4 Purchase your plants

It's essential to select foliage that's suitable for the place where it will be planted. If you're buying from a large DIY chain, plants will often have a label with information to help you with your decisions. A specialist garden centre is likely to have a less informative tag, but more knowledgeable staff who will be able to assist you, so don't be afraid to ask for help. 'Another idea is to see what's growing in adjacent gardens and terraces,' suggests Elle Fox of creative window box and balcony dressing company, Foxes Boxes. 'If those varieties are doing well, then chances are similar plants will work for you'. Also think about how you can contrast colours, textures, heights and leaf sizes to give your collection character. It's not necessarily about exotic or rare plants, but successfully combining what's available to create an effective display.

• Do you want trailing plants to soften the edges of your containers, or tall elegant specimens to complement a modern planter?
• In many cases, keeping things simple is the key, with one or two plants or even a single specimen, rather than a mishmash of varieties.
•Do you need to create privacy with a trellis and a climber?
•Planting an abundance of a single colour, in a house-front full of window boxes for example, can create a fantastic impact. Contrasting colours such as red and green give a vibrant display and choosing different shades of a single hue can look fabulous, too.

5 Make time for mulching

Once your plants are potted up, cover the top layer of soil with gravel, chipped wood or bark or even glass beads or shells. Known as 'mulching', this reduces the amount of moisture that evaporates from the surface. Mulching also prevents the surface soil from blowing away, reduces weeds and, if pots are on an outside sill, minimises rain splashback on the window pane.