Growing together: Why the community garden is more than just plants and green space
The NGS has begun investing in community garden schemes. The results are more than anyone could have expected and showcase the best of Britain.
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Elegy to a country churchyard: The gardens at Stockcross House
A garden with a church as its focal point is both movingly effective and mellow, with nods to a horticultural hero and a ruby wedding anniversary.
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'An inspirational renaissance': The house and gardens of Sandridge Park
A historic house has been saved from ruin by sympathetic owners, who have mixed modern planting with tradition to create a garden of note in the West Country.
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The Hampshire house and garden where D-Day was planned is now a haven with sun-drenched views across calm azure sea to the Isle of Wight
Once the haunt of smugglers and sailors, the Hampshire seashore now shelters a garden where pre- and interwar plantings sit happily with impressive new areas. George Plumptre visits the garden of Lepe House.
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The former smugglers' inn that became one of the finest gardens on the south coast
Once the haunt of smugglers and sailors, Lepe House now shelters a garden where pre- and interwar plantings sit happily with impressive new areas.
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Inside the garden of Eton: A rare glimpse into the grounds of the world's most famous school
The gardens of Eton College in Windsor, Berkshire, date back to a request from its founder, King Henry VI. Over 550 years later, a recent re-design by a former pupil has brought new life to these historic gardens, as George Plumptre explains.
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Chilcombe House: the garden that's become a 'pilgrimage' and a 'living legacy' to its former owners
When John and Caryl Hubbard first moved to Chilcombe House, they created a garden that impressed and inspired. Now, after their passing, their legacy lives on through a garden that basks in comfortable maturity.
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The garden of Midsummer House: An Oxfordshire gem that's small but perfectly formed
With a stream running through it and views of the Uffington White Horse, the garden of Midsummer House in Oxfordshire — the home of Mrs Penny Spink — is a garden of great natural beauty cleverly designed and planted to make it seem much larger than it actually is. George Plumptre paid a visit; photographs by Mimi Connolly.
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Horatio's Garden: The life-changing gardens that 'give you hope and take away the darkness'
George Plumptre visits the extraordinary Horatio’s Garden in Salisbury, an 'inspirational place' that shows the power of gardening.
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Low Crag, Cumbria: A garden in perfect harmony within one of Britain's most beautiful places
The garden of Low Crag, Cumbria — home of Mr and Mrs Chris Dodd — demonstrates a thoughtful approach to gardening that has brought about a great increase in the population of birds and animal life in this two-acre plot. George Plumptre explains more; pictures by Val Corbett for Country Life.
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The gardens at Ready Token, Gloucestershire: The new, gentler blueprint for rewilding that's yielding spectacular results
Retaining the Arts-and-Crafts elements of a 1920s garden, the owners have added a sympathetic new terrace, as well as returning the surrounding fields to meadow, finds George Plumptre. Photos by Mimi Connolly.
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How Country Life helped change the face of modern gardening
George Plumptre examines how Country Life championed the marriage of formal design with natural planting, changing the garden forever.
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Urchfont Manor, Wiltshire: From local council facility to 'inspired contemporary creation'
The restoration of Urchfont Manor and its gardens has resulted in an exceptional creation that unites the formal with the informal in a modern garden that nods to the past. Even better, it's now joined the National Garden Scheme; George Plumptre, chief executive of the NGS, takes a closer look, with photographs by Claire Takacs.
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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.
