An English Garden has lots of colour and closely planted flowers, which give it that feel of lushness and richness.

Tulips in all their lovely clear colours and shapes help to make you smile and brighten your garden after the winter months. There are good selections to be found in garden centres in the early autumn and you can find tulips that will flower from late February to those that flower in late May to June. It is possible to create several effects by using tulips in different ways.

For a formal bed, plant in massed rows of separate colours or two colour combinations. This way is often used in the formal gardens of historic houses.

Use all the shades of pink to create a cottagey feel to your garden and plants the tulips with wallflowers and forget-me-nots - Lily flowered tulips look especially good when planted this way.

Try primroses or anemones, red tulips and orange wallflowers for a really stunning display, but remember to plant thickly, there should be no patches of bare earth.

For a really naturalized look, try planting all the different colours – pinks, reds, yellows and whites amongst purple honesty or early euphorbia as well as the ever present forget-me-nots (which now come in white and pink as well as shades of blue).

In an English Garden you need to have a good backdrop to show off your flowers to perfection and tulips are no exception. Try using the dark greens of box or yew hedging or the clipped shapes of conifers or holly add dramatic effect.

Enjoy your garden!