Finest gardens in Britain

The 'irreplaceable' trees destroyed in their thousands by Storm Arwen

Best Christmas light trails to see in 2021

We know December is nearly upon us, as the season’s light festivals begin up and down the country — here's our pick of some of the best.

Gordon Castle named Historic Houses Garden of the Year 2021

The gardens at East Ruston: 'It's not simply good, it is a dose of pure joy'

Every area of this lush and exuberant garden of East Ruston Old Vicarage, near Norwich in Norfolk, is planted to give three seasons from each plot and, says Tilly Ware, a day’s visit will only scratch the surface. Photographs by Richard Bloom.

In Focus: How an amateur gardener created Sissinghurst, one of the most influential gardens ever made

'No garden had greater influence in the second half of the 20th century' according to John Sales, the National Trust's former head gardener. Jack Watkins tells the tale of Vita Sackville-West's momumental achievements in creating the gardens at Sissinghurst.

Troy Scott Smith: Iford Manor has been a labour of love — but Sissinghurst calls

Evolution, not revolution was the goal at Harold Peto’s Italianate garden at Iford Manor, says Troy Scott Smith, who feels both a sense of loss and joy as he moves to Sissinghurst.

Batcombe House: The 'essential Somerset garden' with a gloriously wild display of flowers, a relaxed atmospheric landscape and an unexploded WW2 shell in one of the borders

When Libby Russell moved to Batcombe House, Somerset, it was the countryside with which she fell in love. Over the past 17 years, she has taken cues from that landscape to create a garden that is entirely at home in its setting. Natasha Goodfellow reports. with photographs by Eva Nemeth.

Chettle House Gardens: A special place, a fascinating history, and gardens that become softer and more romantic with every passing year

Hidden by gentle neglect and revealed by research, the remarkably intact 18th-century garden of Chettle House, Dorset, has been brilliantly reinterpreted by landscape designer Pip Morrison. Christopher Stocks paid a visit; photographs by Clive Nichols.

Chelsea Flower Show 2021: The garden trends, the celebrities, the weird and the wonderful from the world's best garden show

Exquisite plants and flowers are just as plentiful as you'd imagine at the Chelsea Flower Show, but there are hundreds of other things to that will defy expectations. Here's what you'll find if you head down there this week — and what you might have seen if you can't make it along.

Chelsea Flower Show 2021: See every single medallist from the first ever Autumn show

The 2021 RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the first ever to be held in Autumn — here are all the medal winners from the show.

Hopetoun House: Wall-to-wall brilliance in an extraordinary 12-acre former kitchen garden, and an inspiration to keen amateurs everywhere

Inside the early-18th-century walls of Hopetoun House, West Lothian, bold planting schemes and original designs are providing an exciting new use for this 12-acre former kitchen garden, discovers Noel Kingsbury.

The gardens at Elton Hall: A 40-year transformation, an 'absolute hell of weeding and mulching ', and more than worth the effort

Tilly Ware visits the historic gardens of Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire, where much of the distant past remains a mystery, but which, after four decades of care and attention, have been brilliantly transformed. Photographs by Richard Bloom.

Colebrook House: The serene English country garden with a touch of Tuscany

From the new Italianate walled garden, paths and bridges lead on through the endlessly exciting garden of Colebrook House, Blockley, Gloucestershire. Tiffany Daneff paid a visit; photographs by Jason Ingram.

The Gardens of Brodsworth Hall: Intensely personal, endlessly original, deeply quirky — and enormous fun

In the hands of English Heritage, the care and restoration of the striking mid-19th-century garden of Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire, is producing truly impressive results, writes Tiffany Daneff. Photographs by Clive Nichols.

The gardens at The Old Rectory, East Woodhay: The creation of an owner with a designer's eye and a true feeling for plants

Applying many of the same parameters she uses as an interior designer helped Victoria Wormsley in the renovation of the striking walled garden of The Old Rectory, East Woodhay, Hampshire, finds Tiffany Daneff. Photographs by Mark Bolton.

The Gardens at York Gate: Courageous, innovative, and slathered in truly exquisite plants

It takes years, sometimes decades, to make a great garden and only months for entropy to set in. At York Gate, Leeds, however, the future is assured, says James Alexander-Sinclair.

New tickets available for opening of Queen's private gardens at Buckingham Palace

The gardens at Holcombe Court, where the team was told to 'plant whatever you like, as long as it's not pink'

Restoration of the historic gardens at Holcombe Court, Devon, has been a slow and thoughtful process that harnessed the individual qualities of the entire garden team to great effect. Tiffany Daneff paid a visit; photographs by Paul Highnam for Country Life.

The Gardens at The Manor, Priors Marston: A house bought on a same-day impulse that became a 20-year labour of love

The inspiration for the garden of The Manor, Priors Marston, Warwickshire, was to create a landscape to meander through, with talking points along the way. Tiffany Daneff took a closer look; photographs by Clive Nichols.

Urchfont Manor, Wiltshire: From local council facility to 'inspired contemporary creation'

The restoration of Urchfont Manor and its gardens has resulted in an exceptional creation that unites the formal with the informal in a modern garden that nods to the past. Even better, it's now joined the National Garden Scheme; George Plumptre, chief executive of the NGS, takes a closer look, with photographs by Claire Takacs.