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Winter gardens have been looking stunning since the leaves fell in autumn, revealing the stems and structure of many of the key plants. So before the spring leaves emerge, bringing winter to a close, now is your last chance to be inspired by a beautiful winter garden.Ìý

Carol visited:Ìý
RHS Garden Wisley
Woking
Surrey ÌýGU23 6QB
Tel: 0845 260 9000

Opening times: ÌýRHS Garden Wisley is open all year except Christmas Day
Monday - Friday Ìý10am - 4.30pm
Sat-Sun & Bank HolsÌý 9am - 4.30pm
Last entry one hour before closing. ÌýSummer closure at 6pm (from 7 Mar 2015)
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(www.nationaltrust.org.uk)

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[www.nationaltrust.org.uk]

[www.rhs.org.uk]

Matthew Pottage, Deputy Curator at RHS Wisley, was heavily involved in the expansion and new planting of the winter garden there. We asked him to recommend his top five must-have plants for your garden in winter:

Witch Hazel ÌýHamamelis × intermedia '±á²¹°ù°ù²â'Ìý
The loveliest of the witch hazels, with an upright shape bearing masses of bright yellowish-orange flowers with mid-winter scent.
Snowdrop ÌýGalanthus elwesiiÌý
This snow drop is the biggest and the best of the snowdrops, with large flowers and a beautiful honey scent.
Golden Leaved Ghost Bramble ÌýRubus cockburnianus ‘Goldenvale’Ìý
A handsome butÌý prickly plant, with bright golden leaves all summer and, in winter, dazzling, chalky-white, arching stems.
Siberian Dogwood ÌýCornus alba ‘Sibirica’Ìý
A very easy to grow shrub that has spectacular brilliant red stems, which glow in winter sunlight.
Hellebore ÌýHelleborus ‘Walbertons Rosemary’Ìý
This hellebore has outward facing flowers, which, when they open are pale pink then slowly deepen to a rich pinky-red. They will continue to flower for weeks from mid-January.

Pelagoniums take very easily as cuttings, as long as you observe a couple of rules.Ìý The first is to have a very free-draining compost.Ìý Prepare the cutting so they are about 8-10cm long and remove all foliage except one or two leaves.Ìý Insert them around the edge of the pot. The second rule is not to over water the cuttings but keep the compost only slightly damp.Ìý If the compost become too wet there’s a risk of the cutting succumbing to rot before they strike.Ìý Put them somewhere warm and bright they should take in about 3 or 4 weeks.

Softwood cuttings (www.rhs.org.uk)Ìý

Chitting seed potatoes is simple but important if you want an early crop of new potatoes - that's first or second early varieties.Ìý Simply place the seed potatoes on a seed tray or egg boxes and put them somewhere frost-free and light, and over the next few weeks they will develop green stubby shoots that will spring into action once they’re planted.Ìý

(www.rhs.org.uk)

If you haven’t done so already, it's time now to prune your autumn fruiting raspberries. These produce their fruit on the current season's growth so take away all of last year's canes; cutting hard right down to the ground. When you’ve finished, give them a thick mulch to keep them free of weeds and help the roots stay moist in dry spells.

(www.rhs.org.uk)