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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Wild Garlic: How to forage it, and how to grow your ownIf you are new to foraging, wild garlic is the ideal place to start says Mark Diacono.
By Mark Diacono Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: I won't hear a bad word about privet hedges, but they're not a patch on my one-off 'country hedge'Privet hedges have had a bad name for years — not least thanks to Harry Potter — but have plenty to recommend them, says Alan Titchmarsh.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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In search of a mutant snowdropCharles Quest-Ritson tells the tale of a snowdrop that proved a painfully elusive wintry delight.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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The forest garden in Devon 'with an air of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory'Mark Diacono on Martin Crawford, the man who has inspired him for decades.
By Mark Diacono Published
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Your month-by-month checklist of what to do in the garden and when in 2022Keeping on top of the gardening jobs can be daunting, and it's all too easy to let things slide in one area or another for a month or two.
By Toby Keel Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: My favourite books for winter garden dreamingAs the gardening takes a back seat and the sofa and the fire beckon, Alan recommends some of his favourite books to while away the long winter nights.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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The man who was 'by far the most significant breeder of rhododendrons of the 20th century'Charles Quest-Ritson pays tribute to the great Hans Hachmann, the most important plantsman you've probably never heard of.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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The transcendent joy of a really wonderful compost heap — and how the odd bucket of urine will help it come along nicelyGlamorous? Surprisingly, yes, since a Hollywood superstar agrees heartily with Mark Diacono about compost.
By Mark Diacono Published
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The magnificently beautiful house and garden of the writer who helped make Country Life what it is todayTimothy Mowl looks at Mounton, a house created by Henry Avray Tipping, who served as architectural editor of Country Life over a century ago.
By Country Life Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: 'It came as a disappointment to Dad when I wanted to be a gardener, but he hid it well'Alan Titchmarsh's father wasn't much of a gardener — but further back in his family tree were many green-fingered forbears, and he still uses many of their tools despite them being over a century old.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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City garden tips: 10 ways to bring a touch of English country garden to your outside space in the metropolisThis typically-dark city back garden in Kensington has been transformed with a tapestry of foliage. Tiffany Daneff takes a look at how it was done, and discovers the ten rules that we can draw from this beautiful creation in the heart of W8.
By Tiffany Daneff Published
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Charles Quest-Ritson: I hate almost all alliums — their colour is hideous, their smell is disgusting — but there's one I've fallen hopelessly in love withCharles Quest-Ritson loves almost all flowers. And the emphasis this week is very much on 'almost'.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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Tend to your raspberries now — you'll thank yourself next summerPick the right varieties and next year you could be enjoying fresh raspberries for months instead of weeks, explains Mark Diacono.
By Mark Diacono Published
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Clematis: Don't plant climbers — plant clamberersJohn Hoyland, the gardens adviser at Glyndebourne in East Sussex, on clematis.
By John Hoyland Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: Everyone loves tulips — but make sure you plant the good onesIt's the time of year to plant tulips if you want an explosion of colour next Spring. Alan Titchmarsh picks out some of his favourite tulip varieties which go well beyond the usual suspects.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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How to grow your own pears (spoiler alert: it's not easy)Mark Diacono shares his advice on one of the trickier fruit trees to get right: the pear tree.
By Mark Diacono Published
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'The king and queen of rewilding's new head gardener : 'It could be quite challenging — everybody loves a lawn'The new head gardener at Knepp in West Sussex talks to Flora Watkins about a different direction for the rewilding pioneers — and why gardeners need to unclench. Photograph by Philip Sowels.
By Flora Watkins Published
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How to grow tulbaghia in a British country gardenJohn Hoyland, the gardens adviser at Glyndebourne, shares his advice on how to get South African favourite tulbaghia growing in Britain.
By John Hoyland Published
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How to grow Oriental greens in an English country gardenExpert gardener Mark Diacono shares his advice on how to grow some of the delicious greens which have come to these shores from around the globe.
By Mark Diacono Published
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Charles Quest-Ritson: All gardening is habitat destruction, but gardens have a purpose — and rewilding is an absurd fantasyThe 19th century's hugely successful cultivation of plants on the once-barren Ascension Island has lessons for us today, says Charles Quest-Ritson.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published
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Why every garden needs an iris (and why there's an iris for every garden)Charles Quest-Ritson on the irises to plant, the ones you'll never manage to grow in Britain, and the ones to avoid unless you're happy for them to take over half of your garden.
By Charles Quest-Ritson Published


