HANDS up anyone who can remember the last time they saw a display of proper carpet bedding. I don't mean the common sort of bedding where dwarf box is used to make lettering and patterns are made of conventional bedding plants like begonias and pelargoniums. I mean real carpet bedding, which my aged RHS Dictionary of Gardening' (published 1956) describes as the planting of beds in geometrical form with various dwarf coloured foliage plants, the object being to imitate fancy designs, such as were found on Turkish carpets' I came across a fine display of this almost forgotten art at the National Trust's Cragside Gardens in Northumberland last week. Each year the gardeners at Cragside put on a wonderful show and, whether or not you are a fan of formal displays, you have to admit that this is bedding as it was originally intended. They start with the advantage of two sloping, stone-framed beds, purpose built in the 1880s, but from then on it's sheer hard work and attention to every tiny detail. Around 20,000 plants are needed each year. The varieties used are almost all foliage plants; Echeveria, Herniaria, Alternanthera, Antennaria, sedum and feverfew. The patterns are marked out with string and templates and planting takes almost a month. After that the beds must be weeded weekly, the plants clipped with sheep-shears to keep the pattern intact and any flowers ruthlessly removed.

Cragside uses a new design for its carpet bedding each year, to encourage repeat visits. This year the pattern in the upper bed is based on decorative tiles in one of the bathrooms in the manor house, while the lower bed features many of the insects to be found in the formal garden, including dragonflies, butterflies, ladybirds and wasps. Andrew Sawyer, the head gardener, is a fellow enthusiast of wildlife-friendly gardening, though it is his assistant head gardener, Alison Pringle, who is responsible for the back-breaking art work of the carpet beds.

It is easy to see why carpet bedding is out of fashion it is time consuming, labour intensive and expensive. Some gardens keep up the tradition by using specialist firms to grow the plants for them. The pattern is drawn out in the nursery and the plants grown on in trays so that when planting-out time comes the trays can be sunk directly into the ground to complete the pattern without having to place each individual plant. This saves time and labour but is almost as expensive as the DIY version.

I am sure Cragside is not the only garden still growing traditional carpet bedding. I would be grateful if readers would let me know of any other examples that they have seen. While there is a great deal of effort being put into restoring old gardens at the present time, I find it reassuring that the skills to re-create the original plantings are also being kept alive.

Jobs for this week

Take out summer bedding as it goes over. Fork the ground over and add some organic material such as compost or well-rotted manure, before planting out winter or spring bedding.

Remove fallen leaves regularly from ponds and pools - they will pollute the water if allowed to rot.

The best time to plant trees and shrubs is between now and next March; remember to water them in well if the soil is dry at planting time.