A simple guide to the wildflowers of Britain
Our regular guide to Britain's wildflowers is a real hardy perennial.
Birkhall: The home of The Prince of Wales on the Balmoral estate
The death of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of King Charles III prompted us to look back at Alan Titchmarsh's beautiful article on Birkhall, the house and garden on the Balmoral Estate where the King made his base while still Prince of Wales.
Alan Titchmarsh on his favourite scented flowers of Spring
'If "apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze" then a garden replete with form and colour, but devoid of fragrance, is only half the garden it should be,' Alan wrote in March. Wonderful stuff — even if you'd never heard that apple pie proverb in your life.
The 12 best flowering shrubs to plant for year-round colour in your garden
'Shrubs are back in fashion,' wrote Charles Quest-Ritson as he opened his guide. 'For Country Life readers, of course, they were never out. They have long been the principal element in our gardens, both for their structure and for their intrinsic beauty.'
The Duchess of Cornwall’s gardens at Raymill, by Monty Don
Like the Birkhall article above this is another which now needs a headline tweak — but everything else is perfect. Monty Don looked at the Queen Consort's private garden in the issue which she guest-edited for Country Life in July.
Why you shouldn’t grow onions on your allotment — but if you do, go for these really exceptional ones
Mark Diacono is a big proponent of growing only those things which are difficult to find or expensive to buy — which would normally rule out onions. These are the ones he makes an exception for.
The best garden designers and landscapers in Britain
'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,' we wrote in the introduction to our definitive list of the best of the best.
Your month-by-month checklist of what to do in the garden and when in 2022
Keeping on top of the gardening jobs can be daunting. But the answer is almost too simple: keep a detailed checklist of jobs which need doing in each month of the year. You can't go wrong. (Unless you never get round to doing them, of course.)
Alan Titchmarsh: The old wives’ tales of gardening that are total rubbish — and the ones with a grain of truth
'I would never dream of describing my late mother as an "old wife", not least because, during the period in which I was at the mercy of her proverbs and prejudices, she was in her thirties,' wrote Alan. 'Yet I am unaware of any neater, more concise way of summing up those snippets of gardening wisdom that are encompassed by the term.'
Don’t plant climbers — plant clamberers
Clematis deserves a place in every garden, explains John Hoyland, the gardens adviser at Glyndebourne in East Sussex. Just not the way you think it does.
See Country Life's top 10s of 2022
-
380 acres and 90 bedrooms on the £25m private island being sold by one of Britain's top music producersStormzy, Rihanna and the Rolling Stones are just a part of the story at Osea Island, a dot on the map in the seas off Essex.
-
'A delicious chance to step back in time and bask in the best of Britain': An insider's guide to The SeasonHere's how to navigate this summer's top events in style, from those who know best.
-
'I'd willingly give a year of my life for a fortnight there': The green dream that is the garden of DerreenExotic woods, labyrinths of narrow, mossy paths and thousands of tree ferns make this an internationally important garden, writes Charles Quest-Ritson. Photographs by Jonathan Hession.
-
Six of the best Clematis montanas that every garden needsClematis montana is easy to grow and look after, and is considered by some to be 'the most graceful and floriferous of all'.
-
The man who trekked Bhutan, Mongolia, Japan, Tasmania and New Zealand to bring the world's greatest magnolias back to KentMagnolias don't get any more magnificent than the examples in the garden at White House Farm in Kent, home of Maurice Foster. Many of them were collected as seed in the wild — and they are only one aspect of his enthralling garden.
-
The 'breathtakingly magnificent' English country gardens laid out on the Amalfi Coast, and the story of how they got thereKirsty Fergusson follows the Grand Tour to Campania in Italy, where the English combined their knowledge and love of plants with the rugged landscape to create gardens of extraordinary beauty.
-
Have your say in the Historic Houses Garden of the Year Awards 2025 -
Evenley Wood Garden: 'I didn't know a daffodil from a daisy! But being middle-aged, ignorant and obstinate, I persisted'When Nicola Taylor took on her plantsman father’s flower-filled woodland, she knew more about horses than trees, but, as Tiffany Daneff discovers, that hasn’t stopped her from making a great success of the garden. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
-
An expert guide to growing plants from seedAll you need to grow your own plants from seed is a pot, some compost, water and a sheltered place.
-
The best rhododendron and azalea gardens in BritainIt's the time of year when rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias and many more spring favourites are starting to light up the gardens of the nation. Here are the best places to go to enjoy them at their finest.
