Features

Features

All the latest features from Gardens Illustrated magazine
Stop digging in January

Put the spade down! Gardening in January could do more harm than good

Garden writer and horticulturist Daniel Masoliver explains why you need to stop what you're doing, put your spade down, and actually stop gardening this month
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A lady walks her dog through a winter forest with the morning light streaming through the trees and illuminating the pine trees behind.

What is 'Blue Monday' and can gardening help you avoid it?

'Blue Monday' has been dubbed the most depressing day of the year, so we've come up with a few ways to lighten the mood
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What to sow in January

Seeds to sow and plants to get in the earth in January to make sure your garden is thriving in spring

Head gardener Benjamin Pope is keeping busy this month in preparation for spring. Here are his suggestions of what you could be planting through the month of January
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Christmas wrapping paper: making Christmas wrapping paper

Make your own gift wrapping with natural materials

For recyclable Christmas wrapping paper that looks personal and is eco friendly, why not use natural elements from the garden? Words Ali Bell
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Christmas tree care

Stop the needles falling and the droop: here's how to care for your Christmas tree so it's happy for longer

You invest in a Christmas tree and bring it into your home over the festive season. Make sure it's as happy as possible so it lasts for as long as possible
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Illustration of snowdrops and watering can

Nigel Slater knows how to give the perfect present, and what gardeners don't want

Tis the season for gifting, and Nigel Slater has his eyes on the perfect present.
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RHS Hyde Hall 2022

Gardening events and shows in 2025 and 2026

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
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The best gifts for gardeners - Solstice Hot Chocolate, 400g, £8.95, Harth; Bel Holland Fluted Mug, large, £34, The Painted Bird; Gingerbread Christmas Tree Biscuits, 125g box, £3.50, Hawkens Gingerbread; Beth Lewis Linoprint Apple Orchard Notebook, black, A5 plain paper, £6, and Beth Lewis Fern Coasters, black, £12 for four, both These Two Hands; The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide To 2026, by Lia Leendertz, published by Octopus Books £12.99, Waterstones; Workshop Pen, multi-tool, £12, Plümo.

60 creative Christmas gifts for nature and garden lovers in 2025

Here's our selection of fantastic gardening gifts in 2025, tailor-made to suit the gardener in your life.
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The Winter Walk in snow with Cornus sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' in the foreground at RHS Garden Harlow Carr

Best UK gardens open for Boxing Day walks

Many UK gardens are open this festive season, so why not work off your Christmas indulgence between Boxing Day and New Year with a winter walk at one of these 13 great open gardens?
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Mushrooms growing

'They don't grow in the dark': It's easier than you think to grow your own gourmet mushrooms

Two food-obsessed sisters have turned a mission to create exciting meat-free meals into a thriving mushroom business.
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Yellow bird illustration

Think rewilding isn't for you? Try this alternate approach in your garden instead

You don’t need a country estate to make the world a little wilder, says James Canton. Think of renaturing rather than rewilding, and every modest act makes a difference
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Best gin with botanicals

Best gins with botanicals for 2025 - have yourself a merry Christmas with these herbal tipples

The Gardens Illustrated team has rounded up the best botanical gins on the market.
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Hanging Christmas decorations

Make your own hanging willow Christmas decorations

Grower and florist Charlie Ryrie shows how to create handmade Christmas decorations at home using foraged plants and natural materials
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Winter garden and house surrounded by countryside

Discover the jobs that keep the gardeners at Sissinghurst busy in winter

Troy Scott Smith, head gardener at Sissinghurst, explains how he and his team prepare the world-famous garden for the year ahead. Photographs: John Campbell
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Winter walk: Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire.

The most inspiring winter garden walks

It may be cold outside but you can still visit beautiful gardens over the winter months. Here's our top picks of UK open gardens to visit for a refreshing winter walk
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Bex Partridge's honesty wreath for Christmas

Make this eye-catching wreath from plants in your garden as a gorgeous natural Christmas decoration

Bex Partridge offers this elegant but easy way to create a wreath using honesty seedheads
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People walking through the streets

I held a funeral for a hedge. Grief for loss of nature is real, and it has a name

The sadness we feel at the loss of nature all around us is real, says Claire Loder, and it even has a name. We need to find ways to mourn it, and fight it
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Festive wreath hoop

Learn how to make a beautiful dried flower Christmas wreath hoop that will last

Weave some seasonal flora into your Christmas decor with this flowers-on-tulle wreath hoop by artist Olga Prinku. Words Sonya Patel Ellis Photos Andrew Montgomery
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Christmas wreath: learn how to make a Christmas wreath

Make your own Christmas wreath

Learn how to make a homemade Christmas wreath from scratch with our ideas using natural materials including succulents, evergreens and seedheads
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House and garden

You'll wish this Highlands garden with its own wild swimming pool and sauna, designed by Tracy McQue was yours...

In Tracy McQue’s design for a steeply sloping garden in the Highlands, a series of distinct character areas are united by repeating and remixing the planting palette
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Autumn leaves illustration

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
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November gardening jobs

November jobs for the garden: don't forget these key things to do right now

There's always something to do in the garden, even in November. Aaron Bertelsen explains a few key things you can do in the garden right now. Illustration Alice Pattullo
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Illustration of woman gardening

‘I want to see into everyone’s front gardens’ - why we should take down our fences and turn our streets into sanctuaries

We could take down the boundaries that define our front gardens and turn streets into green spaces that are free for everybody to enjoy, suggests Susanna Grant
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Meadow garden and house

From new-build construction site to low-maintenance wildflower haven: this meadowscape is the smart way to do easy eco gardening

Designer Kristina Clode has created this vision of wild immersion, mostly from seed, for an accessible new eco home set in The Weald.
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