-
Colour photographs of Gertrude Jekyll’s garden, rediscovered in the Country Life Archive, offer a rare glimpse of what it looked like at the peak of her fame
In 1997, Country Life published a set of chromatic photographs of Gertrude Jekyll’s Munstead Wood garden that had lain undisturbed in our archive for nearly a century. We have reproduced the pictures, corresponding feature and captions here.
-
A dream built in glass, for herbs, flowers and 'lots of fancy tomatoes'
Gentle curves ensure that this greenhouse fits seamlessly into the corner of an Oxfordshire garden, finds Tiffany Daneff. Photography by Clive Nichols.
-
No garden should be without a winter-flowering daphne, so we've picked the best
There is no such thing as a disappointing daphne, Charles Quest-Ritson
-
'It was the only design that spoke the same language as the house. It immediately felt right': An Oxfordshire home where house and garden work in perfect, asymmetrical harmony
Understanding the language of this house in the Chilterns was the key to creating a garden that would complement it. Tiffany Daneff takes a closer look, and speaks to both the owner and garden designer Angus Thompson to discover how it came about. Photography by Rachel Warne.
-
You don’t need to live in the countryside or have acres of space to start a cutting garden
Amy Merrick consults the expert growers at The Real Flower Company on her new West London cutting garden.
-
Intrepid, enterprising, dedicated: The new generation of nursery owners creating the flowers we'll be enjoying for decades to come
David Carver is typical of the new generation of nursery owners, determined to save historic collections and produce new hybrids. John Hoyland paid him a visit to find out more; photographs by Clive Nichols.
-
Alan Titchmarsh: Patience is in short supply today, but learning when to crack on and when to leave well alone will do your garden wonders
Alam Titchmarsh cannot wait to get to work in his brand new garden, but acting too soon could have long-lasting ramifications.
-
Penns in the Rocks: The East Sussex garden created by Vita Sackville-West, with a little help from the huge boulders that stood here when dinosaurs walked the earth
It’s not only the pre-historic rocks that set apart the garden of Penns in the Rocks, near Tunbridge Wells, says George Plumptre. It's the fact that the layout was created by two horticultural legends: Vita Sackville-West and Lanning Roper. Photography by Jason Ingram.
-
William Robinson, the visionary gardener 150 years ahead of his time
A century and a half before the word 'rewilding' entered the gardening lexicon, a pioneering gardener named William Robinson was advocating for a more natural approach to our green spaces. Tiffany Daneff examines his legacy, and his home at Gravetye Manor.
-
Springing in the rain: The science behind the smells of the seasons
Spring is just around the corner, and so too is an assault on the senses.
-
'It was like going on a blind date... over a few glasses of wine our friendship was sealed and by three in the morning we had a plan': The creation of a spectacular Moroccan garden
Scrubby farmland near Marrakech has been transformed into an exceptional garden with views of the snow-capped Atlas mountains. discovers Kirsty Fergusson discovers the gardens of Riad Nouria, home of Lexi and Helena Oswald. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
-
Alan Titchmarsh: I'm always asked about 'creating a sensory garden', and my answer is always the same
From the chirruping of the birds to the sweeping of a broom, Alan Titchmarsh shares the sounds that all our gardens have in common.
-
RHS to run two new touring shows at Badminton and at the royal estate at Sandringham
The King will collaborate with a designer on the RHS Royal Legacy Garden at the Sandringham flower show.
-
The gardeners' gardens: Alan Titchmarsh, Mary Keen, Clive Nichols and more on the places they have on their 2026 hitlists
Which gardens are Country Life contributors most looking forward to visiting this year? We asked them for the where and why.
-
Beautiful, rewarding, unpronounceable: Chaenomeles, the spectacular shrub that grows happily in gardens where azaleas will never bloom
So many new types of Japanese flowering quince are now available that they have been the subject of a four-year trial by the RHS. Charles Quest-Ritson picks his favourites; just don't ask him to say their names out loud.
-
What is everyone talking about this week: Rewilding starts in your own back garden — even in the city
If you were to string all of Britain's gardens together, they would cover a space larger than Devon. That's why we need to rewild them.
-
English country gardens once dotted the French Riviera. Now the last of them is about to slip away forever
Charles Quest-Ritson laments the final closure of the English Edwardian garden at Le Clos.
-
Seeing the centuries old specimens of Carl Linnaeus in a new light
Safely stored in a dark vault in London, the dried specimens of Carl Linnaeus's 18th-century herbarium have been revealed in their true colours.
-
Alan Titchmarsh: Everything you think you know about ivy is probably wrong
The oft-maligned ivy is no parasite, says Alan Titchmarsh: it's a plant that does little harm and much good.
-
The railway station gardens that bring a touch of bucolic bliss to an ordinary train ride
Gently tended by devoted staff, the railway station garden has become a rural idyll in its own right, says Andrew Martin.
-
The Convent Garden of Il Redentore: A Venice masterpiece that's finally opened its gates after 450 years of total privacy
The recent exemplary restoration by Paolo Pejrone of the 16th-century monastic gardens is not to be missed, writes Tim Richardson. Photographs by Nicolò Tacconi/Orto Giardino del Redentore.
