Latest From Gardens Illustrated
Everything you need to know about No Mow May and why you shouldn't mow the lawn in May
No Mow May encourages gardeners to leave their mowers in the shed and transform their lawns into havens of biodiversity. Illustration Lesley Buckingham
Gardeners could make the biggest difference in a climate-change world, but we need to work together now
Noel Kingsbury shares his hopes for how gardeners might help to adapt to the post-climate change world. Illustration Rosanna morris
Talking Gardens podcast with Tayshan Hayden-Smith
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Tayshan Hayden-Smith on why he believes we need to rethink what we consider a garden to be.
Does the Chelsea Flower Show have a waste problem?
Events on the scale of the Chelsea Flower Show are bound to come at an environmental cost. So what is the RHS doing to make the show more sustainable? Words Jodie Jones
Recycled bath water will supplement summer watering by 2035
With drier summers predicted, we will soon need to use grey water from sinks, baths, showers and washing to water our gardens, predicts the Royal Horticultural Society
How to be a more sustainable gardener? Less watering and a healthy compost heap
Millie Souter is currently a garden designer at Tom Stuart-Smith Studio and also head gardener of the Plant Library at the Serge Hill Project in Hertfordshire. Portrait Andrew Montgomery
Gardens Illustrated 's Editor's choice
Why do we hate ivy? The truth about whether it damages walls and why we need to change our view of this helpful plant
Is Ivy the most divisive plant in Britain? We asked gardeners and our audience what they thought of this oft-maligned native plant.
Chelsea 2024 | Tickets, information, dates and what's on
Everything you need to know about RHS Chelsea Flower Show tickets and more for 2024
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Gardens Illustrated events
Gardens Illustrated Reader Day: Sissinghurst at sunset with Troy Scott Smith
Join our exclusive reader evening at the ultimate romantic garden. Enjoy a guided tour with head gardener Troy and wander the grounds at your leisure after visitors have left.
Gardening events and shows for 2024
All the big names in one place. Here's our guide to the gardening calendar's biggest and best gardening events for the year ahead
Somerset and Bath Contemporary Gardens reader tour
Join us on a four-day tour to some of the best new gardens in the South West, in the company of your host, Sissinghurst head gardener Troy Scott Smith
International garden festivals to visit
Horticulture events from around the world including flower shows and festivals.
Latest garden features and design ideas
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Chelsea 2024: A guide to the Octavia Hill Garden
Garden designer Ann-Marie Powelll is creating this year's Octavia Hill garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024.
21 brilliant bulbs to plant that will give you colour in every season
Garden designer Adam Hunt recommends his favourite bulbs for colour almost all year round.
The 20 top designers from Chelsea's history
Over its long history, Chelsea Flower Show has acted as a proving ground and showcase for star garden designers and for new trends in planting and design. Tim Richardson picks out design highlights from the show’s illustrious history
Think 'No Mow May' is not for you? Try these neat ideas for your lawn
Worried that No Mow May will turn your garden into an unmanageable mess? Here are some ways that you can embrace the 'No Mow' concept while keeping your garden acceptably neat.
Why are we so obsessed with lawns? Discover the history of the lawn and why we love them
Although the fashion for grass clipped as neatly as Wimbledon’s Centre Court may have dwindled, the British love affair with the lawn continues, in part because it has its roots deep in our national psyche. Rory Dusoir investigates
Most butterflies had a great year in 2023, but some didn't. Here's what we should be worried about
The UK's butterfly winners and losers of 2023 have been revealed following the announcement of the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
Everything you need to know about tulip fire
Tulip fire is a fungal disease that can affect tulips. Here's how to identify it, and what to do if you find it
Best garden plants for now
Wisteria | The best varieties to grow and how to care for
When this vigorous climber is in full bloom, it is a glorious sight to behold. Nurseryman Chris Lane is your guide to how to grow, train and prune wisteria, and recommends his favourite varieties. Photographs Annaïck Guitteny
Everything you need to know about growing bluebells
English bluebells are one of the highlights of spring. Here's how to grow them in your own garden – and how to differentiate between English and Spanish bluebells.
When to plant summer bulbs and the best to choose for a gloriously colourful garden
Spring is the ideal time to plant summer-flowering bulbs. We asked four experts to recommend their favourites
What is the difference between Spanish and English bluebells?
The experts at Westonbirt Arboretum explain how to spot an English bluebell and a Spanish one
What is box caterpillar, and how to deal with it
The box caterpillar, or box tree caterpillar, can devastate box plants in a matter of days. Here's how to deal with it.
The best spring flowers to plant
Looking for inspiration for the best spring flowers? Here's our choice of the most beautiful spring flowers to have in a spring-fuelled garden
Houseplants
Your common house plant problems - solved
House plant expert Sarah Gerrard-Jones identifies the 10 most common house plant problems and explains how to solve them.
Houseplants | How to look after the blue star fern
Ferns sparked the first houseplant craze and are still a great houseplant choice, especially the unfussy Phlebodium aureum. Illustration Agata Wierzbicka
Asparagus fern: Everything you need to know about this ideal house plant
Attractive foliage and a near-indestructible nature make the asparagus fern great indoor companions. Illustration Patrick Morgan
Gardens Illustrated 's Podcasts
Talking Gardens podcast with Alan Titchmarsh
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Alan Titchmarsh MBE on the gardens, places, people and plants that he would like to include in his dream garden.
Talking Gardens podcast with Tayshan Hayden-Smith
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Tayshan Hayden-Smith on why he believes we need to rethink what we consider a garden to be.
Talking Gardens podcast with Arit Anderson
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Arit Anderson on why she would love a bluebell meadow and the reason she would never allow leaf blowers in her fantasy space.
Talking Gardens podcast with Tasmin Westhorpe
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Tamsin Westhorpe on her dream garden and why she thinks gardening is vital for mental health.
Talking Gardens podcast with Isabel Bannerman
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Isabel Bannerman on her dream garden and where she would go in a time machine.
Talking Gardens podcast with Arthur Parkinson
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Arthur Parkinson on his dream of a walled garden with orangery, and all manner of plants and birds.
Talking Gardens podcast with Piet Oudolf
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Piet Oudolf on the projects that have shaped his career and why he has never had time to dream.
Talking Gardens podcast with Errol Reuben Fernandes
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Errol Reuben Fernandes on his fantasy garden and why some garden visitors would be banned from his dream space
Talking Gardens podcast with Marian Boswall
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Marian Boswall on her fantasy garden and why the first important ingredient would be love.
Talking Gardens podcast with Nigel Slater
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Nigel Slater on his fantasy garden and why fairies and soft serve ice-cream would have to be part of it
Recipes
HOME COOKED RECIPES WITH NATURAL INGREDIENTS
Asparagus soufflé tart recipe
Enjoy the season's fresh asparagus crop - allotmenteer Jojo Tulloh puts soufflé stereotypes to bed with her straightforward asparagus soufflé tart.
Cured mackerel with fenugreek potato salad recipe
The green leaves of summer are a wonderful source of inspiration for flavoursome dishes. Here is a fresh recipe for cured mackerel with a potato and fenugreek salad. <Recipe from Jojo Tulloh, illustration by Sarah Young
Recipe | Hearty sausage stew from Julius Roberts
Chef and smallholder Julius Roberts shares his recipe for a hearty and warming stew with sausage and chard.
Golden beetroot soup recipe
Nutritious and full of flavour; nothing beats a bowl of golden beetroot soup on a cold winter's day. Here's the perfect recipe for how to make it. Recipe from Stephanie Hafferty
Container Gardening
pots of style for your garden
A pot planting design to try using edibles in a rustic tin bath for colour from now through the summer
Award-winning designer Jo Thompson offers new container-planting inspiration with an idea for flower combinations for late spring
Spring beauty in a pot: a stunning plant pot design you can plant up at home from designer Jo Thompson
Award-winning designer Jo Thompson's container-planting series continues with this early spring flower combination using Narcissus and Scilla. Words Jo Thompson, photographs Jason Ingram
How to grow succulents
Succulents are attractive and versatile, low maintenance plants. Plant expert Andy McIndoe advises on how to grow them, plus the best types to try. Photos by Dianna Jazwinski
A colourful container display using chillies
Jenny Barnes walks us through this container display that prolongs the life of fresh chillies and brings colour and shape indoors
Inspiring Gardens
THE BEST OF THE WORLD'S OUTDOOR SPACES
Behind the scenes at Sissinghurst: springtime in the most-loved garden in the world
Sissinghurst’s head gardener Troy Scott Smith guides us through the jobs that he and his team do in spring. Images by John Campbell
A designer’s own wild family garden by the ocean in Australia, with eco credentials and colourful planting
In southeastern Australia, a family of four horticulturists has created a dreamy new garden by the ocean, with captivating combinations of native and exotic plants. Words Georgina Reid, images Claire Takacs
What to plant in an edible garden
We talk to vegetable and edible gardening expert Anna Greenland about gardening for flavour. Words Alys Hurn, photographs Jason Ingram
This season in the garden
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GARDENING NOW
May flowers to plant
As the days and soil gets warmer, expert plantsman Keith Wiley’s choice include colour, from a bright-orange lily to a crimson rose, offset by the delicacy of a soft-pink viburnum. Words Keith Wiley, photographs Jason Ingram
These are the gardens that will look most beautiful in May
Plantsman Keith Wiley recommends the best gardens to visit in May to see their plants in full bloom
May gardening jobs: what to do in the garden in May
Vegetable gardener and chef Aaron Bertelsen writes on how a kitchen garden grows. Illustration by Alice Pattullo
What vegetables and other plants to sow and plant in May
Head gardener Benjamin Pope explains what you should be planting in May. Illustration by Claire Harrup
Gardens to visit
which gardens to visit and where
Forde Abbey: the tulip display that gets better each year
The tulip display at Forde Abbey in Somerset gets bigger and better every year, with later-flowering cultivars intermingling effortlessly with annuals, biennials and perennials to enrich the planting in this progressive historic garden. Words Hannah Gardner, photographs Jason Ingram
Feel like you're on the set of Bridgerton with these Regency gardens to visit
With season three of Bridgerton hitting our screens soon, we’ve rounded up some beautiful regency gardens and landscapes to visit to make you feel as though you’re attending an early nineteenth century garden party
The best campsites with beautiful gardens
From Victorian walled gardens to shaded clearings among wildflowers, we recommend the best campsites in the UK with beautiful gardens to get lost in
Garden design
THE BEST OF THE WORLD'S OUTDOOR SPACES
Trees for small gardens
Many people worry that a tree will overpower a small garden, but as garden designer Sarah Price shows, the key is finding the right place and the right tree
How to lay a hedge
Interested in the centuries-old skill of hedge laying? Follow our guide on how to lay a hedge and learn about the traditional ways to lay a hedge. Words Louise Allen, photography Andrew Montgomery, illustration Liam McAuley
Garden ideas on a budget
Charlotte Molesworth, best known for the topiary in her garden at Balmoral Cottage, offers her best ideas for garden ideas on a budget. Words Francine Raymond, photographs Rachel Warne
10 ways to improve your garden
Award-winning garden designer Jinny Blom gives us her 10-point plan for improving any garden.
How do garden landscapers and designers work together?
There’s confusion around what a landscape architect, garden designer and hard landscaper really is. Here Claire Vokins from Wilson | Vokins breaks down the connection
10 garden design mistakes and how to avoid them
We asked ten award-winning garden designers to name the most common design issues they see, and how these problems can be solved
Gardening Advice
WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT
What is box caterpillar, and how to deal with it
The box caterpillar, or box tree caterpillar, can devastate box plants in a matter of days. Here's how to deal with it.
Should we be worried about tulip fire?
Tulip fire was bad in spring 2023 - so should we be planting them this autumn? Gardens Illustrated asked expert growers for their advice
How to prune wisteria
Wisteria needs to be pruned twice a year to keep it in good shape and to ensure abundant flowers. Here's how to do it. Photographs by Gavin Kingcome.
Gardening Kit
OUR PICK OF THE BEST GARDENING TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES
Monty Don's blue workwear jacket is a classic. Here are the best look-alikes we've found.
Everyone's going mad for Monty Don's stylish navy chore jacket. Get his look with these timeless alternatives, available across a range of price points.
10 raised bed ideas for 2024: the best planters to elevate your garden
Looking for raised bed ideas for your garden? There's a host of designs out there, from options on legs to those that sit directly on the ground. Here's our comprehensive guide to what's on the market.
The best fence panels you can buy: 8 styles to consider
Frame or surround your garden with these attractive fence panels.
100 best gifts for gardeners in 2023
Here's our selection of fantastic gardening gifts in 2024, tailor-made to suit the gardener in your life.
9 of the best garden pods and offices
Planning a big project for 2024? Make the most of your space outside with the all-new wave of stylish garden pods and practical pop-up offices.
The best garden wheelbarrows
There's a big variety of wheelbarrow designs out there, so take a look at our guide to find the best options for you. We've listed plastic, metal and fabric versions too.