Garden Time Savers

The backbone of any easy-care garden is shrubs. It saves time as you only have to design and plant an area once and it can last for years with little more than the occasional pruning. You want to look for plants that are attractive over a long period of time and ideally non-fussy plants! Choose a range of sizes, shapes, leaf and flower colours for maximum impact. The easiest way to ensure you have year-round interest is to visit your garden centre monthly or quarterly so that you see what plants are in flower at that time.

Today's recommendations are evergreen shrubs. These are shrubs that keep their foliage all year round. Take this list along with you when you go to your garden centre.

- Choisya (variety pictured is Ternata)

- Escallonia

- Fatsia

- Hebe 'Red Edge'

- Hebe pinguifolia 'Pagei'

- Holly (Ilex)

- Viburnum davidii

All these plants are available from St Bridget Nurseries' Garden Centres in Exeter. Just ask the planteria staff for help in selecting the best evergreen shrubs for your garden, they'll be pleased to help.