TOP 10 PLANTS The spring, summer or autumn garden is easy to love; winter is the true test of whether a garden is able to sustain interest all through the year. Clipped forms, be they hedges or topiary, are instrumental to a garden’s off-season success, and a good place to see these elements at work is at Hinton Ampner, the National Trust property some ten miles east of Winchester in Hampshire. Here topiary forms, including shaped yew and clipped hedges, are key to the mood of the garden. As box blight and box tree caterpillar take their toll, Hinton Ampner gardener Jen Harbrow suggests ten alternative candidates for hedges and topiary.
Hinton Ampner, Alresford, Hampshire SO24 0LA. Tel: 01962 771305; nationaltrust.org.uk
1 Ilex aquifolium
“Our dense, prickly, native holly…
