Big gardens

Making the most of the good drainage provided by the steep bank beneath the wall, Jo has introduced a thyme meadow that tumbles down into the main meadow mix from Emorsgate Seeds, which is based down the road from Jo’s farmhouse. The tall spires of Verbascum thapsus add vertical accents that link to the tower of the 14th-century village church beyond.

Tips for an idyllic managed meadow garden

Sissinghurst’s Delos garden has been transformed into a Mediterranean-style space in line with the original vision. Grecian altars and a Mediterranean kermes oak are placed along the main walkway

Inside Sissinghurst’s Mediterranean-inspired Delos garden

The sheltered Gravel Garden where owners Nick and Louise Killen can sit among mounds of Nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ and the floating heads of Cenolophium denudatum and enjoy a view to the church where they married. The stone Farrowing House is now Nick’s office.

Creating the perfect Somerset family garden

At Upper Sydling in Dorset the landscape beyond is as much a part of the garden as the flowers within it. Here in the cutting garden, the view is framed by a floriferous mass of rambling roses, including the pretty pink Rosa ‘May Queen’, which entwine their flowering tentacles through, around and over the balustrade of ageing green oak.

Creating the perfect romantic rose garden

In a hilltop location, bands of Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Rosea’, Phlomis russeliana and self-seeded Lychnis coronaria support each other in a densely planted flower garden. The sun is setting through a Catalpa bignonioides and great plumes of Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ hide the parking area.

How to create a flower-filled hillside garden

With no hedges or boundary trees, the garden is open to the surrounding landscape and feels very much part of it, especially as the fluid planting has been designed to give the romantic, gauzy feel of a wildflower meadow but with a longer season of interest and a greater variety of plant type and form. Here, Sisyrinchium striatum, Lupinus ‘Noble Maiden’ and Phlomis russeliana catch the eye.

Informal planting for an idyllic Cotswold garden

best climbing plants for gardens - Solanum crispum album

30 of the best climbing plants

The heart of the garden is an ‘oasis’ formed by an enlarged pool with associated viewing deck

Explore a Californian oasis garden

Growing pumpkins: our guide to planting pumpkins

How to grow pumpkins and squashes

Helleborus orientalis 'Yellow Lady'

How to grow hellebores for colour over winter

Sassafras albidum sapling, a great autumn tree

Which autumn trees to have in your garden

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Reducing plastic in your garden and allotment

No-dig gardener Charles Dowding in his quarter-acre organic vegetable garden in Somerset

What is no dig gardening?

Digitalis pupurea 'Gloxinioides'

The best plants for a cottage garden

Limestone steps are a solution to coping with slopes. Wide steps create an elegant descent down a sloping garden

How to cope with a sloping garden