“Our Walk is packed with ideas!”

Curator Paul Cook reveals the secrets of the Winter Walk at RHS Harlow Carr

How old is the Winter Walk at Harlow Carr?

It was created just over 10 years ago to bring a concentrated burst of colour and interest to the garden. It shows that the garden doesn’t need to be ‘put away’ for winter and that it can be a stimulating landscape of colour and scent.

Does it take much looking after?

Pruning the dogwoods and willows is our great end-of-winter task and we get everyone involved. We have a staggered prune, leaving some stems for colour and structure and cutting them back every two years, rather than having an annual cull.

What can readers do to get more winter colour in their own garden?

I’d suggest they try layering their planting – using perhaps a colourful-stemmed dogwood underplanted with bergenia and early-f lowering bulbs, such as snowdrops, to extend the season.

How has the Winter Walk evolved?

The range of plants has been extended and we’re constantly trying new plant cultivars and combinations. Rather than looking to make a specialist snowdrop collection, we’ve added a mix of really good garden cultivars, such as ‘Magnet’ and ‘S. Arnott’. Both have the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM), so they’re proven to be robust and reliable. We’ve also tried a range of Iris reticulata hybrids including ‘Katharine

Paul Cook is the curator of RHS Harlow Carr, the horticultural charity’s most northerly showcase garden. He manages a team of 18 staff, four students and four apprentices, plus many RHS volunteers.