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Alan Titchmarsh: 15 years ago we planted a hedge — today, it's 10ft tall, 6ft deep and a joy throughout the year. Here's how we did it15 years ago, Alan Titchmarsh planted a hedge; today, it's 10ft tall, 6ft deep, he and his wife absolutely love it, 'and so do all the creatures with whom we share our garden.'
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Country Life 15 October 2025Country Life 15 October 2025 plants hedges with Alan Titchmarsh, pulls up a chair in the London Library and basks in autumn's beautiful colours.
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The arboretum that's been 30 years in the making by a dedicated, passionate family who are dreaming of what it could be in 3,000 years' timeKeen collectors sooner or later find their way to the outstanding trees and shrubs at Bluebell Arboretum in Derbyshire, writes Charles Quest-Ritson. It’s a wonderful sight at this time of year.
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The one website about trees and shrubs that everyone needs to know about'Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles' has been digitised, making one of gardening's most important works free and at your fingertips.
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'Nature's loo roll': Verbascum, one of the most curious — and useful — plants you'll find in an English country gardenWith its ability to rouge cheeks, settle stomachs and operate as Nature’s loo roll, verbascum is as surprisingly useful as it is pretty, discovers Ian Morton.
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'There is only a handful of fruit trees I’d grow for their non-edible charms — quince is one'A versatile fruit that's superb in jams and with booze, quince also doesn't make you work too hard for all that pleasure.
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Everything you could ever want to know about growing, eating and cooking plumsMirabelles, gages, plums, damsons — the best ones to buy, the ones to avoid, and how to use them. Charles Quest-Ritson has you covered.
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'Knowledge, energy, creativity and enthusiasm... He's a sensation': Meet the golden boy of English horticultureCharles Quest-Ritson meets the best of the next generation of gardeners tending to some of the nation's best gardens.
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'We want everyone to have a magical time': Life at the smartest flower farm in the CotswoldsMary Keen visits the organically run Chippy Flower Farm in Oxfordshire, set up five years ago and already a great success locally — especially its pick-your-own area. Photographs by Jonathan Buckley.
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Sophie Conran's garden at Salthrop Manor, and its journey from bare field to Cotswold paradiseThe walled garden at Salthrop Manor — home of Sophie Conran — hums with life and colour. It’s hard to believe that this was merely a field not so long ago, as Tiffany Daneff explains; photography by Ngoc Minh Ngo for Country Life.
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Alan Titchmarsh: You wouldn't think it, but Surrey is the most wooded of all England's counties — and its Scots pines are as beautiful as any of its treesAlan Titchmarsh is selling his house
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What Britain's top garden designers are planting now to create dazzling spring meadows around their homesNon Morris reveals the techniques behind the contemporary take on William Robinson’s original idea of naturalising bulbs in long grass, creating an effect even more dazzling than a meadow.
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'The best bulbs are those that give maximum pleasure for minimum effort — and these are the ones which will keep delivering for years'Now is the time to decide what bulbs to plant to make the most of next spring. Charles Quest-Ritson offers his advice.
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This restoration of a Cliveden garden honours the original vision of Norah Lindsay’s 1930s designA biodiverse climate-friendly planting scheme replaces the annual bedding displays at this National Trust garden in Buckinghamshire.
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'Why do I allow the fuchsias in my garden to live on? Because, despite their visual shortcomings, I am a fool for edible pleasure' -
The best flower borders in Britain, and how they work their magicWe may have invented the flower border, but planting them remains one of the trickiest things to get right. Charles Quest-Ritson looks at the secrets behind the very best.
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The enchanting world of Christian Dior’s gardensChristian Dior’s love of gardens and gardening is celebrated in a new book and exhibition at his family home.
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Alan Titchmarsh: 'I am so weary of seeing Lutyens-style benches and chairs absolutely everywhere'A strategically placed chair doubles as a focal point and a spot to rest — but we need to move on from Lutyens-style ones says our regular garden columnist.
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Blurring the lines between ornament and recreation: Nine of Britain’s best Arts-and-Crafts swimming pondsBefore the vogue for bright blue, chlorine-treated swimming pools, members of Victorian and Edwardian society built naturalistic bathing ponds inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement.
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Ballynure House: The magical estate that transformed its bramble-covered historic garden into a pollinator paradiseWhere brambles once engulfed the historic gardens at Ballynure House in Co Wicklow, Ireland — home of Clare Reid Scott — colourful flower borders now hum with pollinators. Photographs by Jonathan Hession.
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Defanging the Gardens Trust will hurt our most precious landscapesThe Government has proposed to remove the Garden Trust's position as a statutory consultee in planning permissions for up to 1,700 historic landscapes and gardens in order to speed up building.
