Autumn interest

Imagine a garden and visions of spring and summer abound, yet autumn can be the crowning season when London gardens are at their most glorious.

We’re so besotted with our gardens at this time of year that we could have gone on adding photographs forever! Here are some top tips for adding interest to the garden in this rich and inspiring season.

We planted this generous pear tree in one of our NW1 gardens. Whether grown in espaliers against a garden wall, as formal standard trees, or in rambling branches that lend a cottage garden feel, autumn is the season of harvest, and nothing spells joy and abundance like ripening fruit.

The season of fruitfulness

Often a surprising element in London gardens, we love the way that including fruit in our planting schemes can capture interest and excitement.

Whether you chose to add formal interest with an espaliered or standard tree, to evoke an abundant cottage garden with heavily laden damson and plum boughs, or to nod towards more exotic climbs with a shady fig tree, fruits add colour, interest and texture that look as delicious as they taste.

Mixing low-maintenance annuals and perennials in harmonious colours, as with these rich autumnal dhalias and achilleas, will bring your boarders to life in autumn. Due to the warmer London temperatures, we find that we can, treat dahlias as perennials by mulching the bulbs, without having to lift them from our beds and containers.

Paint by flowers

Whether you’re attracted to a blaze of autumn colour in late flowering achillea and dahlias, or the subtle purples and pinks of asters and cyclamen, an autumn planting sings all the brighter when the early evenings draw in.

Allowing some seed heads, like Achillea, to remain in your boarders can maintain structure and interest and support overwintering birds, boosting the biodiversity of your London garden design.

Structure and texture

Allowing some perennial seed heads to remain in your boarders can maintain structure and interest and support overwintering birds, boosting the biodiversity of your London garden design.

Similarly, the foliage of ornamental grasses like this feathery Nassella tenuissima can provide coverage that helps local biodiversity to survive exposure. In addition to the texture and tone that they add to your boarders, they’re incredibly sustainable choices, and can be counted on to look fantastic after the fiercest summer heatwave.

Our favourite sedum variety ‘Autumn joy’ looks resplendent with complimentary deep purple and burnished red foliage.

Beautiful, sustainable, low maintenance

Beauty and sustainability often make easy bedfellows in autumn boarders, particularly with perennial plants like sedums.

Aeonium arboreum ‘Cylcops” is another striking sedum that looks fantastic in late summer and autumn months.

We always ensure our designs and planting schemes are everlasting, with species chosen to maintain a strong and harmonious impact year after year.

Reclaimed materials provide the perfect backdrop for autumn foliage in this NW1 front garden.

A complimentary London canvas

We believe that London looks especially beautiful in autumn, and it’s not just because of the crisp low light, but due to the beautiful, reclaimed materials that harmonise with the local period architecture.

As well as being a sustainable choice, reclaimed materials age beautifully and look as attractive in bad weather and on grey days as they do in blazing sunshine.

We like to consider how planters and window boxes can harmonise with our garden designs, making our planting schemes sing. The deep red Heuchera used in the this windowbox speaks to the rich leaves of many specimen acers, and they can be found in a rich array of autumn russets and golds too.

Windows to an autumn world

When planning a planting scheme, we always consider how window boxes and planters can harmonise with our garden designs, lending charm and character to the entire property.

Nothing brings the season to life like lighting a garden fireplace or firebowl. The tall chimney is an incredible focal point to this Compton Avenue garden design in Islington.

Autumn fires

Outdoor lighting, firebowls and fireplaces come into their own in autumn, for not only do they create a striking atmosphere in your garden, they draw people out into the space, making inviting areas to socialise in.

Showy Dhalias and ripening apples - two of the glories of autumn in the garden.

Looking ahead

As gardeners, we are always planning ahead, and autumn is the perfect time to plant spring bulbs and summer meadows for next year.

Whenever enjoying the varieties of the season, cast your mind into the year to come and imagine what tapestries of light and colour you might like to enjoy in future.

As Audrey Hepburn said -

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.

Sustainable garden design ideas

Following the record temperatures we experienced this summer, we owe it to our clients and the planet to consider the sustainability of our garden designs. Here are 7 steps that can help to future proof London gardens.

Including plants that have adapted to conserve water and withstand high temperatures, such as aloes and sedums, is a great way to improve the sustainability of your garden. They often create an unexpected and sophisticated impact in urban gardens, too.

1. The surprising benefit of weeding

Removing weeds is not only an aesthetic practice, it will help to direct limited water to the plants you most want to thrive during punishing conditions. We don’t recommend using weed-suppressing membranes as these rarely work long-term and interfere with ecological processes.

Taking inspiration from the Mediterranean can help to evoke the relaxing spirit of Provence, and ensure that your garden will withstand predicted London temperatures.

2. Think mediterranean

Average temperatures in summertime London are predicted to reach a Mediterranean 27 - 28 degrees by 2050. We often feature low maintenance mediterranean plants including olives, lavender, thyme, rosemary and salvias in our gardens. Not only are they adapted to tolerate hot, dry stretches, they can help to evoke a spirit of relaxation and are the perfect accompaniment to alfresco dining.

Silvery leaved mediterranean plants such as sage (Salvia officinalis) have adapted to withstand the heat. ©iNaturalist.org (Alina Majcen)

3. Seek out silvers

Many mediterranean plants have silvery coloured leaves. Whether this hue is owning to their waxy texture (as with olives), or fine hairs (as seen in sage or stachys), the silvery colour is a mechanism that helps the plant to refract sunlight, tolerate heat and preserve water. Planted together, they can create a subtle and sophisticated palette which looks superb in city gardens. 

Pale lilac Astrantia photographed in Beth Chatto’s water garden. Chatto pioneered the sustainable practice of plating the ‘right plant in the right place.’ ©https://www.bethchatto.co.uk

 4. ‘Right plant, right place’

It’s easy to underestimate how innovative Beth Chatto, the pioneer of this principle, was as one of the first British gardeners to group plants according to their natural habitat. Her Essex garden is fantastic for inspiration on Xeriscaping, the practice of planting slow-growing, drought-tolerant plants that conserve water. This magnificent gravel garden began as an experiment that transformed a car park to a luscious space that survives exclusively on rainwater, and her water garden is a breathtaking example of how to transform water logged land too.

Radio 4’s Book of the Week this week, Fen, Bog and Swamp by Annie Proulx, is a fascinating account of peatland destruction and its role in the climate crisis.

5. Say no to peat compost

Did you know that peat bogs found in UK moorland habitats store more carbon than all the nation’s forests combined? A crucial way that we gardeners can support the carbon capture of our planet, and the wildlife associated with these ecosystems, is to refuse any plants grown in peat compost. It’s incredible to think that this local action can extend far beyond our gardens and cities, having global significance in reducing atmospheric carbon worldwide.

(Those who are interested in learning more about these incredible ecosystems may enjoy listening to Radio 4’s fascinating Book of the Week this week - Fen, Bog and Swamp by Annie Proulx).

Maximising planted areas, using permeable surfaces, and creating a careful planting scheme, as we have done in this Islington gravel garden, all helps to conserve water.

6. Conserving rain water

Most London gardens are too small for the use of rainwater storage tanks, which shouldn’t be installed within 5 metres of a property, but nonetheless, maximising the amount of beautiful, planted surfaces  in your garden design, and introducing permeable paving that allows water to penetrate, can help to conserve rainwater and reduce run-offs, as well as providing you with beautiful, living spaces to enjoy.

The use of reclaimed materials, sourced from sustainable suppliers helps to reduce our impact on the planet. These look incredibly beautiful, age well and harmonise with the numerous period properties we design for.

7. Sustainable professionals

Commissioning professionals who adopt sustainable practices is a powerful way of advocating for the planet. As well as adopting the principles described above wherever possible, at Living Gardens we ensure that all of our living plants, wood and building materials are sustainably sourced. We specify for a loose supply of aggregates, compost and mulches, and will consider the long-term efficiency of your planting schemes, focusing on everlasting structural plants and perennials for you to enjoy year after year.

Alfresco dining

Creating a beautiful setting for alfresco dining has never felt so important.

Fortunately we have always loved to include designated sociable spaces in our garden designs. Here are some of our key considerations for extending living and entertaining outdoors.

This beautiful Muswell Hill garden design has recently been featured in Gardening Etc in an article about how best to design sloping gardens.

In gardens with a steep gradient, creating distinct areas where guests are encouraged to eat; relax and mingle; and to journey down into the ‘wilder’ planted area below, makes full use of a tiered or split-level design.

A curved, raised planter encircles the patio dining area in the Muswell Hill garden above. Here, natural limestone lends a warmth to outdoor dining and mirrors the flooring of the house beyond, extending the living space. The curving shape is complimented by a circular table and chairs, and soft low-level lighting. Below, hardwood decking marks a transition into another sociable area, with an underlit floating hardwood bench enclosed by raised planting, providing the perfect space where family and friends can relax and unwind while the table is set for dinner.

The Canonbury garden design in Islington above uses soft furnishings in bold colours to compliment the painted rendering and colourful planting.

Decking can also provide a warm, natural surface for your outdoor furniture, creating a subtle contrast in texture which enhances the different zones in your outdoor space. In the Canonbury garden above, a dining area of hardwood decking overlooks the sociable L-shaped seating, which is flanked by perennial and evergreen planting, with striking limestone edging and a soft lawn underfoot.

An under-lit glass floor section creates an illuminated focal point seating area in this West Hampstead, North London garden design.

We will always consider the journey of the sun throughout the day and year to ensure that spaces for relaxing and entertaining are ideally situated. It is not only in larger gardens with designated areas to dine, lounge and mingle in that this can be achieved. Carefully selecting scaled, attractive garden furniture, and positioning these in dedicated areas can allow you to follow the sun in smaller gardens, enjoying, for example, breakfast close to the house in the morning, and an evening meal in the far end of the garden at the close of day.

Positioning a small set of dining furniture at either end of this intimate, walled garden design in Islington enhances the garden journey and captures the sun’s warmth at different hours.

A view of the same garden looking down through a stepping stone path to the house and additional seating area.

Bringing the food preparation outside with an outdoor kitchen can make great use of an otherwise awkward space, transforming shaded areas into a sociable, contemporary congregation point. Locating these near to the house can be extremely practical, helping you to whisk prepared food out and used dishes away. We also love to include herbs near to the kitchen to give convenient access to useful and beautiful plants.

Incorporating a conveniently situated BBQ,, this small garden design in Islington is centred around a fireplace built into the rendered and painted rear wall. French doors open out onto the first level, with access to storage on the left. To the right is a low planter with three Italian Cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens) at varying heights. Rosemary, lavender, sage and a tapestry of thyme are within easy reach for cooking.

As we were quoted saying in this press feature, even when unlit, fire features give the impression of warmth and make your garden feel like a welcoming, modern space. Whether you opt for a fire bowl, fireplace or chiminea, they invite relaxation and congregation. Of course, additional heaters can always be included for added comfort on chilly evenings.

This Highgate garden design in North London, includes a dining table and soft seating on a hardwood deck, overlooking a central fire feature that is just as inviting to gather around unlit in the day time as when it glows at night. Once again, the use of different materials for the flooring helps to distinguish the different outdoor zones, building a textured journey.

Of course we all love to make the most of the sunshine, but choosing furniture with an appropriate parasol and positioning these in a sheltered space will ensure a comfortable outdoor dining experience for all seasons.

Structural planting shelters this inviting seating area from the verdant foliage beyond.

Creating contemporary garden designs

The arrival of spring is a natural time to look at our gardens with fresh eyes.

We were recently asked to contribute to an article on ‘how to make your garden feel modern’. Here are some of our tops tips for updating your garden design, along with those that Gardening Etc quoted from us.

A beautiful contemporary garden design in Camden Town, North London

Introducing contemporary elements with period architecture

When modernising your garden, some simple tips can help you to ensure that you marry the design with its surrounding architecture. Using contemporary materials sometimes jars with period properties, but the geometry of your design and the use of structural planting can complement neighbouring features and create a cohesive balance of old and new.

The L-shaped Iroko bench and rendered planters in this Canonbury garden design in Islington, complement the geometry of the surrounding architecture.

When updating gardens for period properties, using reclaimed materials nearer to the house and gradually introducing more modern elements the further you travel into the garden can work especially well.

In recent years we are finding it particularly useful to apply the same principle in reverse, creating cohesion in properties with a modern extension.

By dividing contemporary and reclaimed materials in this Tufnell Park garden design in Islington, we’ve mirrored the striking contrast between old and new achieved by the architects Robert Rhodes. The same ceramic tiles that were chosen for the interior room extend the living space outdoors. Steps with tiered planting lead to the original garden level, marking a transition into reclaimed materials such as York stone and stock bricks.

If you’d like to modernise and draw attention away from older boundary walls, carefully placed trellis can draw the eye into the space and synchronise irregular levels.

We used red cedar horizontal trellis to draw the eye and detract from the varying heights of the boundary walls in this small courtyard garden design in Islington.

Modernising on a budget

Render and painting is a great option to achieve a bright smooth finish on old walls, as long as they are in sound condition. A future makeover can quickly bring your garden up to date through repainting, together with sanding and oiling hardwood decks and benches. Subtle colour changes are very effective for this, for example, recent trends have moved away from beige-based to greyer whites.

Introducing a bold colour that speaks to you and your emerging tastes can also give your garden an instant refresh. Affordable elements like painted small square trellis can be used to introduce new colours and shapes to your design.

Small square trellis painted in a colour that compliments the rendered wall adds to the vitality of this Canonbury garden design in Islington. North London.

A polished canvas

Replacing patchy and muddy areas will give your garden a fresh finish and help other elements you introduce (such as sculptures, new furniture and planters) to stand out against a clean background. We always prefer a living lawn, but if the conditions and light levels are not suitable to use turf, artificial lawn on a permeable base will give you a beautiful low maintenance alternative.

A verdant lawn is the perfect canvas to help other elements of your garden to shine.

Planting

Certain plants carry modern connotations, including potted succulents (these look particularly good in concrete and stone planters).

Being aware of our changing climate naturally steers you away from traditional garden schemes towards drought tolerant species that are better able to withstand future climates. These might include grasses, sedums, olives, creeping thyme, rosemary, and Erigeron. Exotic looking plants like Dicksonias don’t even have an effective root system and can be planted into concrete. These plants all carry the added benefit of being very low maintenance.

Uplit Phyllostachys aurea and Dicksonia compliment this contemporary mezzanine garden design in Islington.

Fire features 

Fire features can make a garden look very contemporary and give you somewhere warm to congregate. In fact, even when they’re unlit, they give the impression of warmth and make your garden feel like a welcoming, modern space. By naturally fostering a ‘living space’ in your garden, fireplaces and features encourage us to use gardens in a modern way as sociable outdoor rooms.

The tall rear boundary wall in this Canonbury garden design in Islington N1 gave us the perfect opportunity to create an outdoor chimney breast for a real log fire.

Enjoy trends, but be wary of them­­­­

Like all fashion, garden trends can date quickly too. To make your investments worthwhile, we’d always recommend that you focus on getting the key elements of your garden design, shape and journey right first, then you can gradually replace different features and materials as and when you feel that they require a refresh.

Family friendly gardens

Several of our gardens have been featured in Gardening Etc recently. Along with the advice and recommendations we shared in this feature, here are some of our top tips on designing family friendly outdoor spaces…

Providing a space where you can safely observe children play is essential for young families, as in this tiered, family garden design in Islington.

Give the kids somewhere to go!

As we suggested to Gardening Etc, zoning your garden with child friendly areas helps to share the scheme effectively, maintaining peaceful spots dedicated to adults too! A Wendy house, playhouse or den are all fantastic options, and can be especially helpful for designating separate spaces in small gardens. Stepping stones leading to these features are fun for younger children, and can create a beautiful journey that will make your design feel cohesive.

A secluded Wendy House, providing a fun space for children as part of a small, contemporary garden design in Clapham.

It's important that you can see play areas designed for infants, whether an inflatable pool on the lawn (always be in attendance near pools and ponds), a sandpit, or a trampoline with netted sides. Some small trampolines can even be set into a lawn or astroturf, see The Children's Garden at Kew for a great example of this.

Trampolines set into astroturf at RBG Kew’s Children’s Garden ©Meg Boldison/RBG Kew

When installing trampolines on a real lawn, we lay artificial grass underneath, where the sun never shines and grass never grows! Easigrass' 'Mayfair' is our favourite.

A real lawn is nicest for children to play, eat and camp out on in the spring and summer months. If you decide to include climbing frames, swings or slides, a soft landing area is essential. Grass is best, but there are many good alternatives like recycled rubber matts.

Older children and teenagers will appreciate having somewhere secret to play that can be screened off with planting or trellis. We can work with you to design a feature of this kind that will adapt well for secluded outdoor socialising in the years to come.

Providing insect hotels and bird feeders can inspire children and support their learning.

Nurture an interest in nature

Learning to identify plants and pollinators is a key part of the national curriculum for children of all ages. Dedicating a raised bed or pots for your children to tend to their own plants in can inspire a lasting love of nature. These might be suited to a space near to the kitchen where herbs and vegetables can be grown, fostering an interest in healthy eating too! Placing insect hotels, bird baths and feeders in this area will bring the space to life and support the natural world.

Structural planting, coupled with child-friendly perennials, can withstand outdoor play in this smart East London garden.

Child friendly planting

Always avoid using poisonous plants in family spaces, especially ones with bright berries that can be tempting to young children such as Yew (Taxus baccata), which is a wonderful structural plant to use otherwise. We’d steer clear of very prickly plants like Berberis, Pyracantha or rambling roses. Alternatively, set them deep in the flower beds where they’re unlikely to cause scratches and tears.

To provide robust structure, small leaved evergreen plants like box, Ilex crenata and Prunus lusitanica work beautifully with large, silver, strappy leaves of Astelia, or the red and purple tones of Phormium. All of these can be placed to protect your flowering herbaceous plants from the rough and tumble of children playing, flying footballs and remote control trucks.

We’ll share examples of all of the species and ideas mentioned above on our Instagram, and you can find a selection of our family friendly gardens here too.

The perfect time for garden design

Winter months reveal the structure of a garden, with bare trees, evergreen shrubs and the existing architecture on show. Without distraction from the coming season’s growth, we can clearly see what’s needed to create the perfect outdoor space.

This gently flowing water feature creates a calming soundtrack in a small walled garden in Kensington.

Even garden designs and planting plans that have been completed in recent years can benefit from the fresh perspective winter affords. This is an ideal time for revealing where a new tree, shrub, or feature would complement your scheme, and where hard pruning of vigorous plants is required to redress the garden’s balance.

Here are three of our first considerations when beginning a new garden design, after exploring our clients’ tastes, aims and needs, and whether they envisage a contemporary or traditional scheme:

An outdoor chimney breast on a tall back wall creates a striking feature and focal point in this Highbury Corner garden.

1. How would you like to use your outdoor space?

One of the first things we’ll establish is your garden’s aspect, and how nearby trees and buildings affect the light levels. Which area gets the sun first, and which enjoys the afternoon and setting sun for longest? Are there any parts of your garden that are always in shade? Answering these questions helps us to design everything on your wish list, whether it’s a fire feature to congregate around, a sheltered dining space, or a children’s play area, in the perfect place. 

The fireplace and uplighting illuminate this sociable space in the evening.

2.     How can we create a journey?

Even in the smallest space, well placed elements like a false door, a stepping-stone pathway or an elevation of steps can create a journey in your garden. 

Stepping stones leading through a bed of perennials and a false door (painted in Little Green’s ‘Garden’ shade) create interest and a sense of the space continuing in this small Islington garden.

3. How can we marry the garden to the surrounding architecture?

Whether you live in a period property and would like a contemporary design, or if you’d like a garden that mirrors the era of your house, selecting materials that will compliment your home and the surrounding architecture is essential for helping your design tie together. 

A Georgian property in Holloway which has recently been developed to include a striking, modern extension, complete with roof garden. By combining contemporary and reclaimed materials, we’ve mirrored the striking contrast between old and new achieved by the architects.

When it comes to creating a planting scheme, we’ll first explore your needs and preferences. Many of our clients specifically request low maintenance gardens, and if they have young families it will be important to them that their design can tolerate some rough and tumble outdoor games without the plants or children suffering! Others wish for their design to support a long-nourished hobby of creative horticulture. 

Planting schemes are one of the last things we’ll work on after first plotting the design, structure and materials to use, hence this is wonderful work to begin in winter.  

Creating a circular seating area can transform an awkward space and gives this small Barnsbury garden a central focal point. We used red cedar horizontal trellis to draw the eye and detract from the varying heights of the boundary walls.

Jewels of winter colour

As you can read in our last blog on winter flowering plants, this needn't be a time when your garden loses interest. Along with winter bloomers, fruit bearing trees and shrubs can bedeck your garden with jewel bright berries, attracting overwintering birds and lifting the spirits in these chilly months.

Bright berries of Malus × robusta 'Red Sentinel', hanging like radiant winter cherries.

If you only have space for one tree in smaller gardens, you'll be continually glad of a crab apple (Malus spp.). Their generous clusters of fruit create incredible natural decorations at this time of year. The cherry-like berries remain on the branch long after their leaves have fallen, catching the eye and our breath. Better still, in spring they'll reward you with rich bouquets of pink buds that open into white or blush blossom. Whole stems and branches can be cut to create winter or spring wreathes if you're feeling crafty, and the culinary minded might even use these pectin rich fruits to create a tart crab apple jelly that goes beautifully with lamb, pork, game and rich cheeses.

A blackbird feeding on this hawthorn tree’s red berries in February. © David Hawgood

It's important to remember that many berries are poisonous to humans, and certainly worth cautioning children on this. Evergreen foliage tends to carry red berries, like the traditional Christmas holly. Red contrasts beautifully with the deep green leaves and is the most attractive colour for birds, who eat the energy rich pith and distribute the inedible seeds. Including a range of fruit baring plants in your garden will provide a continuing show of natural decorations, as birds tend to feed on the red berries first, followed by the pink, purple, orange and white varieties later.

The beautiful purple fruits of Callicarpa bodinieri

Hawthorn trees have a beautiful, eye catching habit and clusters of red berries that can grow as large as crab apples on some varieties. For a thornless species we recommend Crataegus pinnatifida. Or, to introduce a more surprising colour, Callicarpa bodinieri has magnificent mauve berries which shine against its deep purple autumn leaves and remain on the bare branches throughout the coldest months.

Red and orange Pyracantha spp. planted together along the boundary wall of a front garden in Tufnell Park.

Berberis and Pyracantha are both attractive fruit bearing shrubs whose dense, prickly growth works brilliantly when planted on a boundary to add security to your property. Berberis cultivars all carry fragrant orange yellow blossom in spring, and we love the peachy berries of Berberis wilsoniae that last long after the leaves have fallen. Pyracantha 'Orange Glow', commonly known as 'firethorn', forms plentiful white flowers in summer that transition into bright orange autumn and winter berries. Their flavour isn't the most favoured by birds which means that they're left on the branch until other nearby fruits are eaten, giving you a long-lasting blaze of colour.

Stunning pink berries of the rowan tree Sorbus pseudohupehensis. © Peganum

Rowan tree berries come in a huge variety of colours, including white, pink, orange and red. We love the way that Sorbus koehneana's white berries guarantee you a 'white Christmas' with or without snow, while Sorbus pseudohupehensis 'Pink pagoda' carries clusters of pink berries that rival any winter flowering cherry.

The rowan tree Sorbus koehneana's white berries shine brightly against a dark winter sky.

Even if you don't have space to introduce new shrubs or trees to your garden, you can plant stunning flashes of brightly coloured fruit in window boxes and planters using species like the holly-coloured Gaultheria procumbens 'Big Berry'; small varieties of Skimmia Japonica; Pernettya mucronata, which fruits in white red and pink; and even Vaccinium for your own home-grown cranberries.

Skimmia japonica 'Kew White' is a low growing shrub that looks fantastic in pots to brighten a shady corner.

Follow us on Instagram to see pictures of all our favourite winter flowers and fruits, along with examples of how structure, seed heads and grasses can all contribute to brilliant winter garden design.

Winter interest

Good design and plant planning can bring structure and interest to your garden scheme through the winter months, with many flowering and fruiting plants adding seasonal attraction.

Viburnum bodnantense ‘Dawn’ is a fragrant choice for front gardens.

Winter flowers are among the most fragrant garden blooms as they're competing to attract the rarer pollinators that are still active in cold weather. Among our favourite scented shrubs is Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn.' Sprinkled with abundant clusters of pale pink and richly scented flowers, it's a wonderful choice for front gardens where the fragrance greets you whenever you leave or arrive at home (as well as stopping passers-by and pollinating hoverflies in their tracks!)

Flowering quince (Chaenomeles spp.) are radiant winter bloomers.

Larger shrubs and trees are lifted and available ‘root balled’ at this time of year at far lower prices than their container grown equivalents. The winter flowering cherries (Prunus autumnalis Rosea) and flowering quince (Chaenomeles spp.) look radiant in December and January, and planting now will get them established before the spring. It’s also a wonderful time to invigorate the front or back garden with winter blooms in pots and window boxes.

One of our recent winter window boxes, using flowering heather as the centrepiece.

We like to design our window boxes with evergreen, structural plants that can last all year, and change the centre pieces for seasonal interest. Here we’ve used a deep red Heuchera and trailing maidenhair (Muehlenbeckia), crowned by winter heather (Calluna spp.). Such displays make your home look so loved and inviting, and can be enjoyed from the inside looking out too!

The stunning pink sepals of winter roses (Helleborus spp.).

Hellebores are aptly named as 'Christmas roses,' whose stunning white, pink and purple sepals look like huge flower heads; but there are even some varieties of true roses that continue to flower in December. Recently, we've admired a number of Rosa ‘Iceberg’'s blooming proudly in the chilly days, which is why we won't be pruning ours until late winter. Rose hips also provide beautiful jewels of colour and are a very important food source for overwintering birds.

Beautiful roses, still blooming at 2°C.

Many semi-hardy fuchsias will continue to reward you with exotic colours until the first London frost. We're particularly fond of the white and purple bells of Fuchsia 'Delta’s Sara'. Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) and white potato vine (Solanum laxum 'Album') are beautiful low maintenance climbers that continue to decorate walls and trellises with their generous, delicate blooms.

Fuchsia ‘Delta’s Sara’ bringing a flash of South American colour to a chilly London day.

Head to our Instagram feed to see images of all our favourite winter flowering species, and sign up to our newsletter below to hear all about the many winter fruits that bring colour and birds to London gardens.