White Garden

Get planting

Choosing the plants is the most exciting part of creating any new garden. The choice for a white garden is huge. Try 'Regale' lilies and white cosmos (grown from seed) - ideally planted in drifts for impact. Include white daisies, which will self-seed and come up year after year. Viola cornuta 'alba' will give light in a dark corner, as the flowers are a staggering bright white. Clematis 'jouiniana' praecox (£3.95) is a ground clematis with a tendency to sprawl; in early summer it will be covered in starry white flowers.

One of the most dramatic plants is the magnificent Crambe 'cordifolia' (£4.95, pictured); its large heart-shaped leaves are topped with clouds of tiny white flowers. Available from Crocus.

Veronicas are marvellous plants for late summer interest. Try Veronica spicata 'Noah Williams' (£3.45), a lovely grey-leaved variety with white flowers, or Veronica longifolia 'alba' (£3.45) that is taller and better at the back of the border. Mix them with Cimifuga simplex matsumurea 'white pearl' (£5.95) that will give you elegant spires of pure white flowers in the late autumn. All these plants are also available online from Manor Nursery.

Contrasting colour

Make good use of grey-leaved plants like Stachys byzantina 'silver carpet' (£2.95) and Artemesia 'powis castle' (£3.45). They'll provide a wonderful grey backdrop to your planting. Eryngium 'bourgattii' (£3.45) is a marvellous silvery thistle-like plant that shimmers in the dusk. Add sharp accents of colour with Alchemilla mollis 'lady's mantle' (pictured, £4.45) which has lovely light green round leaves that sparkle with rain drops in a shower, topped with clouds of soft lime-green flowers. Available from Crocus. Plant Agapanthus 'white dwarf'(£5.95) in pots; it has big starry heads of white flowers over striking dark green foliage. All these plants are also available online from Manor Nurseries.

Take a seat

Furniture in a white garden should add to the pale mix of colours. Teak furniture, if left untreated, will gradually fade to a lovely silvery colour and blend in with your planting. Barlow Tyrie produce a large range of teak furniture. This is their 'Sissinghurst' bench, priced £1050. It's an adaptation of the original bench designed by Edwin Lutyens and used at Sissinghurst. Contact Barlow Tyrie (0800) 832 585.