With days getting shorter, wetter and windier, deciduous trees and plants are rapidly losing their leaves and the vitality of our gardens is fading fast, but that doesn't mean that our gardens have to look drab.

Winter interest will depend on evergreen, variegated and winter flowering shrubs, decorative seed heads, winter flowering bulbs and ornamental tree barks together with decorative coloured twigs.

One of my favourite shrubs is the architectural, bold, evergreen Mahonia x media, which around this time of year has long cylindrical spikes of tiny fragrant yellow flowers that may last until after Christmas.

Other shrubs that are now coming into bloom are the Viburnum tinus and Viburnum x bodnatense these have beautifully scented pink flowers throughout the winter months.

Golden variegated leaves of evergreen shrubs and climbers will certainly add winter interest and brighten up the garden. The Euonymus fortunei Emerald is a really useful shrub that will take shade and can climb if supported.

Elaeagnus pungens is also an ideal shrub to liven up a border along with the Aucuba japonica, which has gold speckled leaves and the bonus of decorative red berries.

For a good, hardy climber to give vertical interest, the Hedera colchica, Sulphur Heart, will thrive in almost any situation and is an attractive ivy with green leaves that have bold splashes of yellow.

The feathery plume seed heads of many ornamental grasses, such as the Miscanthus sinensis, will look super this time of year and will give elegant movement in the garden in the winter winds.

Seed heads of other plants will also look decorative, such as the Poppy seed heads, Love-in-a-mist, Crocosmia, Achilliea and the shimmering seed heads of the Clematis vitalba. The autumn flowering Crocus will certainly add a welcome splash of colour to a border on a grey, chilly day and they come in a variety of colours.

Some trees are grown for their beautiful ornamental barks, such as some of the Birch trees, which have super ghostly, white barks. The Eucalyptus has a colourful patchwork of grey, cream and green bark.

A tree famous for its peeling, papery orange-brown bark is the Chinese Paperbark Maple.

Some shrubs provide interest with their decorative coloured stems, such as the brilliant red stem of the Cornus alba and the scarlet and orange attractive stems of the Salix alba vitellina Britzensis. They look stunning with the winter sun shining through them.

Visit Judy's website at www.gardendesigner.co.uk for further advice.