Nigel Slater
Gardens Illustrated columnist
Nigel Slater is a cook, writer and passionate gardener. Nigel has worked as an Observer food columnist for 30 years and has written many award-winning books including Tender, Kitchen Diaries and The Christmas Chronicles. His childhood memoir, Toast, was adapted for radio, made into film and has also been adapted for the stage.
Recent articles by Nigel Slater
Nigel Slater is developing a new recipe – with some truly surprising ingredients
Nigel Slater is developing a new recipe, but it is leaf mould made from fallen leaves that will be the main ingredient
Nigel Slater on why the emergence of spring bulbs are the delight of his gardening year
His tulip order safely in, Nigel Slater anticipates the highlight of his gardening year – the emergence of spring bulbs
'Stop doom scrolling and start 'bloom-scrolling' - Nigel Slater on the pleasures of keeping a garden diary
Nigel Slater is a man who loves a good list and finds keeping a garden diary the perfect way to keep on top of his garden tasks
Nigel Slater didn’t think he liked flowers – but now has a garden full of them
Now that his once largely green garden is bursting with colour, Nigel Slater wonders why it took him so long to fill it with flowers
Most garden barbeques are pretty ugly, says Nigel Slater – I prefer these grills for cooking outdoors
Much as he loves eating in his garden, Nigel Slater blows hot and cold about cooking en plein air
I’m too busy deadheading my roses to stop and smell them, says Nigel Slater
Why worry about not finding time to sit and smell the roses, asks Nigel Slater, if you get more pleasure from deadheading them?
I have a poisoned pot that kills everything, says Nigel Slater – but I still love growing in containers
Nigel Slater fills his garden with pots, for reasons both practical and aesthetic
How Nigel Slater really feels about wildlife in his garden – fox poo, naughty squirrels and noisy parakeets
For Nigel Slater the dream of welcoming wildlife into his garden doesn’t always live up to reality
It’s porn for plant lovers – and Nigel Slater is open to temptation from the plant catalogues
Fuelled by the temptations of plant catalogues, Nigel Slater fills winter days imagining his dream garden
The big job Nigel Slater is embarking on this year
Not typically one to act on impulse, Nigel Slater wonders if more spontaneity, and stone paving, might be in order.
Nigel Slater is getting ready for winter in the garden and allowing the plants their beauty sleep
As his garden slumbers, Nigel Slater finds both joy and a sense of purpose in tidying his plot and protecting plants from inclement weather
Illustration: Paul Wearing, Portrait: John Campbell
Nigel Slater on savouring the end of autumn
For Nigel Slater, one of the great joys of autumn is the sight of golden, bronze and rich-red leaves gently falling – a slow dance that completes the circle of life.
Illustration: Paul Wearing, Portrait: John Campbell
A garden of memories - ‘Nostalgia is as good a reason as any to grow a plant,’ says Nigel Slater
Many of the plants in Nigel Slater’s garden hold deeper meaning – some joyful, others more poignant – but all add another layer of pleasure when they bloom.
Watch Nigel Slater's exclusive tour around his own small garden and discover why he wouldn't want a bigger one
While Nigel Slater might occasionally dream of a larger garden, the joy he feels cocooned in his tiny basement courtyard has convinced him size isn’t everything.
Illustration: Paul Wearing, Portrait: John Campbell
‘I’ve ended up with a garden made up of ideas that have been begged, borrowed and yes, stolen’ Nigel Slater on magpie-like gardening tendencies
Not every idea in Nigel Slater’s garden has arrived fully formed – some are begged, borrowed and even stolen. Illustration Paul Wearing
‘The most important place in the garden is a place to sit, and just be’ - Nigel Slater is taking time to sit and savour the moment
Quality time in the garden doesn’t have to be spent gardening, says Nigel Slater. You also need places for food and conversation or just to sit and savour the moment.
Illustration: Paul Wearing, Portrait: Jenny Zarins
Nigel Slater on why scented plants were his first priority when making his garden
As summer adds a new dimension to his garden, our columnist Nigel Slater reflects on the rewards of planting for perfume
Chelsea Flower Show is like Glastonbury for gardeners, says Nigel Slater, but with less mud and better loos
Never mind Christmas; for Nigel Slater, the most wonderful time of the year is the third week of May, which means only one thing: the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Illustration: Jenny Zarins
Nigel Slater on serving up dinner to his nemesis and other failures in the garden
The question of what to grow this year has our columnist Nigel Slater thinking back on past failures and hoping wildly for the future.
Nigel Slater on the amazement he still feels at the arrival of flowering bulbs in spring
Our columnist Nigel Slater on the amazement he still feels at the arrival of flowering bulbs in spring.