Alan Titchmarsh: The boy who left school early with one O-level 60 years ago... and found the perfect career
Our columnist Alan Titchmarsh reflects on 60 years of gardening.
Gardens
We can’t get enough of our gardens at Country Life magazine. We love to visit gorgeous English country gardens at any time of year – and more and more are opening for longer, as you can see from our piece on beautiful gardens to visit all year around.
At the same time, different gardens are best at certain times of year. For instance we know the best places to see snowdrops, where to see bluebells, and the best gardens for afternoon tea in the summertime.
We have guides to our flowering trees, and our ultimate guide to British wildflowers, as well as tips on overcoming box blight and other garden pests.
Read on, and find out whether we are running any of our exclusive garden tours, which take readers to see some of the most impressive private gardens in Provence and Tuscany twice a year.
-
-
The inaugural topiary awards are open now
Britain's best topiary artists, both professional and amateur, are being sought out in a new topiary award.
-
The Legacy: Miriam Rothschild, the pioneer of organic and wildflower gardening
The celebrated entomologist and Bletchley Park codebreaker was also way ahead of the times when it came to gardening.
-
Chicory and endive: The bittersweet plants as versatile as they are punchy
-
What I grow in my garden, by Country Life's gardens editor Tiffany Daneff
-
The house plant I've kept alive for 50 years
Charles Quest-Ritson on the amazing longevity of his Purpurea.
-
The Country Life Top 100 architects, interior designers, craftsmen, builders and garden designers in Britain
It's now six years since the original Country Life Top 100 was published, but the aim hasn't changed: we name the very best architects, interior designers, craftsmen, builders and garden designers in Britain.
-
The best garden designers and landscape architects 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've completely revised and updated our list of the finest of them all.
-
Podcast: Britain's best architects, interior designers, craftspeople and garden designers
Giles Kime joins James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast to explain how he and the team come up with the definitive list of country house specialists in Britain.
-
When it comes to designing and making a garden, it's always worth seeking advice
What might be difficult for you will come naturally to those with years of horticultural experience — Don't be afraid to ask for help.
-
The world's most beautiful opera house foyer? A tour of the glorious gardens of Glyndebourne
As Glyndebourne celebrates its 90th anniversary, the gardens at the opera house are still hitting all the high notes.
-
Alan Titchmarsh: Wordsworth was dead wrong about lonely clouds — but he was on to something with daffodils
Alan Titchmarsh loves daffodils — don't we all? — and shares some of his favourite varieties.
-
Betting your hedges: How taking a risk with your garden hedge could be the most rewarding job you ever do
As old as husbandry hedges may be, but that doesn’t mean they cannot be beautiful, too. Charles Quest-Ritson considers the many options.
-
Going wild for daffodils: 'Nothing beats daffodils as a symbol of spring... they tell us that winter is gone and will not come again'
The season of daffodils is upon us.
-
About thyme: the herb that goes with any dish
With more than 200 different varieties, there's a thyme to suit any gardener's preference
-
Spring has officially sprung, according to some plants in Cornwall
Six magnolia trees in Cornwall have flowered, signalling the end of winter, according to a tradition that's been running for the past 12 years.
-
The romance of the rose, and how it became the flower of love
Generations have sought that unattainable mystical creature, the perfect rose: shapely, dark red and sweetly scented. What is it about this flower that holds us so in thrall, and why are roses associated with love? Charles Quest-Ritson finds out.
-
Jason Goodwin: 'In the garden I see myself as a god, quite Old Testament, full of wrath and vengeance'
'Bonfires spring up in my wake,' says Jason Goodwin. 'Brambles part before me like the Red Sea.'
-
After a long winter, it's time to get out and start preparing for spring
Gardens Editor Tiffany Danneff shares her top suggestions for new plants and seeds this growing season.
-
The snowdrops of Thenford: 900 varieties that are the pride and joy of Lord and Lady Heseltine
The gardens at Thenford House, home of Lord and Lady Heseltine James Alexander-Sinclair joins snowdrop lovers wandering through more than 900 varieties of Galanthus, perhaps the largest collection in the country. Photographs by Clive Nichols.
