Country Life's top 10 gardens articles of 2024
From the gardens of A-listers and crazed plant hunters to tips on compost, we covered it all in 2024.

‘Within a month, one was eaten by a tiger, one was burned alive, five disappeared and the sole survivor emerged with 7,000 specimens’
Charles Quest-Ritson admitted in April that he never fell for orchids the way he has for roses — but the devotion they inspire is legendary.
‘My God! What’s he done?… look at it!’: How George Harrison left The Beatles, turned his hand to gardening, and created a masterpiece
The garden at Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames — the Oxfordshire home of the late Beatle George Harrison and his wife Olivia — came under the microscope in September.
The garden fruit that’s a blend of strawberry, blueberry and kiwi — and it grows beautifully in Britain
The Chilean Guava was Queen Victoria's favourite fruit — so why don't we grow more of them, asked Mark Diacono in October.
Alan Titchmarsh: I’ve been looking for the answer to peat-free compost — and now I think I’ve found it
Alan Titchmarsh delved into the history of compost, and found something that can replace the brilliant but environmentally unsustainable peat-based formulae.
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How to grow lovage — and the reasons why you’d want to bother
As well as its culinary uses, lovage was once taken to treat everything from fever to jaundice, used in bath water and placed in shoes to clean and deodorise.
The best garden designers and landscape architects in Britain
Our completely revised and updated list of the finest garden designers and landscape architects, all of whom understand that the surroundings of a beautiful country house are as important as its buildings.
Romancing the stone: How one man has taken the craft of dry-stone walling and turned it into an art
Tom Trouton's works at The Newt and elsewhere set him apart as a master of one of our oldest heritage crafts, as Annie Gatti detailed.
Why the RHS decided to rip it up and start again at Wisley
RHS Wisley’s daring reinvention of one of its most famous plantings.
How to grow broad beans: How to plant them, how to look after them, and the best varieties for your garden
Right at the end of last year, Mark Diacono named the best broad beans for flavour, reliability, tenderness and the beauty of the plant itself.
‘Prepare to be amazed’ by a cathedral of autumn in the heart of Herefordshire
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire, an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs garnered over two centuries.
Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.
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How to make a bay and vanilla crème brûlée custard tart
Elevate your everyday vanilla crème brûlée by infusing it with delicate bay.
By Melanie Johnson Published
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A new National Gallery exhibition shines a light on Siena’s brief, but dazzling golden age
In the space of 100 years, Siena's artists redefined painting as an art form and laid the foundations for Renaissance.
By Mary Miers Published
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John Morley: A brush with the artist who changed the world of snowdrops
Tilly Ware meets the artist and galanthophile John Morley in his Suffolk garden, home to the oldest snowdrop nursery in the country.
By Tilly Ware Published
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Alan Titchmarsh: I went a bit mad ordering bulbs — and I'm not even a little bit sorry I did
Our columnist's splurge in the autumn is now paying off with spectacular irises across his garden.
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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Dawn Chorus: How to travel around the world in 19 flowers and the Mini Moke that took St Moritz by storm
What do Charles Dickens, Henry VIII and Ellen Willmott all have in common? They all appear in a new book chronicling 19 flowers and the people responsible for bringing them to the UK. Find out how to get your hands on it, plus, we reveal why a rare Beach Boys-inspired Mini Moke turned up in a Swiss ski resort and a few of India Knight’s favourite things.
By Rosie Paterson Published
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How to make a gloomy city garden into a haven of colour and nature
Tiffany Daneff discovers how to transform a typically dark London back garden into a light-filled green haven that is always in use. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
By Tiffany Daneff Published
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‘It can take three days to paint one leaf’: The extraordinary, painstaking lives of Chelsea Physic Garden’s Florilegium Society artists
It sounds like a secret spy agency, but the Florilegium Society is actually a part of one of London’s oldest botanical gardens and they’re on an ambitious quest to record 5,000 plants.
By Catriona Gray Published
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Isabel Bannerman: The year’s first and most abundantly cheery, uplifting and undemanding of winter flowers
Cyclamen coum is one of the plants that lights up our gardens at this time of year.
By Isabel Bannerman Published
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Alan Titchmarsh's garden: No insecticides, no herbicides, just beautiful flowers, lawns, a statue of Repton and a swing seat that's impossible to resist
It’s always fascinating to see what a high-profile gardening personality does with their own home. Tiffany Daneff visits Alan Titchmarsh’s Hampshire garden, to find a place of endless delights and charm. Photographs by Jonathan Buckley.
By Tiffany Daneff Published
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RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024: See all the gold medallists
We take a look at all the gold medallists from the 2024 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. All photographs by Andrew Sydenham for Country Life.
By Toby Keel Published