It would be fair to say that as gardening expressions go, "woody shrubs" just doesn't have quite the same glamour or cachet as, say, "wildflower meadow", "prairie planting" or "forest gardening". Whereas some plants (for example the airy perennial Verbena bonariensis) get to be described as the "little black dress" of the gardening world, woody shrubs – at least for a younger generation of gardeners – are seen as akin to a pair of jeans: serviceable, hard-wearing, reliable . . . but not exactly earth-shatteringly exciting.

All of which does them a great disservice. For as Andy McIndoe, well-known managing director of the famous and long-established English nursery Hilliers, points out in his new book The Creative Shrub Garden, we have come to think of this useful, long-lived group of plants "as big, boring beasts that take up too much room in your garden. Those bony characters you keep in shape with a stout pair of loppers and a pruning saw, more bare stems than leaves and flowers".

Instead we could, and should, be using them inventively and imaginatively, prizing them for their foliage, fragrance and floriferousness as well as that important air of permanence that they give to any planting scheme.

It’s also all too easy to overlook their versatility. There is a remarkable variety of shrubs to suit every garden, whether that’s a tiny courtyard space or one of several acres, just as there are shrubs that will thrive in sun or shade, on heavy clay or shallow alkaline soil, in an exposed and windy spot or a warm and sheltered site.

McIndoe’s book not only gives readers the benefit of his expertise as a skilled and hugely knowledgeable nursery man (under his eagle eye, Hiller Nurseries won its 69th consecutive gold medal at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show for its display of flowering trees and shrubs) but to show gardeners how to use and grow these plants with a fresh, creative and unbiased eye.

Take a small garden or courtyard as an example.

In this instance, McIndoe suggests avoiding visual clutter by using compact shrubs or those whose size can be controlled by pruning, in a restricted colour palette of green/silver/white.

Suitable varieties might include the newish evergreen shrub, Choisya x dewitteana 'White Dazzler', a bee-friendly variety with a more compact habit than the better known Choisya ternata, and which flowers in spring and then again in autumn.

Try pairing it with the well-known variegated Euonymus x fortunei 'Silver Queen', perhaps trained as a wall-shrub, as well as the lovely, shade-tolerant, white -flowering Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle', whose giant globes of white flowers appear in July, slowly fading to lime as autumn approaches.

Even after the flowers have died, its faded flower-heads (much beloved of flower arrangers) add a sculptural quality to any garden.

For flower colour in late spring/early summer as well as autumn foliage colour, he suggests the compact Viburnum plicatum 'Summer Snowflake', another white-flowering shrub with a narrow growing habit, whose pale, delicately pretty, lace-cap flowers are produced from spring right through to autumn.

The gently marbled, evergreen foliage of the compact, rounded shrub Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Irene Patterson' could also be used to add another layer of textural interest.

Where space allows it, larger shrubs suitable for this planting scheme might include Cornus alternifolia 'Argentea' ("light and lovely enough to fit into any garden"), the winter-flowering Magnolia stellata 'Water Lily' ("the best magnolia for smaller gardens"), with the latter's dullish summer foliage enlivened with the flowers of the hard-working ornamental climber, Clematis florida var normalis 'Pistachio', in bloom from June until October.

Beneath this all-important middle-layer of shrubby planting, McIndoe recommends using a mix of hard-working bulbs and ground-cover perennials to add further seasonal interest such as the evergreen Pachysandra terminalis, snowdrops and the ethereally beautiful Narcissus 'Thalia'.

This one example of a small garden/courtyard aside, McIndoe offers shrubby planting solutions for everything from container-grown specimens on a tiny balcony (the compact glossy evergreen, Pittosporum tobira 'Nanum', the brightly variegated Coporosma 'Lemon & Lime' and the small, inky-leaved Phormium 'Back in Black') to coastal, cottage, exotic, Mediterranean, Japanese and tropical gardens, with barrow-loads of useful advice on caring, pruning, feeding, mulching and watering this much-overlooked group of plants.

If all of this tempts you to look at shrubs in a fresh light, then now, as autumn arrives and plant growth begins to slow to a halt, is a great time to start thinking about planting them. Before doing so, make sure to fork the soil over and clear it of any perennial weeds, before digging a large planting hole and then backfilling with some garden compost or well-rotted manure along with a balanced, slow-release compound fertiliser.

While container-grown plants can be planted at any time of year, the very best time is when soils are still warm but moistened by autumn rains. If you do it this way you don’t have to worry about watering the plants until the roots have established themselves.

Bare-root specimens can be planted between November and March, as long as the soil isn’t frozen.

Good online Irish stockists of shrubs include the Cork-based The Secret Garden (thesecretgardener.com), Howbert &Mays (howbertandmays.ie) and Johnstown Garden Centre (johnstowngardencentre.ie).

The Creative Shrub Garden by Andy McIndoe, is published by Timber Press (£20). For details, see timberpress.com

THIS WEEK IN THE GARDEN
If you garden on a light, free-draining soil, then autumn is a good time to plant container-grown perennials. Before doing so, make sure the soil is weed-free and that the planting hole is at least twice as wide and just a little deeper than the pot that the plant is growing in, while incorporating some home-made garden compost or manure will also help plants' root systems to establish. Finally, don't forget to label and water. For a list of Irish nurseries specialising in perennials, many of which offer a mail- order service, see isna.ie

Autumn is the best time to plant garlic , which needs a long growing period and exposure to low temperatures (roughly eight weeks below 10 degrees) if it's to crop well. Buy the bulbs now, for planting October- November. Plant cloves into fertile, free-draining soil in full sun, spaced 15cm-20cm apart, in rows 45cm apart, and deep enough that the tips are covered with 3cm of soil. Mark the site with a label, and keep plants weed-free. Varieties suitable for autumn-planting include 'Vallelado', 'Lautrec Wight', 'Cristo', 'Thermidrome', 'Marco' and 'Solent Wight'. Stockists include quickcrop.ie and johnstowngardencentre.ie

With the exception of tulips, it's time to start planting spring-flowering bulbs. Examples include narcissus, crocus, iris, fritillaria, erythronium, camassia, allium, anemone, chionodoxa, muscari and scilla. Don't forget native Irish bluebell, Hyacinthoides non-scripta. This year Mr Middleton are offering limited stock of Irish-grown bulbs of this beautiful wildlflower (see mrmiddleton.com). Other reliable Irish suppliers include Beechill Bulbs (see bulbs.ie).

Move frost-vulnerable plants such as geraniums, fuchsias, argyranthemums, cannas, aeoniums and citrus trees into a frost-free glasshouse or a sunny porch.