Gardens
Britain's best gardens, and advice on how to transform your own with seasonal advice from leading gardeners & Country Life experts.
-
Eat up your daylilies: The underappreciated east Asian flower that's a marvel in the kitchenMark Diacono was at first suspicious of cutting the stem of a gorgeous red daylily, until he realised how delicious they are.
By Mark Diacono Published
-
'Knoll offers a masterclass in the adaptability of grass': The Dorset garden that went from tourist attraction to specialist nurseryTilly Ware visits Knoll Gardens in Dorset, which offers a masterclass in grasses and how to make your garden stay beautiful for longer.
By Tilly Ware Published
-
'Each one is like a coral reef in an agricultural desert': One man's mission to rewild the swimming poolAt a fraction of the cost of a traditional pool, David Pagan Butler’s pioneering organic alternative has a global fanbase and he’s on a mission to share his knowledge.
By Flora Watkins Published
-
The grass isn’t always greener on the other side: Five alternatives to lawn, from fleshy sedums to aromatic thymeNo Mow May and similar initiatives want to inspire gardeners to replace their lawns with pollinator-friendly alternatives — but knowing where to start and what to do is an off-putting minefield.
By Rosie Paterson Published
-
What everyone's talking about this week: It's time to follow in the footsteps of King’s College, Cambridge, and kiss the lawnmower goodbyeWeek in, week out, Will Hosie rounds up the hottest topics on everyone's lips, in London and beyond.
By Will Hosie Published
-
The rose that flowers 'from October to summer', and the man who used it to light up a beautiful corner of LondonGeorge Plumptre pays tribute to the late Roger Phillips, whose seminal book on trees has been updated almost 50 years after its initial publication.
By George Plumptre Published
-
'Other people would have given up and turfed half of it over': The couple who turned 'the ugliest house with the nicest view' into a Somerset treasureWith many viewpoints and changes of level, Grove Ley in Somerton, Somerset — home of Dr and Mrs Michael Horder — was not an easy site on which to make a garden. But key to its success, writes Caroline Donald, has been enlarging the pond and creating long beds full of robust perennials and grasses. Photographs by Britt Willoughby Dyer.
By Caroline Donald Last updated
-
Isabel Bannerman: Gardens fade in the heat of high-summer, but it's still possible to plant pockets of joy in shaded spacesThis is traditionally the time of powdery daisies caked in sun, but our writer craves a 'spritz' more likely found among shade-loving plants in damp-holding places.
By Isabel Bannerman Published
-
'I blitzed it. Nothing survived. If you have one bit of surviving bindweed, you will have it forever’: A peek in to the ruthless world of the gravel gardenSince they appeared in the 1990s, gravel gardens have grown in popularity, especially in recent years. What are the keys for success? Non Morris asks some of Britain's top experts in the field, from the brutal work needed to get started through to the plants that only work 'if you get rid of soil entirely'.
By Non Morris Published
-
Why a love of gardening will get us all in the endWhen it comes to gardening, resistance is futile — especially if you're British — so it's best to give into it and get on with it.
By James Alexander-Sinclair Published
-
A lush, 'tropical' garden in Devon where bananas and ginger grow happily alongside the staples of an English country gardenSteep inclines and rocky outcrops are nothing to the owners of this coastal garden, which is filled with plants-many from the southern hemisphere-that thrive in such conditions, finds Caroline Donald.
By Caroline Donald Published
-
Five British gardens have a starring role on the New York Times's list of 25 must-see gardens — here are the ones they forgotMultiple British gardens have topped a New York Times list.
By Lotte Brundle Published
-
Don't judge a plant by its smell: Why 'the little stinkers of the natural world' are just doing their jobReminiscent of love and with an unmistakable odour of death, the little stinkers of the natural world might incite repulsion, but they are only doing their job, pleads Ian Morton
By Ian Morton Published
-
The garden created by a forgotten genius of the 1920s, rescued from 'a sorry state of neglect to a level of quality it has not known for over 50 years'George Dillistone’s original Arts-and-Crafts design at Knowle House, East Sussex, has been lovingly restored and updated with contemporary planting. George Plumptre tells more; photography by Clive Nichols.
By George Plumptre Published
-
‘This isn't just silver — it's a story of a man who fell in love with a woman who society deemed unworthy': The large silver sculpture of rutting stags that scandalised Victorian societyGeorge Harry Grey, the 7th Earl of Stamford, was shunned when he married a circus performer. This sculpture was his way of showing the world that he was a fighter — and it's now been acquired by the National Trust.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
-
Alan Titchmarsh: My garden is as pretty as I've ever known it, thanks to an idea I've rediscovered after 50 yearsThinking about an article he wrote almost half a century ago prompted Alan Titchmarsh to get sowing — and he's now reaping summer loveliness.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
-
The Hollywood garden designers who turned their hand to a magical corner of SomersetCaisson House's fifteen abandoned locks were part of the draw for Amanda and Phil Honey, who have created this astonishing garden in the grounds of the former headquarters of the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company just outside Bath. Caroline Donald discovers more; photography by Jason Ingram.
By Caroline Donald Published
-
Sarah Raven: The flowers I have that are flourishing superbly, despite the battering heatGardener and writer Sarah Raven on the flowers that won't wilt in the heat.
By Sarah Raven Last updated
-
The 'Rose Labyrinth' of Coughton Court, where 200 varieties come together in this world-renowned garden in WarwickshireVal Bourne finds the award-winning roses flourishing at Coughton Court in Warwickshire, where the historic garden is now in the hands of the latest in many generations of the same family. Photography by Clive Nichols.
By Val Bourne Published
-
'None of this would be here had the tithe barn not burned down that night’: How the terrifying destruction of a medieval landmark sparked the creation of the magnificent gardens of Bledlow ManorAfter inheriting the Bledlow Manor in 2018, Lord Carrington has been devoted to the thoughtful renewal and replanting of this historic Buckinghamshire garden. Tiffany Daneff reports, with photography by Clive Nichols.
By Tiffany Daneff Published
-
'The whole house shook. Everything was white. For four months, it felt as if we were on Mars': The story behind one of Hampshire's most breathtaking gardensWhen Kim Wilkie sculpted a tiered grass amphitheatre behind this 17th-century house, the garden finally settled into place, as Non Morris discovers.
By Non Morris Published


