The right plant in the right place

Evergreen shrubs for a small garden: how big each gets in ten years

A small garden needs evergreen shrubs that grow no bigger than 2 metres in ten years, or ones you clip every year. For low ones, mountain pine; for medium ones, blue holly, Oregon grape and wintergreen barberry; for a narrow column, the Irish yew. Instead of thuja and box, yew is the safest choice, and on acid or neutral soil Japanese holly too. The tables show the hardy evergreens sold in your country, with their ten-year size and today's price.

Pruning roses: which to cut back when, and how hard

Prune roses in spring, in March, as the buds begin to swell (the old rule says: when the forsythia flowers). Cut the strong stems of hybrid tea roses back to 10-15 cm, 4-6 buds, and those of floribundas to 25-30 cm; shrub and ground cover roses only lightly, by a third. Tie the main canes of a climbing rose horizontally and cut the flowered side shoots back by two thirds. Always cut at a slant, about 5 mm above an outward-facing bud.

Ornamental grasses: which goes where, and when to cut them back

Tall grasses (Chinese silver grass, switchgrass, feather reed grass) belong in sun, at the back of a border or standing alone; low ones (blue fescue, sedges, 'Hameln' fountain grass) at the edge and in rock gardens; sedges and Japanese forest grass in shade. Leave deciduous grasses standing in winter and cut them back to 10-20 cm in February or March, before they shoot; do not cut evergreen or semi-evergreen grasses back, only comb out the dead leaves in spring. Plant warmth-loving grasses (silver grass, fountain grass, switchgrass) in spring.

Trimming hedges and pruning cherry laurel: when, how often, with what

A clipped hedge usually needs trimming twice a year: in late May or June, after the first flush of growth, and in August; fast-growing privet and Leyland cypress even three times. Stop at the end of August so the new growth ripens before winter (yew can be clipped into September). Cut cherry laurel and other large-leaved hedges with secateurs, as a hedge trimmer slices the leaves. Trim the hedge narrower at the top, and if you see a nest in it, wait until the young have flown. Never cut cypress-family hedges back to the brown, leafless part, as they do not regrow from it.

Front garden: what to plant in front of the house, and how to plan it

A front garden shows all year from the street and the door, so its frame matters most: at least a third of the planted area should be evergreen or attractive in winter, with long-flowering perennials and spring bulbs between. Leave a 40 cm gravel strip along the house wall, plant at least 50 cm from the wall, and a tree at least 3 metres from it. The aspect decides the plants: drought-tolerant ones for a south or west-facing front garden, shade-tolerant ones for a north-facing one.

Planting and pruning lavender: when, where, how much to cut

Lavender wants a sunny spot and loose, free-draining soil, and likes limy soil too; plant it in spring, in April or May, 30-45 cm apart for a hedge. Prune it twice a year: in spring, in late March or April once hard frosts are over, cut the shoots back by about two thirds, but always only into green, leafy growth; after flowering, in late July or August, take off the faded flower stalks with the top 2-3 centimetres of leaves, shaping a dome. Never cut into the bare, woody part, as lavender does not regrow from it. English lavender and 'Hidcote' survive hard winters, lavandin is a little more tender, and French lavender takes only mild winters.

Planting tulips, daffodils and crocuses: when, how deep, how many

Spring-flowering bulbs go in in autumn: daffodils, crocuses and hyacinths from September to October, tulips from October to November, until the ground freezes. A bulb goes two to three times its own height deep (tulips and daffodils about 12-15 cm, crocuses 8-10 cm), tip up, at least twice its width from the next. Between perennials, 20 small, 8 medium and 4 large bulbs per square metre are enough. After flowering, leave their leaves on for six weeks.

Planting and pruning hydrangeas: which to cut back when

For pruning, hydrangeas fall into two groups. Panicle and smooth hydrangeas (such as 'Annabelle') flower on this year's shoots: cut them back to 25-60 cm in February or March. Bigleaf and mountain hydrangeas flower from buds that grew last year: in spring take off only the faded flowers, or they will not flower that year. Plant in autumn or spring, with plenty of water; for limy soil choose panicle or smooth hydrangea, as bigleaf hydrangea wants acid or neutral soil and afternoon shade.

Ground cover plants against weeds: which goes where, and how many you need

A ground cover keeps weeds out once it has closed up: until then, usually for two or three summers, it needs mulch and weeding. Under trees and in shade, lesser periwinkle, bigroot geranium, barrenwort and barren strawberry do best; in sunny, dry places stonecrops, thymes and creeping junipers. Most perennial ground covers take 9-18 plants per square metre. The tables work out what a square metre costs at today's shop prices in your country.

Planting a hedge: how many plants per metre, and what it costs

From plants 1-1.5 m tall, most hedges take 2.5-4 plants per metre: cherry laurel, photinia and yew 2.5 (40 cm apart), Leyland cypress and privet 3, hornbeam and beech 4; smaller plants take more. The plants go in one row, 80 cm from the fence, in autumn or early spring. What the hedge costs depends most on the size of the plants: the table works it out at today's shop prices in your country, for the length of your own hedge.

Building a rock garden: stone, soil and plants step by step

A rock garden belongs on a sunny, gentle slope, in lean, free-draining soil: one third garden soil, one third coarse sand, one third crushed stone. Lay the stones, all of one kind, in layers leaning the same way and sunk a third to a half into the ground, so that about two fifths of the surface is stone. Four to six plants per square metre are enough: creeping junipers and grasses make the frame, and between them cushion perennials, stonecrops and thymes flower from March to October.

A perennial border that flowers all summer: plants, layout, numbers

A perennial border flowers from spring to autumn when its backbone is long-flowering perennials that bloom from June to September (catmint, woodland sage, coneflower, yarrow, Russian sage, gaura), with bulbs around them for spring and Japanese anemone, sedum and asters for autumn. Plant in groups of 3-7, tall at the back, low at the front; on average you need 5-7 plants per square metre. The calendars show the hardy perennials for a sunny spot that shops in your country sell most widely, with the price per plant.

How to plan a garden, step by step

A garden is best planned in six steps: survey the site (light, soil, water, winter), decide what you will use it for, set the framework that still shows in winter, then lay out the border in layers, tall at the back and low at the front. Choose plants so that something flowers from spring to autumn, and finally work out the number of plants and the cost from the planting distances. Our garden planner works by the same rules.

Fast-growing hedges: how much each grows in a year

The fastest screening hedge plant is Leyland cypress, at about 60 cm a year, but it needs clipping two or three times a year and copes badly with drought. Cherry laurel 'Novita' and privet follow at about 40 cm a year, established Fargesia bamboos at 40-45 cm. In a natural, mixed hedge, elder and the thorny, suckering blackthorn grow fast too. How long it takes to reach a 180 cm screen depends more on the size of plant you buy: several years from small plants, one or two summers from large ones, but at many times the price per metre. The tables use the current shop prices in your country.