Spring Cottage: glorious May - Telegraph Now that my newly planted shrubs and trees have begun to cast shade here I have added more polygonatums and their gentle relatives, although I have drawn the line at lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis). This invasive spreader might interfere with my precious woodlanders, including my snowdrops, so it is restricted to pots that can be forced into early flower. Instead I grow 'Betburg," a chocolate-leaved version of Solomon's seal that I acquired from Beth Chatto's excellent nursery. It was collected by Isbert Preussler, the head gardener of Helen von Stein Zeppelin, and named after the small village in the Black Forest, near Laufen, Sulzburg, where it was found. The chocolate brown leaves fade back to green in time, but this year's cool temperatures have slowed down the process, giving me weeks of dramatic chocolate leaf, highlighted in one area by pallid globes of trollius flowers. Gentler polygonatums include P. x hybridum 'Striatum," a bold cream and green stripy version which may be showing too much variegation for my own comfort: it may depart via the village fete. The better variegated polygonatum is the Japanese P. odoratum var. pluriflorum 'Variegatum," with its pinkish-red stems, finely edged oval leaves and frilly double cream flowers tinged with green. It is said to be fragrant, but this garden is rarely warm enough to smell anything pleasant. I've also reinstated an old favourite, Maianthemum racemosa, once known and still often sold as Smilacena racemosa, for its similar foliage topped by a fluffy cream spike. I pounced on a pink-flowered form of Maianthemum oleraceum too, selecting it from a batch of grey-white seedlings, and I love disporums, although it may be too cold. Crûg Farm Plants has a superb range of shade-loving woodlanders. Yes, I do suffer from the sawfly on Solomon's seal and the plump, grey caterpillars, which overwinter in the ground close to the plant, are an unsightly nuisance. Thick gardening gloves, which are no good for any other task, make effective squashers in my chemical-free garden. I've also added trilliums, because certain areas remain moist in this spring-fed garden with its dark soil. However, it has taken me a full five years to find the optimum spot for these woodlanders: one that is sheltered from strong winds and away from direct sunlight. This small area, about 12 feet square, now has several, but they wouldn't thrive anywhere close by. One possible spot proved a frost pocket, another baked in summer as the sun swung to the north-west. One of the great skills of gardening is spotting what will go where and learning to ignore the plants that won't go anywhere. For every garden has its own individual topography and microclimate, places where certain plants look comfortable and happy. The skill is matching them up. The three box topiary chickens are fuzzing up nicely among the box balls, ready for a June trim, and they don't dig up the lawn like the real thing. The long grass is filling up with yellow rattle (Rhinanthus minor), and this semiparasite thins out coarse grasses by feeding on the roots. The flowers sustain the bees, but the raison d"être behind sowing was to encourage an orchid or two to reappear in the garden from the long-lost seed bank. There aren't many left in the Cotswold landscape, unless of course the field was too steep to plough. So far none have returned to the garden. The grass is moving slowly this year, but I've now got a sharp contrast between mini-meadow and lawn and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm a fan of long grass, just as Christopher Lloyd was, and I get the same sort of comments from the mowing squad who think it looks messy. Each to his own and may you enjoy your own garden, mown or not. Shade plant suppliers Crûg Farm Plants (01248 670232; crug-farm.co.uk) Beth Chatto Nursery (01206 822007; bethchatto.co.uk) Barracott Plants (01822 832234; barracottplants.co.uk)