Making a moon garden

Our 10-year-old daughter has read about a moon garden and is asking for ideas on how to make one.

- Anne Swithinbank

Q I want to encourage her interest in the garden, so could you provide any tips about plants to grow to create this type of garden?

Helen McKinney, Kidderminster, Worcestershire

A My daughter might be 31, but has a romantic disposition and made a similar request for a garden to enjoy on long summer evenings as dusk turns to dark. An area filled with pale, glowing, night-scented plants is also perfect for those returning late from work and unwinding by candlelight.

I like a challenge, and any new project starts with a site and plan. You might earmark a secluded corner, but we’re looking at a group of young birch trees planted into the lawn, whose pale stems will glimmer at dusk. By cutting a bed, we can make a planting area 26ft (8m) long and 16ft (5m) wide. If this sounds like your whole garden, it will be attractive by day as well as enticing by night. Path access through the bed – widening in the middle to a small paved area – will be needed, and luckily we have spare slabs and a heap of pale silvery grey granite sets perfect for the job.