TOP TIPS TO LONGEVITY

Create year-round interest – borders aren’t just for summer! Plant some snowdrops ‘in the green’ now, and in autumn plant white tulips such as ‘White Triumphator’, white alliums like Allium ursinum or Allium nigrum, and little white grape hyacinths.

Adding a bit of stout structure to a border never did any harm – provide interest in your white border in the winter months with shrubs and trees for a touch of permanence. Perhaps include silver birch as a backdrop, silvery-white leaved Pittosporum

tenuifolium ‘Silver Queen’ or helichrysum ‘Goring Silver’.

Over at Sissinghurst, they even include white, wispy grasses – Stipa

barbata and its dainty flower tails look charming among the shrubs and perennials, and will stay put until spring, when you can trim it down.

T uck in a few new plants here and there through the year for consistency.