STEPS TO SUCCESS

Enclosed within a rustic barn conversion, this courtyard garden contrasts riotous Mediterranean-inspired gravel planting with clean lines and a reflective pool

ANNIE GUILFOYLE

The garden polymath on the pleasures of passing on knowledge, the rewards of close observation and the circuitous route towards grounding her itchy feet

HEAVEN SCENT

As summer adds a new dimension to his garden, Nigel Slater reflects on the rewards of planting for perfume

Colour therapy

Ann-Maree Winter's joyful Australian garden became a place of solace and nurture in hard times

30 plants with interest all year

These hard-working plants provide several seasons of interest in your garden through flowers, fruit, foliage, bark and even spring shoots

PERFECT HARMONY

Rosarian Michael Marriott and TV producer Rosie Irving have very different ideas on gardening, but they have discovered the secret to sharing a single plot amicably

SUMMERFLOWERING ALLIUMS

Loved for their showy spheres, alliums have long been stalwarts of late spring, but now new introductions are extending the party through summer

Faith in the future

Marian Boswall's contemporary design for the garden of a former chapel respects the property's history while looking to the future

Summertime at Sissinghurst

Ensuring Sissinghurst’s famous roses look fabulous throughout the season is one of the many tasks keeping head gardener Troy Scott Smith and his team busy right now

FRESH APPROACH

Colm Joseph’s design for this new garden, which surrounds a modern house within a heritage setting, uses clever planting to give a historic site a contemporary feel

LAZY DAYS

Alice Vincent has had a hectic 2023, but for next year she's come up with a cunning plan to give herself more time and reduce her carbon footprint

SCULPTING THE LANDSCAPE

Charlotte Rowe's elegant design for a country garden in Hampshire fuses modern and traditional styles and captures the Zeitgeist for naturalism with a contemporary edge

Flavour of the seasons

Smallholder and former chef Julius Roberts suggests three easy, warming recipes for a winter feast with seasonal produce

JOINT ENTERPRISE

In southwest Germany, a couple have combined structural grasses and perennials with good seedheads in their garden to great effect, especially when touched by winter frost

COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

There is a biodiversity loss crisis, but research into the wildlife found in gardens has made it clear just how important these spaces are as habitat. Discover how much you can learn, and gain, by identifying and documenting what you find beyond your back door

MATTHEW BIGGS

Horticulture's nicest practitioner on his journey from sweeping playgrounds to Gardeners' Question Time via offering gardening advice to insomniacs

YOUNG AT HEART

The garden of the late, great landscape architect Jacques Wirtz, which is more than 50 years old, is now being renewed by his children

PITTOSPORUM

These evergreen shrubs come in a multitude of sizes and shapes with shiny, often variegated or colourful leaves and small scented flowers

Festive flourishes

Entertain in style this Christmas with ideas for natural decorations from Swallows & Damsons

LUKE SENIOR

A former Ruth Borun scholar at Great Dixter, Luke is now one of the garden's full time gardeners

Change of view

Designer Katie Guillebaud updated the Cotswolds garden of a garden photographer to make it picture perfect all winter

DIGGING THE DIRT

As Ken Thompson explains, the key to a good soil lies both in its structure and in the life it sustains. But is any of it improved by digging?

December plants

Åsa Gregers-Warg rounds off her year of plants with a winter-flowering clematis, exotic-looking succulent and a burst of sunshine from a lemon-coloured marguerite

12 free gardens to visit this summer

Garden visits don't have to cost the earth - in fact, there are many beautiful places up and down the UK that you can enjoy for free during the summer holidays, with top-notch, inspirational planting schemes

Outer calm

Soothing green planting and paired-back hard landscaping have transformed a tired lawn into a tranquil space for reflection

Bright and beautiful

This small city garden in Utrecht is now buzzing with life thanks to a transformation by designer Carolien Barkman

Urban oasis

Behind a terraced house in Milan, designer Roberto Benatti has transformed a tiny garden into a green, English-style oasis

Forward thinking

When your front garden offers a better aspect than your back garden, it makes sense to make this your primary space

Family matters

Award-winning garden designer Matt Keightley transformed the small, narrow space behind his 1930s London home into a lush, leafy glade that all the family can enjoy

DROUGHT-TOLERANT PLANTS: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

With summers predicted to get hotter, and water becoming a precious resource, everyone is talking about drought-tolerant plants. But are they the answer in the UK and what should we know about planting and caring for them? We ask plant experts and landscape designers for their advice