Snowscape is similar to the Scandinavian theme which has been popular in recent years with whites and natural wood colours, it is described as white with subtle shimmers and hints of green. The brilliant white of the bare-leaved branches of birch and one of my favourite trees is the perfect backdrop to the Snowscape theme, whether enjoying the taller Betula utiliis or the multi-stemmed version in smaller spaces. Keeping the white going by under planting a multi-stemmed birch with the white of Helleborus niger and Cyclamen coum subsp. coum f. pallidum ‘Album’ white with a small brush of purple will give an elegant simplicity to the overall scheme. To add in some green having a dark evergreen hedge of yew (Taxus baccata) or laurel (Prunus lusitania) behind the birch will draw the eye in and provide a backdrop for summer planting. Or soften the effect of the angular branches with mounds of topiary balls, either box (Buxus sempervirens) or yew (Taxus baccata) around the base of the trees.

Up lit birch treeSnow

The winter honeysuckle (Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’) has delicate white bell-shaped flowers on bare branches, perfectly in keeping with the natural woods and whites of the theme and has a fantastic scent. In smaller spaces they work well trained against a wall, I have two of them trained against a fence just behind a bench, so when the weather allows I can sit and inhale the scent and when the weather doesn’t, cutting off a small branch or two to bring indoors will fill a room with perfume.

Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’

A more subtle white with deep green leaves, Sarcococca (Christmas Box) not only has tiny white flowers at this time of year but also scented and is ideal in smaller spaces (I had a carful these on their way to a client’s garden and would have happily left them in there for week or two). These are well worth planting near a path or in pots to make the most of the scent, whether choosing Sarcococca confusa or for an additional colour the purple stemed Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna ‘Purple Stem’ or the smaller ‘Winter Gem’.

Sarcococca confusa

Adding in the shimmer by day, I love leaving seed heads from flowers and grasses over winter (and then cut them back in spring as the new growth is emerging) to glitter from the frost on a cold sunny day, Miscanthus or Phlomis are particularly adept at capturing the frost. By night a string of lights along a path, lighting the way to the door or wrapped round topiary either side of an entrance will extend the Christmas decorations outside and welcome visitors to the house.

Frost covered seed heads