It is all very well saying “ Happy New Year” but how happy are you with your garden?

When you look out of the windows is it bedraggled, green and dull? When taking a walk on a January day does the lack of colour and the ‘run-down appearance’ depress you?

With a little money and a bit of effort you can transform part or all the garden making it the place to be on a winter’s day.

Find a few gaps in the permanent planting where colourful, showy plants will make a difference. There are lots of plants in flower now. Top of the shrub list are Hamamelis mollis with its highly fragrant, yellow, spidery flowers on bare stems and the incredibly perfumed Wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox ‘Grandiflorus’, with deep yellow flowers stained maroon on the inside.

Then there are the little gems such as polyanthus, winter pansies and winter flowering heathers.

Brightly coloured bark looks good in winter The dogwoods with shiny red or yellow stems will brighten a dull corner. Where space allows then plant one of the these with good ornamental bark. Betula utilis Jacquemontii (white), Prunus serrula (copper) and Acer griseum (orange-brown) are excellent.

Prunus x subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ will produce its small pink tinged white flowers throughout the winter months.

Now that you are feeling better do a few warm-up exercises and start to tidy the garden. If the weather is kind give the grass a light cut with the blades of the mower raised. It is amazing how much better the lawn will look when the grass is a uniform height. There are bound to be some leaves messing up corners. These should be put into black bags and hidden or placed in the compost heap. A layer of bark mulch will tidy the flower beds while deterring weeds and retaining moisture.

The vegetable garden can look forlorn in winter with bits and pieces of plants and trampled ground. Dig the bare areas leaving the soil in lumps. The winter frost and rain will break down the clods leaving it workable for spring planting and sowing.

I bet the garden will look better and you will feel better too.