For style and romance, try a WHITE OUT

PLAN YOUR GARDEN

THE cool, fresh tones of a white garden are an especially good choice for a contemporary-style outdoor lounge that has an uncluttered purity at the heart of its design and features stylish, trendy blooms such as agapanthus.Expert tip: For impact in a sunny or partially shaded wild area of the garden, combine silver stemmed birch with white-flowered foxgloves to attract bees, butterflies and birds to the area.GAZEBOSROSESA GAZEBO will give the garden a peaceful, romantic theme which you can enhance with a lily pond and white dove ornaments. In a white garden choose a decorative wirework pavilion with a light covering of vines or climbing roses - it will turn even a shady grot- spot into a stylish sanctuary.pounds How much? For FREE garden designs, visit www.applegategardens.co.ukpounds How much? From pounds 20 (www.burncoose.co.uk, 01209 860316).Expert tip: White, when used with black, can create a very sophisticated, urban or formal look and it can be utilised creatively with other colours too, especially darker reds, blues, greens and purples to lighten the otherwise overpowering effect of these colours.Good ideaExpert tip: When designing a white garden, choose light-coloured paving or gravel and add reflective water - you can also double the effect with a cleverly positioned mirror.pounds How much? Rustic willow gazebo, pounds 259 (www.tesco.com, 0845 600 4411).pounds How much? You can buy agapanthus for pounds 7 (www.somethingforthegarden.co.uk, 01226 744466).BIRCHpounds How much? Bobby James, pounds 8.95 (www com, 0800 035 7673 or 01603 784466).WHITE flowers are a wonderful way to brighten up a garden. They can be quite graceful but need a dark green backdrop to contrast with the flowers to help them stand out.Expert tip: Place your white garden in a spot where you will see it or sit in it at night so you can enjoy it as a moon garden too. Use dependable annuals such as busy lizzies, cosmos, cleome, nicotiana, sweet alyssum and petunia in containers to draw your eye when daylight dims.Using the brightness of white will also add a sense of space, which is a useful trick for small gardens.For maximum interest, make the most of groundcover plants with silver, blue-toned and variegated leaves and white stems, and select larger shrubs for their form, texture and shape.Expert tip: as with all roses, plant in moist, well-drained soil in full sun and control growth by reducing the side shoots by two- thirds when flowering is finished.YOU are bound to find at least one white-flowered rose that is just perfect for growing on a white painted wall, so select for fragrance as well as glossy green leaves. To really give your house the country cottage look, check out the rambling rose Bobby James, which will quickly cover a south or north-facing wall.TO bring out the colour and texture of white flowers, it is best to plant shrubs that bloom at the same time in groups of five or more.THE snowy white bark of the himalay jacquemontii, looks stunning all year ryan birch, Betula round, but this is especially true on grey winter days when it really stands out in the bare garden. It's an elegant tree that looks best as a specimen in the lawn, or when grown in a group in a woodland border.

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