Structure sorted!

Working with a blank canvas can be daunting but if you are planting a new garden or reworking what you already have, there are good places to start.

By all means take your lead from a favourite plant or two, which could help you decide on the tone, theme and colour scheme of the garden.

But when it comes to laying out, it is best to start with the biggest plants and those that will be on show all year round: those that will provide the structure of the garden.

Get trees and hedges planted in their favoured period of November to February.

Add in evergreens - plants that keep their leaves year-round - and shrubs with larger ultimate sizes, and all those smaller plants can then be tessellated around them.