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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Five frankly enormous mansions, including one with its own private swimming lake, as seen in Country LifeSometimes bigger really is better.
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Playing the fool: The rich history of tarot and how it satisfies our desire for transcendenceOnce an elaborate art form that entertained 15th-century Italian nobility, tarot cards have evolved into a tool of divination. A new exhibition shines a light on their history.
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How to make a gloomy city garden into a haven of colour and natureTiffany Daneff discovers how to transform a typically dark London back garden into a light-filled green haven that is always in use. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
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‘It can take three days to paint one leaf’: The extraordinary, painstaking lives of Chelsea Physic Garden’s Florilegium Society artistsIt sounds like a secret spy agency, but the Florilegium Society is actually a part of one of London’s oldest botanical gardens and they’re on an ambitious quest to record 5,000 plants.
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Isabel Bannerman: The year’s first and most abundantly cheery, uplifting and undemanding of winter flowersCyclamen coum is one of the plants that lights up our gardens at this time of year.
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Country Life's top 10 gardens articles of 2024From the gardens of A-listers and crazed plant hunters to tips on compost, we covered it all in 2024.
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Alan Titchmarsh's garden: No insecticides, no herbicides, just beautiful flowers, lawns, a statue of Repton and a swing seat that's impossible to resistIt’s always fascinating to see what a high-profile gardening personality does with their own home. Tiffany Daneff visits Alan Titchmarsh’s Hampshire garden, to find a place of endless delights and charm. Photographs by Jonathan Buckley.
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RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024: See all the gold medallistsWe take a look at all the gold medallists from the 2024 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. All photographs by Andrew Sydenham for Country Life.
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Alan Titchmarsh on Chelsea 2024: 'We need controversy to make us think... Just don’t expect me to regard slugs and snails as my friend'Alan Titchmarsh looks ahead to the 'matchless spectacle' of the 2024 Chelsea Flower Show, the 'Paris catwalk of the British gardening scene.'
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Mark Diacono: Chips, mash, roasted or dauphinoise — all better with your own potatoesThe versatile varieties of the potato make it a great crop to experiment with and, no matter what, nothing beats the taste of home grown
