite is Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna ‘Purple Stem’ for it’s new shoots that are flushed with an attractive purple hue.

Evergreen shrubs are essential in a garden but so are those that climb or provide ground cover. There are many honeysuckle, clematis and pyracantha that will give a vertical interest in the winter months to.

Alternatively put evergreen shrubs or grasses in pots and place them on the patio where you will see them. Many people like to place an evergreen in an attractive pot beside their front door and I think this trained ivy growing over a support works well, is easy to maintain and relatively cheap.

Ornamental Stems - Cornus

All gardens look drab in the winter but adding extra colour is easy. There are flowers, ornametal stems and berries that all look fantastic at this time of year and will give you and your garden a boost.

Top of my list to plant in any garden for their coloured ornamental stems are Cornus. They come in a variety of colours from bright yellow through to the deepest of purple so will fit in easily with any existing planting scheme. Be bold and plant them in groups and you will create a ‘wall of colour’. Add to that a backdrop of evergreen and a variegated ivy for groundcover and you have a striking combination.

As a garden designer in Hitchin I try to  use at least one of the following Cornus when designing a garden for a client : Cornus alba ‘Elegantissima’, Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’ or Cornus alba ‘Kesselringii’.

White Flowering Hellebore

As for winter flowers there is nothing more stunning in the garden than a hellebore. Their nodding saucer-shaped flowers have a prettiness and delicacy that is all their own. The flowers last for 3 months and rise above attractive leathery evergreen foliage. Plant them at the front of a border where you will see them or in groups under deciduous shrubs and trees.

Cotoneaster Berries

They are perfect plants for a woodland setting or garden with a shady border. If I’m looking for a white flower I use Helleborus x hybridus ‘Harvington’ double white whilst my favourite deep maroon is Helleborus x hybridus ‘Harvington Shades of the Night’.

For a larger statement plant a winter flowering shrub such as Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’ or a flowering cherry tree such as Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’.

Bright red and orange berries are another way of adding a splash of colour to your garden in the depths of winter. Cotoneasters are my favoured choice, not only are they tough and easy to grow there is a wide variety of shape available. Choose from free standing shrubs, those that grow against a wall, low ground cover and those suitable for hedging. Cotoneasters also make attractive trees and if you want to read more about those click here.

Winter Grasses

Grasses ooze texture and planted in bold groups either on their own or within a border the effect can be stunning. Add to that a covering of frost or some wind for movement and you have an even more exciting mix. Some of my favourites to use include Stipa calamagrostis, Deschampsia cespitosa and Luzula nivea.

As well as grasses, seedheads make a valuable addition to the garden in winter.

Faded Hydrangea Flowerhead

Don’t be tempted to cut back and ‘tidy’ your summer perennials after they’ve flowered. Leave them to add height and structure to the garden as they fade and turn brown with time. Not only will you appreciate them but so will the birds. I think the best ‘dead’ looking plants include echinaceas, eryngiums, rudbeckias and sanguisorbas. I also think hydrangeas can look fantastic as the temperatures drop. Their flowerheads deepen gradually in colour until they become a crisp brown ball.

But the ultimate textural experience in any garden must surely go to bark. The more it peels the greater the need to go over and touch it. Birches make beautiful ornamental trees especially in the winter. Betula albo-sinensis (Chinese Paper Birch Tree) is a must if you have the space with it’s deep copper bark that shines in the sun.

Betula albo-sinensis (Chinese Paper Birch Tree)

Turnip from the allotment

Turnip is an easy vegetable to grow and will reward you in the winter when there is little growing in the ground. You can sow the seeds from May – July directly into the soil and they will mature in 6 – 10 weeks. If you sow a small row every three or four weeks this will enable you to crop the turnip throughout the growing season. Thin the seedlings when they are big enough to handle and protect them from the pigeons. Water them well to avoid becoming woody and then dig and enjoy.

I use them in all sorts of recipes including stews, vegetable currys and Delia’s classic ‘Roasted Roots’ dish. In fact we had that last weekend with roasted lamb and it was delicious!

If you want to look at Delias recipe click here.

Any tree you do choose should look good throughout the seasons – rewarding you with spring blossom, fruit and great autumn colour.

Malus x zumi 'Golden Hornet' Blossom

Malus do all of these things and one of my favourites to use as a garden designer is Malus x zumi ‘Golden Hornet’.

It is a beautiful ornamental tree with a strong upright tapering shape that likes full sun.

In May and June it is covered with masses of pretty cup-shaped pink tinged flowers. These are then followed in the autumn with a profusion of golden yellow crab apples. If you’re lucky and it’s not too cold the apples can stay on the tree right up till Christmas otherwise the blackbirds will feast on them!

Awarded a RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Autumn Crab Apples

I sow the seed in April and harden off the plants in my greenhouse till they are ready for planting out and the risk of a frost is over. This year we planted some in our polytunnel which was great as it enabled us to enjoy them even earlier in the season. Like all beans you have to keep picking them regularly to keep the harvest coming but that’s not a problem as they freeze so well too. All of the large seed companies such as Suttons and Marhalls stock them so they are not difficult to find and well worth trying to grow.

Cobra beans

Dry Touch Gardening Gloves

I was bought my first pair of ‘Gold Leaf Dry Touch’ gloves a few years ago as a present and I’ve been hooked ever since. They’re made with beautifully soft leather that in time moulds to the shape of your hands making them extremely comfortable. The gloves are also fully lined and the leather is treated to resist water which makes them perfect for winter jobs.

Endorsed by the RHS they are not cheap but sometimes you get what you pay for and for me they have been the ultimate in gardening gloves!

(The photo above is of my second pair of gloves pristine and straight from the packet)

Architectural Alliums

I love everything about them – their colour, shape, vertical nature and amazing seed heads. Whatever size garden you have there is an allium to suit as they can grow anywhere in height between 30cm -200cm. I think another key to their success is their versatility, sitting equally well in a modern minimalist setting or scattered throughout a mixed herbaceous border. Their dense purple colour is stunning and contrasts well with hot colours as well as the cooler shades of lilac and white.

Allium Seed Head

Plant the bulbs in September in a sunny site and you will be rewarded in the summer with a striking display. Once they’ve flowered leave the heads to dry on the plant and either appreciate them in the garden covered in frost or bring them indoors for a tall vase.

Of all the alliums I have 3 favourites which I use and recommend as a garden designer:

1. Allium christophii – Flowers freely in June, bearing large heads up to 25cm of star-shaped amethyst-violet flowers with a metallic sheen. (My favourite seed head)

2. Allium hollandicum ‘Purple Sensation’ – The best rich-purple allium of all. (Plant amongst ornamental grasses, or as part of a Mediterranean scheme)

3. Allium sphaerocephalon – The best of the smaller alliums with small drumstick shaped heads of maroon and green. (Add later interest, flowering in July and August)

Mass Allium Planting for Impact

Harvested Broad Beans

This weekend we harvested our broad beans from our Hitchin allotment.

Thanks to the recent rain that had fallen the beans had swollen beautifully and we had a ‘bumper crop’ this year. Everyone took a turn at snapping the pods and removing the beans ready for me to put in the freezer.

We tried growing our beans this year in the spring and used a variety from Thompson and Morgan called ‘Masterpiece Green Longpod’. The results were fantastic and I shall definitely be ordering the same again for next year. In the mean time we’ve made a delicious broad bean dip similar to houmous that the kids enjoyed with grilled pittas!

Bean Art!