Latest From Gardens Illustrated
There are plants that make wasps drunk – discover 10 facts about wildflowers that will surprise you
Author and botanist Chris Thorogood picks ten wildflowers that have a remarkable relationship with their pollinators and other plants from his new expert book on wildflowers
We just found out plants can 'smell', 'hear' and communicate - does this mean we'll have to stop gardening?
Some recent research suggests plants may be able to learn, sense and communicate. So, asks Darryl Moore, should we now rethink how we treat them?
32 top women garden designers working in the UK today
To mark International Women's Day, we round up some of the top women garden designers working in the UK today
It's not your compost, it's you - I tested peat-free compost and it does work. Here's how to succeed with peat free compost
Our guide to finding the right peat-free compost, using the best online resources and learning from inspiring peat-free show gardens.
Everything you need to know about Alan Titchmarsh's Gardening Club
Discover all about Alan Titchmarsh's Gardening Club, the new season that focuses on gardening on ITV1
The island bed is back in our gardens, with a chic designer update – here’s how to do it right for beautiful planting this summer
Designer Charlotte Harris reflects on the shift towards organically shaped ‘island’ planting beds, and reveals inside tips on how to get the right effect.
Gardens Illustrated 's Editor's choice
Gardening events and shows in 2025
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
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
Claim your Niwaki gift set worth £42 when you join as a member to Gardens Illustrated today
Claim your Niwaki gift set worth £42
when you join as a member to Gardens Illustrated today
Gardens Illustrated Special Edition: A Year of Plants - Order today just £12.99*
A Gardens Illustrated Special Edition- A Year of Plants- Order today just £12.99*
Gardens Illustrated events
Enjoy 26% off Yeo Valley Organic Garden Festival tickets when you come a Gardens Illustrated member
Watch new film with Dan Pearson in his own garden
Save 20% when you book a series ticket for the Gardens Illustrated Masterclass series
GI Masterclass: Maximising small spaces with designer Stefano Marinaz
Latest garden features and design ideas
6 secret tricks of garden designers to make your garden look and feel better
Good gardens usually reference a few tried and tested design tricks – here's how to incorporate some of them into your own space.
On the front line of climate change: meet flower farmer Roisin Taylor
Flower farmer Roisin is owner of Verde Flower Co, based in Newcastle-Upon- Tyne, and is currently establishing the British Cut Flower Association.
Everything you need to know about Fritillaria
Fritillaries come in many forms, from the dainty and intriguing to the dramatic and bold.
The best flowers to plant for a beautiful spring garden to lift your spirits
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
Planting and caring for daffodils for a spring garden plus the most lovely varieties to grow
Expert grower Hannah Gardner gives advice on planting narcissi in borders, pots and lawns and recommends the 10 best narcissi to grow
These plants will make your garden look good all year: 30 plants and flowers for year-round colour and interest
These hard-working plants provide several seasons of interest in your garden through flowers, fruit, foliage, bark and even spring shoots
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.
Soil sieves and riddles: the best sieve for your garden
Transform your compost into a fine, seed-friendly medium that will help your young plants thrive. Separate stones, sticks and clumps of organic matter with the help of one of a garden sieve
How to coppice hazel
Our guide on how to coppice and cut back hazel for lovely hazel stems and to keep your hazel plants healthy
It's nearly time to plant summer flowering bulbs - here's our guide on exactly when to plant them and which to grow
Spring is the ideal time to plant summer-flowering bulbs. We asked four experts to recommend their favourites
Best garden plants for now
Bring blooms, colour and scent to your garden right now with the expert’s pick of exquisite early flowering shrubs
Flowering shrubs bring much needed colour and scent to the garden in late winter and early spring. Expert Tony Kirkham selects the best.
The best flowers to plant for a beautiful spring garden to lift your spirits
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
Dragon’s Den winning garden company creates top new plant offer after hit appearance on the show
Do this now to seed potatoes to help get a healthy spud harvest
Writer and expert grower Alys Fowler explains everything you need to know about chitting potatoes and how to get the most from your potato harvest
54 brilliant purple flowers for the garden
Discover 55 of the most beautiful purple flowering plants for the garden, chosen by expert horticulturalists and growers
Easy to grow and care for – why you need to grow heuchera for year-round colour
With their striking foliage in a range of bold colours, heucheras, and the associated heucherellas and tiarellas, are low-maintenance plants that offer year-round colour.
Houseplants
How to propagate houseplants - an easy and cheap guide to growing your houseplant collection
Expert house growers Maddie and Alice Bailey explain how to propagate your houseplants using stem cuttings
How to repot your plants - watch our guide to repotting houseplants to make sure your indoor plants are happy
Our simple and easy-to-follow guide on how and when to repot your houseplants from experts Alice and Maddie Bailey from Forest London
The 10 most 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.
Gardens Illustrated 's Podcasts
Talking Gardens season 4: John Little
Talking Gardens season 4: Shane Connolly
Talking Gardens Season 4: Butter Wakefield
Talking Gardens Season 4: Charles Dowding
Talking Gardens Season 4: Rosy Hardy
Talking Gardens Season 4: Monty Don
Talking Gardens podcast with Jimi Blake
Listen to this episode of Talking Gardens, the Gardens Illustrated podcast, featuring Jimi Blake on how he dodges bears while botanising and how going to train as a gardener was life-saving for him.
Recipes
HOME COOKED RECIPES WITH NATURAL INGREDIENTS
How to make delicious cherry blossom jam
Beth Al Rikabi shares her recipe for cherry blossom jam, which has a delicate, almondy flavour
You may not believe this surprising botanical that goes into your alcohol-free drinks...
Baked apples with maple syrup and cinnamon recipe
This delicious baked apple with maple syrup, cinnamon and raisins is the perfect warmer for autumn evenings
Hot-smoked cauliflower with a cheese and dill sauce
Chef and food writer Gill Meller believes enjoying food outside can help us connect with nature, whatever the time of year. This seasonal recipe can be cooked over an open fire. Photographs by Andrew Montgomery
Container Gardening
pots of style for your garden
Give your containers autumn style with the help of designer Jo Thompson's hellebore and euonymus designs
Designer Jo Thompson creates this stylish display using hellebores and euonymus to see you through the colder months
A great planted pot for winter and autumn using succulents with architectural texture
Designer Jo Thompson creates a stylish display to see you through the colder months using aloe and other succulents
You can grow beautiful bulbs in your house over winter by 'forcing' them - here's how to do it
Forcing bulbs is a way to manipulate spring bulbs so that they flower early, bringing a much-needed burst of colour into the home during the winter months. Try these bulb combinations to learn how to force bulbs yourself. Images by Jason Ingram
A warming winter pot for wildlife using Cornus alba and cotoneaster
Designer Jo Thompson offers a stylish display to see you through the colder months. Photographs Jason Ingram
Inspiring Gardens
THE BEST OF THE WORLD'S OUTDOOR SPACES
Fresh shoots: the new generation of plant nurseries injecting fresh hope into British gardens
Several specialist nurseries have recently closed, but there is hope that a host of enthusiastic newcomers can bring renewed life and vision to the industry.
You have to see this amazing new garden around a romantic castle on the shores of Loch Ness
Designer Tom Stuart-Smith has created two exciting new gardens around a romantic castle on the shores of Loch Ness.
A zesty tangerine-coloured roof top garden in London designed by Nigel Dunnett
On the edge of one of London’s busiest roundabouts, Nigel Dunnett has created exciting combinations of drought-tolerant plants for a roof garden that is as unexpected as it is joyful. Words: Natasha Goodfellow, Photographs: Alister Thorpe
This season in the garden
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GARDENING NOW
What to plant in March for beautiful blooms and tasty veg over the summer and beyond
Head gardener Benjamin Pope and grower and writer Aaron Bertelsen offer their suggestions for the best things to plant in pots and beyond this month
It's not your compost, it's you - I tested peat-free compost and it does work. Here's how to succeed with peat free compost
Our guide to finding the right peat-free compost, using the best online resources and learning from inspiring peat-free show gardens.
As spring arrives you need to get these tasks done in the garden - the ten key gardening jobs for March
It's spring fever in the garden, as kitchen gardener Aaron Bertelsen and head gardener Benjamin Pope share their gardening jobs for March
Do this to your climbing rose now, to make sure it behaves this summer: expert tips from a head gardener
Daunted by pruning a climbing rose? Follow our expert guide on training climbing roses from head gardener Jenny Barnes
Gardens to visit
which gardens to visit and where
Beautiful gardens with daffodils and spring displays - gardens to visit that will look great this month
Gardener and plantsman Keith Wiley shares his favourite gardens to visit in March.
Top 10 most romantic gardens to visit with your loved one
Lose your heart in one of the world's most romantic gardens. Garden writer Anna Pavord picks ten of her favourite gardens to visit that will sweep you off your feet.
16 gardens from Monty Don's British Gardens that you can visit too
Enjoyed Monty Don's recent TV series on great British gardens? Many of the ones he visited are also open to the public. Here we round up some of the best that you can visit too
Garden design
THE BEST OF THE WORLD'S OUTDOOR SPACES
Limited space? You probably still have room for a tree - discover the best 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
Mid-century style garden furniture is trending, here's why you need these iconic garden furniture pieces
Love mid-century style? You won’t want to miss this brand’s sale across many of its iconic outdoor furniture pieces…
You can have a sustainable garden that's also beautiful - here's how to design stylish ecological gardens
Charlotte Harris explains how to design gardens that are ecological and beautiful in her expert guide to sustainable garden design
How to design a garden on a slope: inspiration for your sloping garden
Creating a garden on a sloping site brings a host of challenges, but, says designer Charlotte Harris, with careful planning it is also an opportunity to make a really interesting space.
Here's what companion planting means and why it can help plants thrive
Ever wondered how companion planting might help your vegetables and deter pests? Here expert grower Matthew Biggs breaks down the companion planting myths and explains how the system works
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
Gardening Advice
WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT
How to build a natural swimming pond in your garden
Discover tips on how to build a natural swimming pool or pond in your garden, from expert designer Will Tomson
Wondering what no-dig gardening is? Let the expert explain
Generations of gardeners have been told that digging is the best way to prepare soil for planting – but that’s a myth, according to grower Charles Dowding, who practises no dig gardening. Charles explains what no dig is and how it works
A guide to pruning roses
Discover how to prune all types of roses including shrub, climbing and rambling roses in our guide from plant expert John Hoyland. Photographs by Gavin Kingcome.
Gardening Kit
OUR PICK OF THE BEST GARDENING TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES
Reviewed: best flower subscription and delivery services for 2025
Don't just surprise them with ONE bunch of flowers. Why not show how much you love them all year long?
The best folding saws for coppicing and pruning jobs this season
Save space when cutting branches and shrubs with our picks of the best folding saws.
Brilliant bird tables for all types of garden birds
Welcome more birds into your garden this winter with a stylish and sturdy bird table.
Turn your garden into a wildflower haven with these great seed bombs to buy for your garden
Get beautiful blooms for minimum effort with a pack of wildflower seed bombs
The best gardening books in 2024: leaf through these highly-rated reads
Discover the best gardening books to read in 2024, recommended by a range of horticultural experts for Gardens Illustrated
The best wellington boots for walking and gardening
Keep your feet warm, snug and dry this autumn with our pick of the best wellies for gardening