Expert Gardening Tips

Why everyone needs to plant an arboretum — or at least one or two trees

Trees don’t need to be weeded, pruned, sprayed and fussed about. The only catch is that they take a while to grow — so don't wait any longer.

Growing your own cherries: A simple guide to what you need to know

Mark Diacono shares his advice on how to grow your own cherries — including the varieties that you'll never see in the supermarket.

Alan Titchmarsh: The iconic British garden designer who worked for kings, queens and A-listers across the world

Great garden designers 'have a plant vocabulary that runs into hundreds or even thousands' says Alan — and that's at the heart of Russell Page's genius.

The coming together of music and gardening

'Let's hope it is the first of many' says Mark Griffith of The Garden Museum's latest coup.

The rose variety that's ridiculously easy to grow: 'Stuff some cuttings into the soil and two years later, they'll be flourishing'

Rose expert Charles Quest-Ritson on the delights of the rambling rose.

Alan Titchmarsh: A foolproof guide to growing wisteria

If you've been enviously eyeing the extraordinary wisteria on display across Britain this summer and wondering how you can grow your own, help is at hand. Alan Titchmarsh shares his advice for growing this most glorious of horticultural spectacles.

Sweet cicely: A delightful plant with a scent that's 'a gorgeous coming together of fennel, liquorice and star anise'

Mark Diacono on how — and why — to grow sweet cicely.

The 10 best shrubs for your garden, by the legendary gardener who's dedicated his life to them

The revered gardener Peter Catt — one of a tiny number of people to have won the RHS’s top accolade — has bred and grown some of the finest shrubs in Britian. He told Val Bourne about his ten favourites.

Plants really do 'talk' to each other and work together — and gardeners can use it to their advantage

Huge strides are being made in understanding the lives of plants, and Mark Diacono is listening closely.

Anna Pavord: The point of gardening? Not a mad rush to get it done, but relaxed enjoyment of the act of doing it

The odd quick win is one thing, says garden writer Anna Pavord, but those who take their time in the garden are the ones who gain the most.

How to grow delphiniums

We may not all be able to grow the sort of delphiniums that are on display at the Chelsea Flower Show, but even in ordinary gardens these statuesque plants still turn heads. John Hoyland shares his expert tips.

When will your fruit be ready to pick? A complete A-to-Z 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: The Chelsea Flower Show needs to stop pandering to trends and remember that it's a celebration of gardening

Our columnist Alan Titchmarsh is a supporter — and a vice-president — of the RHS. But he worries that the horticulture is in danger of going missing from the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show.

2023 Chelsea Flower Show preview: What to expect from the world's greatest garden celebration

Country Life's former gardens editor Kathryn Bradley-Hole writes her 2023 Chelsea Flower Show preview — and she anticipates a confident return to form at Chelsea, with mouth-watering designs for productive gardens, aromatic Mediterranean planting and even a reinterpretation of the rock garden.

Mark Gregory, the 'King of Chelsea', on how to create a garden whose plants taste as good as they look

Five-times Chelsea Flower Show gold medallist Mark Gregory recommends plants to grow in your garden that look as good as they taste.

Growing your own? The big mistake you have to avoid

An abundance might sound like success for a gardener, but if you're growing crops at home to supply your own needs, then little and often is a much better aim. Mark Diacono explains.

Anna Pavord: A natural-born-hoarder's guide to getting rid of all those plants that really must go

Clearing out plants is not for the faint-hearted, but Anna Pavord shares her hard-won tips.

To mow or not to mow? That is the question every May

Alan Titchmarsh: The plants that make me smile the most

Alan Titchmarsh admits that the plants that give him most pleasure aren't always the ones he's intended to grow.

A nursery where you'll come away having spent a lot of money — but you'll be very pleased to have done so

Charles Quest-Ritson takes a look at the incomparable hepaticas of John Massey.