A simple guide to the wildflowers of Britain
Our regular guide to Britain's wildflowers is a real hardy perennial.
Birkhall: The home of The Prince of Wales on the Balmoral estate
The death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III prompted us to look back at Alan Titchmarsh's beautiful article on Birkhall, the house and garden on the Balmoral Estate where the King made his base while still Prince of Wales.
Alan Titchmarsh on his favourite scented flowers of Spring
'If "apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze" then a garden replete with form and colour, but devoid of fragrance, is only half the garden it should be,' Alan wrote in March. Wonderful stuff — even if you'd never heard that apple pie proverb in your life.
The 12 best flowering shrubs to plant for year-round colour in your garden
'Shrubs are back in fashion,' wrote Charles Quest-Ritson as he opened his guide. 'For Country Life readers, of course, they were never out. They have long been the principal element in our gardens, both for their structure and for their intrinsic beauty.'
The Duchess of Cornwall’s gardens at Raymill, by Monty Don
Like the Birkhall article above this is another which now needs a headline tweak — but everything else is perfect. Monty Don looked at the Queen Consort's private garden in the issue which she guest-edited for Country Life in July.
Why you shouldn’t grow onions on your allotment — but if you do, go for these really exceptional ones
Mark Diacono is a big proponent of growing only those things which are difficult to find or expensive to buy — which would normally rule out onions. These are the ones he makes an exception for.
The best garden designers and landscapers in Britain
'A beautiful country house is as much about its surroundings as its bricks and mortar, something that the best garden designers in Britain all understand,' we wrote in the introduction to our definitive list of the best of the best.
Your month-by-month checklist of what to do in the garden and when in 2022
Keeping on top of the gardening jobs can be daunting. But the answer is almost too simple: keep a detailed checklist of jobs which need doing in each month of the year. You can't go wrong. (Unless you never get round to doing them, of course.)
Alan Titchmarsh: The old wives’ tales of gardening that are total rubbish — and the ones with a grain of truth
'I would never dream of describing my late mother as an "old wife", not least because, during the period in which I was at the mercy of her proverbs and prejudices, she was in her thirties,' wrote Alan. 'Yet I am unaware of any neater, more concise way of summing up those snippets of gardening wisdom that are encompassed by the term.'
Don’t plant climbers — plant clamberers
Clematis deserves a place in every garden, explains John Hoyland, the gardens adviser at Glyndebourne in East Sussex. Just not the way you think it does.
See Country Life's top 10s of 2022
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Pat Giddens LtdPat Giddens is one of the UK’s most eminent curtain makers with an unrivalled client list around the UK and beyond.
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A graceful, elegant beach house that brings the Italian Riviera to the coast of West SussexPeace, seclusion and grandeur just a few steps from the sea are on offer at this beach house near
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'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'.
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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.
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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.
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25 design books that will transform your ideas, as recommended by Britain's leading interior and garden designersGiles Kime spoke to some of the best designers and gardeners to get their recommendations on the books that constantly prove a source of inspiration in their work.
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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.
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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
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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.
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‘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.
