IT IS tempting from late October onwards to jump into the borders and apply sweeping strokes of secateurs reducing all this seasons growth to a low stubble, writes TOM ATTWOOD. There’s nothing to say you shouldn’t do that but there are advantages to leaving plants with their dignity intact until the spring. Leaving herbaceous plants standing over the winter is not a new trend. One of the most prolific garden writers of the 19th and 20th centuries was William Robinson whose seminal work the English Flower Garden includes the lines 'stems of all herbaceous plants, reeds and tall grasses should always be allowed to stand through the winter and not be cut down in the fidgety-tidy way that is so common'; highlighting that during the winter they 'are very good in colour.' It’s not only colour that’s important, they provide a valuable refuge for overwintering wildlife large and small and protect the new shoots of growth as they develop at varying rates over the coming months, particularly in the later stages of winter. Unless major changes are afoot in specific areas it’s an opportunity to sit back, watch the garden slip into a dormant sleep while other plants and bulbs begin to awaken or become revealed in all their naked beauty, such as the flaky, paper-clad stems of Acer griseum or the striped, pen-like striations found on the stems of Acer davidii or the polished glistening waxy stems of the dogwoods with my favourite Cornus sanguinea 'Anny’s Winter Orange,' which in my book is the queen of winter coloured stems.

For many trees and shrubs it's the winter when their beauty is most evident, their fruiting, form and structure are emphasised when the leaves that would otherwise clad them are in temporary absence. Immerse yourself in books or websites on multi-season trees and shrubs suitable for your locality to fuel your ideas but most of all, visit gardens and parks open through the winter to absorb the autumn and winter spectacle and fire your imagination.

Next week: plants for coastal areas