Country Life’s best gardening tips of 2018: Wisteria, Christmas trees and getting rid of box moth caterpillars
Our panel of experts includes writer and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh and Charles Quest-Ritson, author of the RHS Encyclopedia of Roses as well as many others. Here are their most popular gardening tips of the year.

How to get rid of box moth caterpillars
The box moth, Cydalima perspectalis, and its caterpillars quickly destroy box plants. Here's how to combat these pests.
When will your fruit be ready to pick? A complete guide to fruit in the gardens of Britain
From apples to strawberries, here's when the fruits in your garden will be ready to pick.
Alan Titchmarsh: A foolproof guide to growing wisteria
Results aren't guaranteed, exactly, but Alan Titchmarsh's guide makes them very, very likely.
Growing your own Christmas tree: Alan Titchmarsh on what to plant and where to plant it
Why buy your Christmas tree when you can grow your own and enjoy these handsome, statuesque trees all year round?
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
The delicious salad leaves to try in your garden that keep on giving with ‘cut and grow’
Pulling up entire salad plants seems like madness once you've moved on to 'cut and grow again' as Mark Diacono explained.
Curious Questions: Why do leaves change colour in Autumn? And why do some go yellow while others are red, purple or brown?
Nature has few rites of passage more impressive than autumn colour. Mark Griffiths explains how it happens.
Alan Titchmarsh: ‘Why on earth haven’t I done this before? There’s an extra spring in my garden’s step’
A visit to Sissinghurst showed Alan Titchmarsh some tricks he's been missing for years – here's what he learned.
Japanese knotweed: How a delicate bloom beloved of the Victorians became a modern British scourge
Mark Griffiths explained how Japanese knotweed took hold in Britain thanks to Victorian gardeners with the best intentions – and tackled the question of how to get rid of it.
Six common garden problems, solved by our experts
At the start of the year we asked our experts for advice on common conundrums - here's what they came up with.
Ultimate guide to growing roses: What to plant, where to plant it, and why you really don’t need to prune
Roses are among the easiest of plants to grow and perhaps the most rewarding – and all the more so when you have the brilliant Charles Quest-Ritson as your guide.
Tapeley Park: A Devonshire garden filled with dramatic flourishes at every turn
Non Morris discovers that experimentation, environmentalism and numerous dramatic flourishes invigorate this unusual Devonshire garden at every turn.
Warnell Hall, Cumbria: Where sympathy and experimentation go hand in hand
Non Morris is intrigued by the close attention to detail that has produced a new Cumbrian garden of great style
Credit: Val Corbett/©Country Life Picture Library
Plas Cadnant, Isle of Anglesey: The place where the heart rules
Non Morris is enchanted to learn about the twice-over extraordinary restoration of an Anglesey garden by its owner, who ‘fell
Rofford Manor: A derelict house and garden transformed into a harmonious haven
George Plumptre is won over by a sympathetic and highly individual design that gradually reveals its string of secrets.
Little Mynthurst Farm: A rare mid-20th-century garden designed by Russell Page
George Plumptre enjoys the grounds of a Tudor farmhouse that was the former home of Lord Baden-Powell. Photographs by Clive
Credit: Getty - Sheffield Park - a Capability Brown landscape
The last word on Capability Brown – but one which comes with a health warning
This book on Lancelot 'Capability' Brown by the greatest living expert on his work is like nothing else – but it
Credit: LOOK Die Bildagentur der Fotografen GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
Nymans Garden: The West Sussex gem that's been at the cutting edge for over 120 years
Nymans Garden in West Sussex is one of Britain's great horticultural wonders, and with its relatively-new head gardener – only
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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You can’t always rely on the Great British summer — but you can rely on its watches
British watchmakers have excelled themselves in recent months — releasing bright and beautiful timepieces that you'll want on your wrist through summer, and beyond.
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Simon Jenkins: 50 years of saving Britain's buildings, from triumphs and disasters to the great country house we bought for £1
In 1975, a new organisation was set up with the express aim of saving Britain's most beautiful and historic buildings from the wrecking ball. How has SAVE fared in the 50 years since then far? Simon Jenkins — who was involved as a trustee right from the very start — looks back on half a century of successes... and one or two painful failures.
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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 society
George 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.
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Alan Titchmarsh: My garden is as pretty as I've ever known it, thanks to an idea I've rediscovered after 50 years
Thinking about an article he wrote almost half a century ago prompted Alan Titchmarsh to get sowing — and he's now reaping summer loveliness.
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The Hollywood garden designers who turned their hand to a magical corner of Somerset
Caisson House's fifteen abandoned locks were part of the draw for Amanda and Phil Honey, who have created this astonishing garden in the grounds of the former headquarters of the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company just outside Bath. Caroline Donald discovers more; photography by Jason Ingram.
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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.