Andrew McIndoe knows a thing or two about design.

In fact, he has designed the Hillier Chelsea Flower Show garden since 1989, has an unbroken record of 15 gold medals and is hoping to clinch his 16th this year.

McIndoe, managing director of Hillier Nurseries, explains that garden design has evolved from landscape gardening in the Victorian era when a mass of new plants was introduced, to the more modern creations which seem accessible for the many of us with little time and limited space.

"Like fashion, design is all-important to some and a dirty word to others," he reflects. "However, as a gardener you are probably already making design decisions without realising it: where to plant the runner beans, where to position a new pot, where to put the compost bin."

He has written a book Design & Planting, one of the Hillier Gardener's Guides series, to help all gardeners create a design which is right for them.

Here are his top 10 tips for design in spring:

1. Revive tired timber features such as arches, pergolas and garden buildings with a coat of well-chosen wood colour. Subtle and dark shades work best.

2. Personalise your garden with one or two well chosen ornaments or sculptures, pieces that fit with the style and scale of the garden.

3. Add foliage colour if green is too predominant. Purple, gold, silver and variegated shrubs add colour throughout the year.

4. Add light, sharp plants near the front of beds and borders. Grasses, phormiums, irises and crocosmias all have narrow upright foliage that contrasts with the rounded shapes of many plants.

5. Fill gaps and add colour with summer flowering bulbs. Lilies planted in groups of three or five and dahlias make eye catching subjects.

6. Group pots and containers together to create a bolder feature on the patio. Clipped box, palms, phormiums and cordylines are all good choices for permanent planting.

7. Remember blue is the perfect mixer. Add blue flowers and foliage to any planting scheme and they will act as a link between any other colour.

8. The condition of the lawn has a profound effect on the appearance of the garden. Neglected lawns need attention now. Tackle one job at a time. First moss, then weeds, then feed and oversow. Aerating the lawn by spiking is usually the most beneficial thing you can do.

9. Most gardens are too flat. Has yours got enough height? If not, plant a light airy tree like a birch.

10. Soil preparation and condition is the key to success with the planting in your garden. Add plenty of organic matter to your soil regularly to maintain its condition.

Hillier Gardener's Guide To Design & Planting, by Andrew McIndoe, is published by David & Charles, priced £14.99. Photographs courtesy of Hillier Nursery.