Start with the space you actually have

A doorstep is one of the hardest-working bits of a home. It is the first thing visitors see, the last thing you pass at night, and usually the smallest patch of ground you own. The good news is that small spaces forgive ambition. Two or three well-chosen pots can do more for a narrow entrance than a whole border does for a large garden, because everything sits at eye level and within arm's reach.

Before you buy anything, spend five minutes looking at the step as it really is. Note the width between the door frame and the edge, so pots do not block the door or catch the post. Check which way it faces: a north-facing step may get an hour of weak winter sun, while a south-facing one can bake by mid-afternoon in July and dry out compost fast. Watch too for shelter from an overhang and for grit flicked up from the pavement in winter.

Pots, compost and drainage for a narrow step

The container does as much work as the plant. On a doorstep, choose something with weight or a low centre of gravity, because a top-heavy pot in an exposed porch will go over in the first gale.

• Frost-proof terracotta or glazed stoneware for pots that stay out all year.
• Square or rectangular planters to make the most of a tight corner.
• Lightweight pots in a metal or woven cachepot if you like to swap displays each season.
• Pot feet under every container to keep drainage holes clear and stop water staining the step.

Use a peat-free multipurpose compost for seasonal planting, mixed with a couple of handfuls of grit. For a shrub that will stay put for years, a soil-based compost holds nutrients and moisture better. Never leave a saucer under an outdoor pot through winter, as standing water rots roots.

Spring and early summer: bulbs, flowers and scent

Spring is the season a doorstep earns its keep. Plant bulbs in October and November in layers, the largest deepest, so narcissi, tulips and muscari come through in succession from one pot. Add winter-flowering pansies on top for colour while you wait.

As the bulbs fade, let the foliage die back, then fill the gap with scented wallflowers, which are unbeatable on a step where you brush past them. Sweet peas on a small obelisk, compact nemesia and trailing bacopa all cope well in containers, and a pot of thyme or rosemary by the door gives you something to pinch as you pass. Water daily in warm spells, because a sunny step can dry a pot out in a single afternoon.

Late summer and autumn: berries, foliage and texture

When bedding plants tire, lean on foliage. Heucheras, with their deep plum and lime leaves, hold colour into November, and ornamental grasses such as carex add movement beside a still front door. Berries do the heavy lifting: skimmia, cotoneaster and callicarpa all fruit well in containers, and their colours glow against grey stone.

Small cyclamen bring a delicate flush of pink from September, and honesty seed heads turn silvery and papery if you leave them. Top the compost with gravel, which sets off autumn tones and keeps weeds down.

Winter: structure, evergreens and scent

Winter displays fail when they rely on flowers alone. Build them from shape first, then add scent and a little sparkle. A small clipped box or yew, an ivy trained round a hoop, or a variegated holly all give structure and carry through to spring.

For scent in the coldest months, sarcococca, winter jasmine and Christmas box are hard to beat near a door, and a few stems of contorted willow or birch pushed into the compost add height for very little money. Hellebores and snowdrops flower through frost, and heathers fill the front of a pot when little else will. Group pots together in cold spells so they shelter one another, and raise them off the step if hard frosts are forecast.

Keeping it looking good through the year

A doorstep display only works if it is easy to maintain, because the moment it becomes a chore it gets ignored. Keep to a simple rhythm.

• Water in the morning, not the evening, and check pots under an overhang even after rain.
• Deadhead weekly in summer to keep flowers coming.
• Feed flowering containers every fortnight with a liquid tomato feed from spring to late summer.
• Top-dress with fresh compost in early spring and again in September.
• Rotate pots a quarter turn every few weeks so plants grow evenly towards the light.

Plan your year in three or four changes rather than a constant churn: bulbs in autumn, summer colour in May, berries and grasses in September, evergreens and scent in November. Each swap takes half an hour and a bag of compost, and your step will look considered all year, whatever the weather does to it.