Clarkson's Cotswold Winter Bowl (38cm) Skimmia, Cordyline, Hellebore, Hedera, Grass Planter sold by Boma Garden Centre

Winter is when a front step needs the most help. This one arrives ready: a whitewash bowl with a soft, Cotswold cottage feel, planted with things that keep their shape and colour while the rest of the garden sleeps.A spiky cordyline gives it height, with glossy skimmia and a pair of hellebores filling out the middle. Two trailing ivies spill over the rim, an ornamental grass sways when the wind picks up, and a heuchera adds rounded leaves for contrast. There’s plenty of texture going on, so it looks full from the pavement and rewarding up close.We plant each one by hand to order at Boma in Kentish Town. Put it by the front door, on a balcony or at the end of a courtyard you can see from the kitchen sink. Coming home in the five o’clock dark, it’s a good thing to find waiting on the step.