Every garden needs structure and year round interest and one of the best ways to provide this is to use evergreen plants. These retain their foliage throughout the year, providing a constant green effect in the border. Evergreen plants can be successfully used as vertical cover, ground cover or as feature specimens in the lawn or in the border.

Shades of Green and in between

Evergreens don't have to be green and in fact even the green ones can take on interesting hues in autumn and winter. For some rich purple foliage consider Pittosporum 'Tom Thumb'. It has small, shiny leaves that create a fantastic contrast with silver foliage plants. Or for the border choose Hebe 'Heartbreaker' that has glorious variegated foliage with pink hues.

Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price' is a popular winter evergreen with attractive rose pink flower buds that open to clusters of white flower. Consider choosing a variation of this plant and look out for Viburnum tinus 'Gwenllians' which has purple berries and similar pink flower buds.

Seasonal scent

Don't forget that winter fragrance is a wonderful dimension in the winter garden. Look out for the aromatic foliage of Laurus Nobilis (Bay) or choose a winter flowerer like Elaegnus. Many people just don't expect a common garden plant to smell so good and most people won't notice it because they don't go out into the garden in winter. The flowers are really insignificant but highly scented.

Conifers make great winter interest plants too. There are a huge variety of foliage effects, colours and textures within this fascinating group of plants.

Aussie Splendour

For something a bit different, consider some colour from down under to jazz up the garden? Grevilleas are an unusual, underrated and really useful plant; there are lots of varieties with different growing habits. They are easy to grow, evergreen and fairly tolerant in terms of needs.

These exotic looking plants belong to the Protea family and have very striking flowers. They are easy to grow, like a warm sunny spot but may need some winter protection in hard winters. The plants need a well-drained soil that is neutral to slightly acidic. They are rarely affected by pests and diseases and make wonderful, reliable garden plants.

Sculpted plants

Any plant that takes on a distinct form over winter is open to the creative effects of the weather. Evergreen sculptures, tightly clipped hedges and topiary sculptures all have a part to play in the winter garden and wear their costumes with pride. Their rich green character makes a bold statement in the bare border and can be used to great effect very easily. Box remains one of the most popular plants for garden topiary and responds well to regular clipping. It is easy to grow, and can be propagated from cuttings.