In the depths of winter, TV gardening expert Carol Klein cannot wait until the spring when she can wander through the woodland area of her Devon garden to see what gems are emerging.

“I love that feeling of intimacy and enclosure in my woodland garden,” she enthuses. “I’ve chosen plants which typify the setting, starting off the year with snowdrops. Left to their own devices they will colonise and spread.”

Woodland gardens traditionally welcome plants which thrive in shade. or at least dappled shade. Snowdrops are followed by a succession of other bulbs, hellebores and pulmonarias, primroses, springtime trilliums and erythroniums (dog tooth violets), woodruff, wood anemones and bluebells in the shady garden.

Epimediums are among Carol’s favourite woodland plants. They will thrive even in dry, dense shade, and are grown primarily for their foliage, heart-shaped leaves borne on wiry stems and changing colour as the season progresses.

“In March, our native primrose is at home among oak leaves and ferns,” she says. “Perfect pale flowers with an egg-yolk centre, the primula epitomises the coming of spring.

“In its natural habitat it seeds itself around. Initially in the garden, though, it needs a helping hand. It is a sociable plant and looks its best in colonies.”

Her observations are detailed in Life In A Cottage Garden, a new six-part BBC2 series, accompanied by a tie-in book.

If you have a shady spot with a canopy of trees, rake up the leaves in autumn and make as much leaf mould as you can, she advises, which can then be used as a mulch or to enrich other parts of the garden. Use some as a natural mulch around trees and groups of larger plants, but keep it away from young plant stems, as it can rot them.

“Don’t leave fallen leaves on hellebores because they grow so close to one another that any disease will spread.”

Research the plants you want to incorporate in your woodland area, as some have different needs to others.

“You need to put things in places you know they would grow naturally. Epimedium versicolor, for instance, will grow in dry shade and in tree roots, but that wouldn’t work with trilliums because they need a good root run.”

Whatever your soil type in your woodland space, the ground will need to be well prepared. Weed areas and dig well-rotted manure or compost into the ground, especially in areas of dry shade, where plants may take a bit longer to establish. Once they are planted, water them in well and cover them with a mulch of leaf mould or compost, which will help retain the moisture.

Even in small woodland corners, make space for a rustic seat where you can relax and enjoy this dappled shady spot on a hot day.

Before you know it, summer will be here and you can take shelter in your cool, quiet woodland haven.

Life In A Cottage Garden by Carol Klein and Jonathan Buckley is published by BBC Books, priced £20.