Linn County Master Gardeners Winter Gardening Fair

Gardens in winter have a particular beauty, a quietness and a serenity that sometimes you have to work at to understand. The slide into winter can be depressing. Many people feel a real sense of seasonal loss as plants start to die back in autumn, and if all they see is death and decay, then it's no wonder they want to turn their back on the garden for a few months each year. What Andrew and I wanted to do in this book is to challenge this notion – to open people's eyes to the beauty that can be found in nature and in our gardens at this time of year, and to present this in a large-format, luxurious book that you can get lost in.

I have found working on the book a complete revelation as it has taught me to tune in to the full seasonal cycle of nature, rather than shutting it out and ignoring it. Slowing yourself down to really look at the detail of the garden and of the plants themselves is part of the process, as Dan Pearson highlights in his foreword to the book: 'With growth slowed, and time with it, the dark months allow us the opportunity to reflect. There is time to think, without the need to necessarily do, and time to look at the bones of the garden without the demand – and indeed, the distraction – of the growing season…. If you plant and plan for winter, the garden becomes a place that is constantly shifting, offering seasons within a season; you can observe the falling away and then the gentle gathering that replaces it, marking a shift in time.'

The enchanting autumn landscape of Piet Oudolf's garden at Hauser & Wirth Somerset

The book contains twelve very different gardens, all with elements that make them stand out in winter. Topiary gardens, as you might expect, feature strongly, from the traditional formality of Mapperton House in Dorset to the contemporary elegance of the Walled Garden at Broughton House in Oxfordshire, by Tom Stuart-Smith. Piet Oudolf, king of the New Perennial planting style, is photographed surveying his wonderful garden at Hummelo in the Netherlands. Perhaps more than anyone else, Piet has opened our eyes to the beauty of seed heads, urging us to think about the full lifecycle of a plant rather than just its flowering prime: 'Many gardeners see the dead and dying stems of perennials at the end of the year as rubbish to clear away. Plants can be beautiful in death as well as life, however.' Dan Pearson's garden, Hillside in Somerset, is also featured in the book, with beautiful images capturing an intricate tapestry of grasses and seed heads. 'The new transparency and change of scale that the deciduous skeletons bring is arguably more beautiful than the opacity of a growing season,' writes Dan.

Other chapters depict gardens in the full, icy grip of winter, photographed by Andrew on days when most of us were shut away indoors. Arabella Lennox-Boyd's garden at Gresgarth Hall in Lancashire was photographed in a full-blown blizzard, and the images capture a magical, Narnia-like landscape with icy-trees and snow-dusted topiary. He braved Snowdonia in similar wintry conditions to shoot Plas Brondanw, and the resulting photographs are incredibly dramatic and evocative. Andrew describes his own experience in the introduction to the book: 'For me the real highlight is the first frost of winter – that moment of walking into a garden in which the seed heads and crumbling foliage are encrusted with white. Flowers not yet faded are frozen, and the camera and tripod numb the fingers. The light is cold blue, but is slowly being pierced by the first warm rays of the sun. The time to capture the scene is limited, and I know that I have minutes rather than hours. The true essence and thrill of photography is captured within these precious moments.'

We both hope that this book will encourage people to go outside on the coldest days, to stop and stand and stare and really appreciate the beauty that is there for the taking; to breathe in the precious scent of a winter-flowering daphne and pick a seed head or two to marvel at their construction. Frozen in time, these bewitching plants and landscapes are there for the taking; all you have to do is open your heart and mind and keep your eyes wide open.

Winter Gardens, £45 from montgomerypress.co.uk

Arabella Lennox-Boyd's magical garden is a rare and worthy tribute to a lifetime's work

Arabella Lennox-Boyd's garden at Gresgarth Hall.
Pentwr, the tower at Plas Brondanw in Wales, was built in the 1920s on the rocky outcrop above the house.
At Broughton Grange in Oxfordshire, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, pleached limes, Tilia × europaea 'Pallida', are planted in squares on each terrace, underplanted with sweet box, Sarcococca confusa.
A spectacular view over the Fountain Court at Mapperton from the terraces above, showing parkland rising on the valley side above.
Eryngium eburneum in Dan Pearson's garden, Hillside.
A small box parterre to the side of a Tudor manor in Hampshire.
The Moon Gate at the entrance to the walled garden at Great Dixter was designed in the 1930s.