Design your perfect border

A heavenly flower border is a work of art, a living composition in which colour themes are finely balanced to wax and wane through the seasons

Colour-drench your plot all summer using a shrewd selection of splashy bedding plants

Use a palette of palest pastels for this jostling, flower-filled midsummer scheme, says Helen Billiald

1 When choosing the plants for a cottage garden border, start with a selection of herbaceous perennials that will come back year after year. Choose varieties that are also attractive to pollinators, s

Surrey-based garden designer Nic Howard has become well known for his romantic plant-filled gardens, which he’s been creating for clients across Surrey, Kent and Sussex since establishing his business

For many gardeners, midsummer is the highlight of the year when bountiful borders brim with blowsy blooms jostling for space. But creating planting palettes that are both pleasing to the eye and feel