People spend a considerable amount of time and effort deciding what carpet to put in their lounge and what surfaces to have installed in their kitchen. But when it comes to the garden, few of us think beyond a lawn and a patio. However, the garden is as important as any other room - it's somewhere that you entertain, spend time and is the view you see from most of your windows. The garden should be a place of beauty and style, so don your gardening gloves and create something even Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen would be proud of!

When restyling a garden, people tend to think of building a crazily-paved path or adding a gazebo. However, architectural plants can bring natural, new elements of style and structure to any garden. Mike Wilkinson, director of The Garden Path and horticultural researcher on BBC1's daytime TV garden makeover programme 'Garden Invaders' points out: "Architectural plants are important as they create height and interest from all angles of your garden. Instead of a flat and linear area, architectural plants add much more depth to a garden."

If you think of your garden as a room, then architectural plants are the large permanent residents - the furniture - while the flowers and other short-lived smaller plants are the ornaments. Use your architectural plants as focal points at key locations or at the very back of a boarder for full, dramatic effect. But remember that architectural plants can be prima donnas, and they need their supporting cast of smaller flowers and shrubs.

The choice of architectural plant is yours, but there are some qualifying traits that a plant should have for inclusion. In particular, it should have a strong and distinctive shape, both of the leaves and of the overall growth pattern. It is also helpful if the plant is evergreen, or with a distinctive winter presence - such as bark colouration or shape of branches - so that your garden doesn't become dull in the winter.

Make specimens like bamboo, Dicksonia antarctica, Cordyline 'Torbay Dazzler' and Phormium tenax 'Aurora' the focal points and try to arrange them so that the effect changes with the season.

Deciduous shrubs with foliage that has a pleasant autumn colour such as Acer palmatum dissectum 'Autropupureum' or Hammelis mollis will do the trick and help to give your garden an interesting shape throughout the year.

Although there are no golden rules, you'll soon get a feel for what looks good. Ruth Marshall, director of CoolGardens Landscaping Limited says: "Architectural planting can massively enhance a garden if carried out with some care and thought.

"As a general rule do not mix the planting styles - I have seen large (and expensive) architectural plants, such as bamboos and palms, planted in the midst of deciduous woodland planting - the result looks dreadful.

"But no rule is absolute and I have planted the broadest of architectural plants - the gunnera or giant hog weed - with roses very successfully."

Overall, have fun experimenting with these plants, and enjoy creating a place of style and originality you can be proud of.

MORE INFORMATION

CoolGardens Landscaping limited. Tel: 01958 523004. www.coolgardens.co.uk
The Garden Path. Tel: 01985 851076. www.thegardenpath.org.uk.

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