Expert Gardening Tips
Alan Titchmarsh, Mark Diacono, Charles Quest-Ritson, Isabella Bannerman and more of Country Life's expert columnists share their advice on what to do with your garden.
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Charles Quest-Ritson: Today’s best young gardeners are well educated, well qualified, and well underpaid. No wonder they're voting with their feetUp and coming gardeners are dotting from job to job like the journeymen gardeners of late-Victorian and Edwardian times, says Charles Quest-Ritson.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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Mark Diacono: The plant that becomes a friend — and it's the perfect thing to put in your Pimm'sBorage is a plant that should be in every garden.
By Mark Diacono Published
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When is a weed not a weed? When it's a wildflowerIf cultivated plants are a sign of orthodoxy and order, are weeds symbolic of anarchy and wildness? Who really decides whether flora is wildflower or weed, asks John Lewis-Stempel.
By John Lewis-Stempel Published
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The most demanding, delicious pelargoniums, from the variety that likes it drier than a Martini, to the flower with peppermint-scented leaves 'as soft as mouse fur'Pelar
By Isabel Bannerman Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: The easily overlooked factor that's the difference between a beautiful garden and wasting thousands on plants doomed to diePlanting pot-grown trees and shrubs is a quick way to create a mature-looking garden — but unless you get planting depth right, it won't last long, explains Alan Titchmarsh.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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Charles Quest-Ritson: The 'Sir David Beckham' rose is so good that one day he'll be better remembered as a flower than a footballerFrom spectacular South African blooms to a home-grown marvel, Charles Quest-Ritson shares his favourite plants from the 2026 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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The hedge can be a Queen of Puddings, a veritable pie, which could have its uses in all sorts of placesIsabel Bannerman needed to hide some solar panels, so decided that the best way to do it was by planting a hedge full of bountiful fruits.
By Isabel Bannerman Published
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'Gardeners at their best, Britain at its best — and tickets are a snip': Alan Titchmarsh on his all-time favourite flower showIf you didn't manage to get tickets for RHS Chelsea, Alan Titchmarsh has a wonderful alternative idea for you.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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Slugs: The good, the bad, and the stomach-churningly disgustingWith anuses right next to their mouths and an ability to produce The garden designer and author Isabel Bannerman shares her feelings about slugs. Suffice to say that those feelings are not positive ones.
By Isabel Bannerman Published
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The man who made daffodils the flower of spring in BritainAs the last few daffodils die back across the country, Tiffany Daneff pays tribute to the Reverend George Engleheart, the man who did more to spread the word about these gorgeous flowers than any other gardener in history.
By Tiffany Daneff Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: The thrill of raising a plant from a speck of dust or a green leaf can only be learned first-handTheory and study is grand, says Alan Titchmarsh — but it'll never take the place of learning practical skills at the hands of an expert. A new initiative is about to make doing so much easier.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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Pretty little things: How the double primrose continues to hold us in its thrallCharles Quest-Ritson looks into the history and the origins of these delightful flowers.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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'Ugly, pointless and potentially lethal': Why dead hedges are a gardening fad too farCharles Quest-Ritson takes aim at the phenomenon of the 'dead hedge'.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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The Italians think it's a laxative and the Germans say it leeches your bones, but rhubarb is a true British wonder. Here's how to do it justiceRhubarb is one of the easiest and most generous plants to grow. Charles Quest-Ritson digs into its history and recommends the best kinds; photographs by Jonathan Buckley.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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I pitted AI against a much-loved 1963 gardening book to see what to do with my little corner of Ireland — here's what happenedOur columnist Jonathan Self has relied on his old gardening books for decades. Can a newcomer in the form of Claude AI take their place?
By Jonathan Self Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: I'm planting a brand new garden — here's what's going in, what I'm trying out, and the plant that's sending me in search of my axeMoving to a new house means getting stuck in to a new garden — and even in his seventies that's still a huge thrill for Alan Titchmarsh.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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Growing leeks: What to plant, when to to it, and how to make them thriveOur grow-your-own expert Mark Diacono shares his favourite leeks.
By Mark Diacono Published
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No garden should be without a winter-flowering daphne, so we've picked the bestThere is no such thing as a disappointing daphne, Charles Quest-Ritson
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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You don’t need to live in the countryside or have acres of space to start a cutting gardenAmy Merrick consults the expert growers at The Real Flower Company on her new West London cutting garden.
By Amy Merrick Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: Patience is in short supply today, but learning when to crack on and when to leave well alone will do your garden wondersAlam Titchmarsh cannot wait to get to work in his brand new garden, but acting too soon could have long-lasting ramifications.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: I'm always asked about 'creating a sensory garden', and my answer is always the sameFrom the chirruping of the birds to the sweeping of a broom, Alan Titchmarsh shares the sounds that all our gardens have in common.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published


