2. Make a scrapbook

Collect imagery and articles (either online or the traditional way of cutting and pasting from magazines) of looks you love, and the features and plants which will influence what you want to achieve.

Use sites such as Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest, where images and ideas are collected, categorised and shared. An hour spent browsing can be wonderfully inspiring.

Examine and analyse what it is that makes

what you’re looking at in other gardens work so well. What adds to the romance of a French courtyard garden? How do you create the same feeling with your space and resources?

If it’s impossible to grow the glorious cerise bougainvillea which tumbles over the top of whitewashed walls in Crete, would flaming fuchsias or claret-coloured cannas perhaps mimic the look?