How to have colour in your garden all year round

Battered by rain, frost and cold, the average British garden looks far from vibrant in the winter months. There are no spring daffodils or summer sunflowers to provide a shock of yellow, or the pink and peach hues of a fragrant sweet pea or honeysuckle plant. Instead, most gardens are a wash of brown, green and beige. So how do you ensure that your garden is colourful all year round?

Despite what you may think, there are a number of plants that bloom during the winter months. They may lack the ‘show off’ appeal of gladioli or petunias, but plants like hellebores (better known as Christmas roses), certain varieties of heather and the purplish pink Daphne mezereum all flower during the months of December, January and February.

An easy and quick fix is to use planters and pots in your garden. You can swap out annuals or any plants that are suffering under the winter conditions for hardier varieties. Adding moss to the surface of a planter can also give an additional burst of vivid green.

However, when it comes to creating an all-season garden, you need to turn to evergreens. Providing foliage all year round, these plants stop your garden from looking bare. Many of them also have beautiful leaves like the multi-coloured wintercreeper or the vivid red photinia.

Lawns tend to take a beating from rain and frost, but there’s one way to ensure that they stay green all year round: laying down artificial grass. The latest types of artificial grass mimic the appearance of a lawn but, once fitted, need very little maintenance.

However, it’s not just plants that you should be thinking about; colour can be provided by garden decorations and features. Think about adding a brightly painted bird box or planter… or even a garden gnome! These once ridiculed garden ornaments are having something of a hipster come back. In the same vein, trends in garden design are moving away from a style that’s elegant and minimal to embrace something more playful. Why not paint your shed turquoise or add a statement pink wall to your patio? After all, life’s too short to worry about what the neighbours might think!