Specimen Plants

This is considered to be the best variegated aucuba. Large leafed, boldly spotted and generously blotched with gold, the handsome foliage from a distance has an extremely light and bright effect. Since the leaves are glossy and catch the light it can make an impact. Sometimes this, or one of its spotty friends are found filling a tiny London front garden, and they look great! This is a female form and it can produce red berries if grown next to a male variety. Eventual height and spread 3x3m Enjoys most garden situations and soils.

These days we tend to use Bay for cooking. The plant has long, dark green leaves that are aromatic and a dense habit. It is often grown in a container and trimmed to a formal cone. Rounded clusters of greenish white flowers are tucked into the leaf axils and appear in April, followed by berries, which start off deep-green then change to black. Enjoys sun/partial shade in well-drained soil.

This is the laurel referred to in classical times, if you are into making wreaths for the victorious. These days we tend to use it for cooking. The plant has long, dark green leaves that are aromatic and a dense habit. It is often grown in a container and trimmed to a formal cone. Rounded clusters of greenish white flowers are tucked into the leaf axils and appear in April, followed by berries, which start off deep-green then change to black. Enjoys full sun/partial shade in well-drained soil. Eventual height and spread 2.5mx1.2m

This is the classic plant for small hedges and topiary balls, cones and other shapes. It remains solid and neatly green throughout the year, responds well to trimming and shaping, and is generally one of those good-tempered plants that add solidity to the garden. It grows naturally as an under-storey plant in forests, but likes the warmth of sunny slopes. Usually seen as a shrub, it can also be trained on one or several stems to make an attractive small tree by removing foliage from the lower layers. It can grow to as much as 10m (33ft) high, though more normally perhaps half that. There are numerous cultivars. The wood is very hard and was used for engraving. Enjoys most garden situations in well-drained soil.

This is the classic plant for small hedges and topiary balls, cones and other shapes. It remains solid and neatly green throughout the year, responds well to trimming and shaping, and is generally one of those good-tempered plants that add solidity to the garden. It grows naturally as an under-storey plant in forests, but likes the warmth of sunny slopes. Usually seen as a shrub, it can also be trained on one or several stems to make an attractive small tree by removing foliage from the lower layers. It can grow to as much as 10m (33ft) high, though more normally perhaps half that. There are numerous cultivars. The wood is very hard and was used for engraving. Enjoys most garden situations in well-drained soil.

This is the classic plant for small hedges and topiary balls, cones and other shapes. It remains solid and neatly green throughout the year, responds well to trimming and shaping, and is generally one of those good-tempered plants that add solidity to the garden. It grows naturally as an under-storey plant in forests, but likes the warmth of sunny slopes. Usually seen as a shrub, it can also be trained on one or several stems to make an attractive small tree by removing foliage from the lower layers. It can grow to as much as 10m (33ft) high, though more normally perhaps half that. There are numerous cultivars. The wood is very hard and was used for engraving. Enjoys most garden situations in well-drained soil.

Neat and bushy, this is one of the later flowering Camellias, with lots of elegant semi-double red blooms with contrasting yellow stamens in mid to late spring. Eventual height and spread 3x2m Enjoys full sun/partial shade in well-drained acidic soil.

This has lush blooms that are coloured a vivid cherry red. The flower is semi-double and has an ample, shaggy centre of long creamy stamens that are gold at their tips. The blooms are often pendulous in habit. It would suit a position on a bank so one could stare up into their faces. It is a bushy camellia with an upright growth habit. It is likely to reach around 2.5 metres in height with a 2 metre spread. Camellias enjoy acid soil and a part-shaded position. Enjoys full sun/partial shade in well-drained acidic soil.