Below, you'll find our top 10 gardening advice columns of the year — and if you notice that there are quite a few by Alan Titchmarsh, don't be surprised. The gardener, broadcaster, writer and national treasure was recently named Garden Columnist of the Year, not least for his contributions to Country Life.
Your month-by-month checklist of what to do in the garden and when in 2020
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The list came from Becky Crowley, formerly in charge of the cutting garden at Chatsworth.
The unwritten rules of choosing planters for your garden
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Our columnist Alan Titchmarsh raged against the tyrrany of the blue ceramic pot. '20 or 30 years ago, I did find blue ceramic planters rather attractive,' he wrote. 'Now, they are about as fashionable (and acceptable) as pastel-shaded paving in a mixture of dusky pinks and greens and yellows. They look, well, naff.'
Why gardeners should keep buying plants online — and seven of the most trustworthy nurseries
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As lockdown took hold, our gardens editor Tiffany Daneff spoke out in praise of the garden centres that kept the nation supplied.
Why I had to cut down my decades-old hedge
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...and how it worked out better than Alan Titchmarsh could ever have hoped.
Everything you need to know about Foxgloves
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Charles Quest-Ritson celebrated one of the most striking flowers of this time of summer, the hardy, prolific, beautiful and wonderfully useful foxglove.
The plants which will make you ignore the crazy rules of tastefulness and embrace a riot of colour
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Too many gardeners are afraid of colour,' wrote Alan Titchmarsh in June. 'Indeed, I confess to feeling guilty on occasion at my profligate use of it in the garden. We are conditioned, in this sophisticated world of ours, to revere tastefulness, and tastefulness most frequently involves restraint.'
How to grow peas: What to plant, when to plant it, and how quickly you’ll be dishing it up
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Mark Diacono shared his tips on peas – as well as anecdotes about Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Thomas Jefferson and more.
The best garden designers in Britain
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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. Our revised and updated list feastured the finest of them all.
Growing your own Christmas tree: What to plant and where to plant it
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Alan Titchmarsh's tips on how to buy a tree that lasts for years, not just a few weeks.
The ‘underground treasures’ which are like a gardener’s game of chicken
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Growing plants specifically to harvest their roots takes faith, patience and nerve, explained Mark Diacono, but it's well worth the effort: the pay-off is spectacular.
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Alan Titchmarsh: How to master the fine art of pottering
As time opens up for all of us to spend more time in the garden, Alan Titchmarsh offers his tips
Alan Titchmarsh: The weeds I welcome with open arms
Our columnist Alan Titchmarsh used to spend hours ridding his garden of anything he hadn't planted himself. These days he
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Alan Titchmarsh: The best time of year to plant tulips
Alan Titchmars on planting tulips - and avoiding the grind of removing and storing bulbs every year.
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17 outstanding homes for sale across Britain, from under £250k to £6.5 million, as seen in Country LifeSomething for every budget in this week's round up of homes across the country that have come to market via Country Life.
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'We started thinking: if we were going to design a bike for Aston Martin, what would it look like? And then we simply couldn’t stop': Aston's new bike has everything you could ever dream of — except a price tagThe new Aston Martin .1R bicycle, a collaboration with manufacturer J.Laverack, leaves Paul Henderson stirred rather than shaken.
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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 gardensWhen 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 LondonE. 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 allCharles 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 BritainAmelia 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 gardensRecent 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 meAlan 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.
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One of the most spectacular rose gardens in England has come in to bloom two weeks earlyIt's time to head to Mottisfont — come for the roses, stay for the fascinating exhibition shedding new light on the history of this beautiful Hampshire house.
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The first new botanical gardens to be created in the UK in almost 200 years is celebrating its 25th birthdayThe National Botanic Garden of Wales helped put Carmarthenshire on the map and its Great Glasshouse, designed by modernist architect Sir Norman Foster, was once the largest single-span glasshouse in the world.
