AS the leaves fall and we prepare for what always seems like an endless winter, now is a good time to get your sketch pad out to plan a new garden design.

“For a good balanced design, most designers would recommend that a third of the garden should be for planting and the other two-thirds grass or hard surfaces,” says horticulturist Louise Hampden, producer of BBC Gardeners’ World and author of a new handy little guide, Top Tips: A Treasury Of Garden Wisdom.

The book accompanies a new daytime Gardeners’ World series starting on BBC Two on December 1 which collects the most fascinating and useful hints and tips from 40 years of the programme.

There are three main design elements you need to consider: what the garden will be used for (children’s play, relaxation, parties, growing veg and flowers); its aspect (shady or sunny, overlooked or secluded); and how you want the garden to look (formal or informal).

Cut out magazine pictures of schemes that you like and stick them on to a large piece of card, adding to it gradually, including plants, furniture, layouts and even sheds – and soon a mood and preference for certain colours and materials will emerge.

Narrow gardens are often the easiest to design, Hampden says.

“A long, thin garden can be broken up into different spaces, divided by hedges or trellis, each with a different purpose or feel,” she says.

“This gives you the opportunity to have a formal area as well as an informal one, and to screen off practical spaces such as the garden shed or the place where you keep the rubbish bins.”

Put in a curved path with broad planting spaces either side to make the garden feel longer and create an interesting journey through it.

Wider gardens are more difficult to design, as the whole garden can be seen at once and it’s difficult to create any mystery, but add pergolas over paths and features at the end of paths to divide the garden visually without the use of solid hedges or panels.

Alternatively, you can create private areas by using a trellis and covering it with climbers.

Make sure you consider how your garden will look from the various windows and doors of the house. Key plants and focal points can be lined up to give the best view from the window.

Give your plants plenty of space, Louise advises.

“Mean borders don’t work. Allow a generous area for growing plants. They need space, and that means 1.5 metres or even two metres from front to back,” she says.

“Anything less means you will only be able to plant single plants.

“You won’t achieve any decent depth or combinations, and shrubs and perennials will either spill over a lawn and kill the edges or obstruct a path and need constant cutting back.”

Try to keep the edges to paths, borders and lawn crisp. You could insert lengths of timber a couple of centimetres into the ground to ensure the lawn doesn’t creep into the border, which will also help mowing. Paths edged with contrasting brick also look neater.

When planning seating, make sure you know the direction in which the sun rises or sets, ensuring your seats are positioned to your requirements – maybe so you can view the sunset, or catch the morning sun if you want to have breakfast in the garden.

Once you have finished planning, mark out your design with a rope to give an idea how it will look and enable you to make adjustments.

“Don’t worry about following hard-andfast rules here,” Hampden says.

“Remember that you are designing this garden for you, so if it feels right then it usually is right.”

● Top Tips: A Treasury Of Garden Wisdom by Louise Hampden is published by BBC Books, priced £9.99.