Use these plants

Malus robusta ‘Red Sentinel’

Pretty, pink-white, late spring flowers are followed by glossy, cherry-red crab apples over winter and golden autumn leaf colour. H and S8m (26ft)

Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Golf Ball’

Evergreen shrub with fresh, bright green foliage and small, dusky purple, scented flowers May-June. It forms a neat, rounded mound. H and S1.2m (4ft)

Allium ‘Globemaster’

Spherical flower heads of star-shaped purple flowers May-June, on strong stems. Space to accommodate their large (15cm/6in) heads. H80cm (32in) S20cm (8in)

Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’

Deciduous shrub with clusters of snowball-like white or green-tinted flowers May-June. Green acer-like leaves are tinted purple in autumn. H and S4m (13ft)

Acanthus mollis

A lovely, architectural plant with enormous, jagged green leaves and spectacular spikes of purple-hooded white flowers that last for weeks in midsummer. H1.5m (5ft) S90cm (3ft)

Stipa tenuissima

Versatile grass with wispy greenish-yellow stems and fluffy silver-green flower heads that mature to beige and waft in the breeze. H60cm (2ft) S30cm (12in)

Arbutus unedo

Named for its red autumn fruits, the strawberry tree is a large evergreen shrub with shredding brown bark, glossy leaves and late white-pink flowers. H and S4m (13ft)

Asarum europaeum

This useful groundcover plant forms a carpet of glossy, dark green, kidney-shaped leaves. Once established, it stays evergreen all year round. H15cm (6in) S30cm (12in)

Dahlia ‘Downham Royal’

From July-Sept, the upright stems of this elegant ball dahlia are topped with these neat, miniature, ball-shaped, magenta-coloured flowers. H90cm (3ft) S40cm (16in)