Climate and weather give gardeners some of their major challenges, and most come to learn that it is usually best to work with nature, rather than fight against it. This means growing plants that enjoy the given conditions rather than struggling to nurture species that are inappropriate.

Even within a small area, there can be huge differences in conditions; the local weather is modified by the exact position of your house and its aspect. There may also be features within your garden that create changes and variations in its microclimate, such as hot dry corners, cold draughty places and perpetually damp spots. We have put together a number of elements that may affect your garden's climate and perhaps create special conditions, and where relevant, suggest how to deal with it.

Layout

Make sure you know exactly where the sun is in your garden, in different seasons and times of the day. If you are new to your garden, use a compass to check - better still, take one with you when house hunting. Take aspect and sun position into account when you plan your garden. If you want to enjoy morning or afternoon sun, plan where you put patios and places to sit and relax in both summer and winter.

Orientation and Elevation

You garden's orientation and elevation will affect where you put plants, what plants will thrive and where you plan features. Exactly where your garden is on a hill will affect the levels of temperature, light, and wind it receives. Gardens with north facing slopes have less sunshine, with more lush vegetation. South facing slopes receive more light and heat from the sun, and crops and plant growth will ripen earlier.

Plants

Choose plants from climates and habitats similar to your own garden for lower maintenance and a higher success rates. To grow plants from a wider range of natural habitats, exploit your own microclimate to provide suitable conditions. For example, position Mediterranean plants in sheltered south facing spots with full sun in summer to ripen new wood; this will increase their winter survival rates.

Aspects

Use your house walls, garden walls and fences to best advantage when choosing plants. These will create specific microclimates, creating different planting conditions:

• North facing walls will provide a constantly cool and shaded spot.
• South facing positions will be sunny, hot, and dry.
• East facing spots are moist and cool (sometimes cold).
• West facing locations are warm, and will receive air movement and moisture from prevailing winds.

Wind

Plan to filter, baffle and drain, rather than contain wind. Choose hedges for boundaries or use types of fencing that baffle wind, such as picket or ranch types rather than solid panels.

Choose sheltered sites for patios, arbours and places to sit. Make year round sheltered pockets using evergreen plants, or by using filtering internal structures such as trellis. Use a good proportion of evergreens in your backbone planting to make permanent sheltered bays throughout your garden.

As wind will cause physical damage to plants, you should install a temporary shelter around new trees and shrubs to help them get established. An idea would be to use garden mesh stapled to stakes to make a windbreak.

Temperatures

Cold Areas

Position kitchen gardens so that they receive sun to warm up the soil early in the season, and avoid placing where frost pockets may form.

Cold air can be trapped by walls and fences as it travels down a slope, creating frost pockets in winter and permanently cool spots in summer; so plan patios and seating areas accordingly.

Make patios warmer by bounding them with walls and by using darker materials, as these will absorb heat in the daytime.

Use plants from colder regions in north facing cooler areas, or in the shade of trees and buildings:

• Holly (Ilex)
• Dogwood (Cornus alba)
• Winter Flowering Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum)
• Kolomikta vine (Actinidia kolomikta)
• Elephant's Ears (Bergenia)
• Bugle (Ajuga reptans)
• Lungwort (Pulmonaria saccharata)

Hot Areas

Plan planting around hot walls and patios with care, as heat reflected by the paved surface can burn some plant foliage. For example, maples (Acer) in containers need dappled shade.

Use deciduous plants to shade patios and your house from hot summer sun. Their bare branches in winter will allow winter sun to warm up your garden when you need it.

Use plants from hotter climates in warm south facing areas and near paved hot spots:

• Lavenders
• Rosemary
• Rock rose (Cistus)
• Brooms
• Euphorbias
• Californian fuchsia (Zauchsneria)