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Room With A View

© Jane Hollis

During the winter months, it is likely that you will spend much less time in the garden than you did in summer. However, this doesn't mean you can't enjoy the delights of your winter garden. Careful planning means you can create beautiful views from your house windows which can be enjoyed in warmth and comfort, even when outdoors is bitterly cold.

Remember that the view will be different according to the height from which it is viewed. My front garden is based around a symmetrical diamond pattern, which looks almost like a tapestry from my first floor bedroom window. A parterre or knot garden is also most effective viewed from above.

The most important views to plan are those from frequently used windows, for example, the living room and kitchen. Here you need high performance plants that offer a range of seasonal interest. For example, in front of my kitchen window I have an island bed which contains:

Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' (dogwood) for its autumn foliage and colourful winter stems

Variegated Carex (sedge) and Festuca glauca for all-year colour and texture Miscanthus sinesis 'Undine' for its arching shape and autumn/winter seedheads

Arbutus unedo (Killarney strawberry tree) for evergreen foliage, winter flowers and colourful fruits.

Then in front of the bed, on the patio, I have lots of pot plants that can be rearranged according to periods of interest. Some add colour and shape all year round, such as the bronze leaved Phormium (New Zealand flax), whilst others such as Hamamelis mollis (witch hazel), Helleborus and Sarcococcus are pulled to the fore during their flowering season.

Also try to arrange a focal point that can be seen from the window - this may be a seat, a sculpture, a dramatic or architectural plant, or even a view to distant countryside. In front of my kitchen window, in the island bed, is an abstract slate sculpture, that draws the eye initially. Then your view is taken down the curving grass path between the bed and the border where small glimpses of other features can be seen. Ensuring that the whole of the garden cannot be seen from the window creates an air of mystery, which is especially important in the small garden.

Climbers on the window wall can also enhance the view if sprays of foliage and flowers bend in front of the panes, although careful pruning may be necessary to stop your view being obscured too much. Plants I have used in this way include the long-flowering white Climbing Iceberg rose and Solanum jasminoides 'Album' (white potato vine).

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