Tips on how to to replicate in your own garden in the New Year with innovative ideas on designs - plus, find out what else needs doing in the garden this week

By Hannah Stephenson

If you've had time over the festive season to leaf through those gardening book gifts, or to visit a public garden and walk off those Christmas excesses, you'll hopefully be awash with innovative ideas on designs to replicate in your own garden in the new year.

If you are redesigning an established garden, you can retain mature features, moving large shrubs and border plants to create an immediate effect. The proportion of plants and features to open space in the garden is all-important and the general rule is one-third planting to two-thirds space. You need that space to properly be able to see your garden and all its features.

Yet the garden can consist of many elements. Even a small garden could incorporate a mixture of different aspects, from lawn and paving to gravel, water and pebbles. If you have a tiny garden, think about incorporating vertical planting, using climbers to bring colour and texture upwards, or make your garden seem larger with the use of mirrors.

Vertical dimension will prevent an otherwise flat area from looking boring. In a large garden, for example, tall trees will take the eye upwards, while in a medium-sized garden pergolas, arches and arbours are useful devices.

Consider using a few bold focal points to draw the eye across the garden at an angle, which can help to overcome the shortcomings of a really tiny space. Drawing the eye to focal points elsewhere can also detract attention from an unattractive object or area, rather than attempting to screen it.

If your garden is big enough to incorporate beds and borders, make sure they aren't too narrow. Too many plants end up cramped between fences and lawn in boring, straight borders which do nothing for the plants or the view. Think about introducing interesting curves to your borders to give them a more fluid feel.

The minimum width for a border should be around 1m (40in) and even with that, you'll be limited to dwarf shrubs and fairly small perennials. If your design includes three layers of planting in a bed, you'll need an area of at least 3m squared.

You may think that planting the tallest plants at the back of the border and graduating until you have the smallest plants at the front is the best way to go, but there are certain plants you can use to break with tradition.

Height in the foreground, as long as it doesn't block the line of vision, increases perspective and can make the garden seem longer. For this you can use wispy grasses such as Stipa gigantea, or perennials that produce light flower spikes such as Digitalis lutea, or see-through specimens such as Verbena bonariensis, which don't block the view of what's behind them.

Long, narrow gardens can often be improved by dividing the area into several smaller sections, using hedges, low walls, raised beds or shrub borders that extend into the garden and prevent the eye being taken in a straight line to the end. Each area might incorporate a different theme, such as scent, water, herbs or flowers.

Of course, before any project can start, consider the type of gardener you are. Do you want a low-maintenance plot, or one you can endlessly potter in? How much time will you realistically be able to spend each week maintaining that space?

Draw up a plan either on a computer or with pencil and (preferably graph or squared) paper, to make an outline of the existing garden and its dimensions. Include existing features you want to keep and potential obstacles such as manhole covers which you'll need to work around. Mark the direction of the sun, where it falls at particular times of the day and any permanent shadow. Then put tracing paper over the original plan and sketch ideas of your own, experimenting with layout and plantings, bearing in mind what the vista will look like from the house, both downstairs and upstairs.

And don't make it too complicated. Remember clean lines and simple shapes will always work best - in design, less is often more.

Best of the bunch - Gypsophila

Gypsophila is one of those really useful fluffy white plants used for filling in gaps in flower arrangements with ease and, while it is widely available all year, I find it comes into its own at Christmas used to fill in gaps in the Christmas tree. Cut sprigs off and place them strategically between the layers of branches and it brings a natural snowy hue to the tree.

In the wild, this is a summer bloom, with its starry sprays of small white or pink flowers making an airy filler in the border, making good companions for coreopsis, cranesbill geraniums and geums. Small types are ideal for rock gardens or tumbling over retaining walls, while the annual and larger perennial gypsophilas such as G. paniculata suit borders. Popular cultivars include 'Bristol Fairy' and 'Perfekta', with double white flowers. Gypsophila needs to be grown in deep, light, preferably alkaline soil that is sharply drained and in full sun.

Good enough to eat - Figs

We've come a long way since 'figgy pudding' first graced our tables back in the 16th century, but figs are still a luxury item at Christmas, served baked with honey or even as an Italian starter with Proscuitto.

While they prefer sunnier climes, it is possible to grow them here in the UK if you can protect them from frost. They need a sunny spot in slightly alkaline, deep, rich, moisture-retentive soil. If you live in a really cold area, plant them next to a wall or fence which will protect them from harsh winds.

You need to be patient with figs, which take several years to crop well and it's worth protecting the branches carrying embryo fruits in winter with straw, conifer prunings or bracken held in place with netting. At the same time, remove any unripe figs from the previous summer. You may also need to protect ripening fruits from wasps and birds. Alternatively, grow them in pots in a sunny, sheltered site and transfer them to cold but frost-free conditions in winter.

Top buy - Garden Multi Tool

This is perfect for the gardener who has everything... but can't find anything. Wilkinson Sword's Garden Multi Tool comes neatly packed inside the handles of a pair of secateurs, Swiss Army style. It includes spanners, cross and flat-headed screwdrivers, a knife, ruler, can opener, bottle opener, saw and even a nail file for girlie gardeners. (Wilkinsonsword-tools.co.uk, £17.99)

What to do this week

:: If you can escape the Christmas mayhem, take a walk up the garden and make notes about shrubs which need moving and how you can enhance borders in the New Year.

:: Enjoy a day out with the family at a public garden - many National Trust properties and other public gardens are open between Christmas and New Year.

:: Sow seeds of houseplants, tuberous begonias and slow-germinating greenhouse exotics under glass.

:: Sharpen tools to give you clean cuts in the New Year.

:: Reorganise your storage space by putting up tool racks in the shed or garage.

:: If the weather turns freezing cold, lag sacks and boxes of vegetables with newspaper in the shed or bring them into a cool area indoors.

:: Continue forcing witloof chicory.

:: Check that winter outdoor plants, including clipped boxes and bays in pots, don't dry out.

:: Sow exhibition onions.

:: Prune ornamental vines.

:: Clear debris such as ivy from the bottom of hedges and any other fallen leaves or rubbish which may be harbouring slugs and snails.