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.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
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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Embrace off-grid living on this Scottish island for sale, but you'll have to share it with the local seal population
A dot on the map of the west coast of Scotland has come up for sale.
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Are you a 'frag head'? Country Life Quiz of the Day, June 30, 2025
Well, ARE you? And how well do you know Leonardo DiCaprio's 2002 work? It's time to find out.
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The 'Rose Labyrinth' of Coughton Court, where 200 varieties come together in this world-renowned garden in Warwickshire
Val 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.
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'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 Manor
After 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.
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'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 gardens
When Kim Wilkie sculpted a tiered grass amphitheatre behind this 17th-century house, the garden finally settled into place, as Non Morris discovers.
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Myddleton House: The place that 'will help you learn what true gardening is' is open to everyone, and just 30 minutes from central London
E. A. Bowles created a horticultural playground in the gardens of Myddleton House that was years ahead of its time, and continues to influence even today. Isabel Bannerman takes a look.
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Wakehurst: 500 years of history, 2.4 billion seeds, 500 acres of planting, and scientists who might just save us all
Charles Quest-Ritson takes a look at the amazing work that's been done to update Wakehurst, Kew's trailblazing outpost in Sussex.
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A dozen slices of al fresco inspiration from the best designers in Britain
Amelia Thorpe shares her pick of the most beautiful outdoor furniture and accessories to help you make the most of summer.
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'Victorian magnificence skilfully simplified and distilled': A peek at the restoration of Somerleyton Hall gardens
Recent works have retained the former theatrical splendours of these gardens near Lowestoft, Suffolk, finds Tilly Ware.
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Alan Titchmarsh: I've tried every slug control known to man, and these are the only things that have ever worked for me
Alan Titchmarsh is as charming, warming and friendly a man as anyone you'll ever meet. Unless, of course, you're a slug... in which case you'll awaken his ruthless side.