Have you ever wondered what it’s like to plant a gold medal winning, main avenue garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show?

The short answer: it’s an unmissable, 7am to 7pm, 7 day a week experience. A challenge that sharpened my senses and secateurs. A supportive team like the best I’ve ever been privileged to be a part of. A physical marathon. And a magical garden that I fell in love with and taught me so much.

Adding paint colour in your garden can smarten and brighten your space, create unity, add atmosphere and inject playfulness. Now's the time to colour scheme and get your paintbrush out when spring arrives.

As 25 December looms, here are some Christmas present ideas for garden lovers and would be garden lovers. All ideas tested, spotted or touched by me. None have been “gifted”, so you can be 100% sure these are heart-warming recommendations you can trust, one friend to another.

So often we concentrate on flowers to light up our gardens with colour, forgetting a display of mellow fruitfulness prolongs a garden’s interest and provides the bonus of essential food for birds and wildlife.