The wet and cold days of December are not always conducive to pottering about in the garden so this is a good month to do some planning for the new year ahead. I am often asked to help revamp existing beds so here are a few pointers to help you make decisions…

Reflect on how you would like to improve the bed: more colour through the year, a greater variety of textures, a larger array of heights? Make a plan of the bed, marking the location of plants that you want to keep. A scaled plan is really useful as it shows exactly where plants are and how big the spaces are but that is only achievable if you go outside to measure the bed, measure where the plants are and then plot your findings onto a piece of graph paper at an appropriate scale, which can all be a bit time-consuming so an approximate plan will probably be good enough for general improvements!

Assess the characteristics of the bed. How much sunlight does it get? What direction does the bed face? How dry is the soil: dry, moist or wet? When does the bed look good? Which months/seasons could it be improved? Assessing these features helps you to make informed decisions about whether a plant is suitable for the bed.

Now comes my favourite part: browse books, catalogues and websites to find plants that meet your criteria. Websites such as the RHS and Crocus provide plant databases which are useful starting points. I also find looking at pictures of different plant combinations very helpful. Try to select a mixture of flower forms as well as a variety of leaf shapes. As you choose your plants, pencil them onto your plan, taking care to use information about plant spread so that you don’t try to put too many plants onto the plan. Review heights, colours and flowering months. When you are happy with your choices, create a finalised list to store with your plan, ready for plant buying in the spring.