Mixed blessings

In a quiet corner of Essex, designer Stefano Marinaz has replaced a lawn and parking space with a naturalistic garden of mixed planting that offers interest all year

Wild dreams

The mix of varied growing conditions in this ebulliently planted garden in East Sussex helped to forge an ecological vision and approach to gardening that benefits wildlife

PAOLO PEJRONE

The legendary Italian designer, who thinks of himself primarily as a gardener, on the importance of keeping gardens bold and simple, and working with nature in adapting to climate change

Pale and interesting

A sense of tranquillity is the guiding principle in this beautifully realised white garden, with an elegant, pared-back planting palette

GEUM

Offering flowers from late spring into summer, this varied genus of hardy perennials is deservedly growing in popularity

True grit

Swedish plantsman Peter Korn is a pioneer of growing in sand, and his glorious new garden near Malmö is testament to its success

CECILY WITHALL

Kew's first female climbing arborist since the 1980s, Cecily is part of a team that maintains the botanical garden's impressive collection of 12,000 trees

ADDED INTEREST?

Columnist Ken Thompson urges caution over so-called miracle garden products; they're not always all they're cracked up to be

June plants

In early summer, head gardener Åsa Gregers-Warg is spoilt for choice with a fabulous mix of richly coloured and delicate flowers, fabulous foliage and silky tactile grasses

A WIDER VISION

Landscape designer Chris Beardshaw has created a fresh garden and landscape on ahilly and neglected site in the Cotswolds

GROWING FOR GOLD

From first-timers to multiple medal winners, we talk to five of the nurseries exhibiting in Chelsea's Great Pavilion this year to find out more about the plans and preparations they are making to ensure a winning display

SHOW GARDEN PROFILES

We talk to the designers behind a selection of this year's show gardens about what has influenced and inspired their choices

In at the deep end

A new nursery that specialises in water plants is facing one of its biggest and most exciting challenges this year exhibiting at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for the first time

Granular detail

In work that explores texture and variation, wood artist Darren Appiagyei showcases the natural beauty of his raw materials warts and all

Fleeting beauties

Cherry blossom is a cultural icon in Japan, and a school teacher there has made it his lifelong mission to ensure the longevity of the Japanese cherry tree by raising a series of remarkable hybrids

MANOJ MALDE

The garden designer, show judge, RHS ambassador and television presenter on changing careers, making a splash with colour, and promoting inclusivity and diversity within the gardening community

Stone gold

With deceptively simple design and a masterful use of rock, Peter Berg has crafted a polished family garden froma steeply sloping site

The new bedding

Talk of bedding can conjure images of gaudily coloured, over-fertilised blooms, but many annuals, biennials and even tender houseplants can help fill gaps and offer a sensational summer garden peak. Here, three experts recommend their favourites

Rich tapestry

In west London, Butter Wakefield has created a timeless and immersive garden that's inviting to people and pollinators alike

DISPORUM

These delicate woodlanders with fairy-bell flowers make the perfect companions to hostas and ferns, and are relatively easy-going provided you offer them a moist and shady spot

True to form

The sympathetic renovation of a historic garden in Cornwall takes inspiration from one of its most famous sons, the naturalist John Davies Enys

TRUE COLOURS

Do gardens need a carefully considered colour scheme, or are they better when a mix of spontaneous, clashing colours come to the fore? Alice Vincent is undecided

Sow where they grow

Sowing seeds where they are to grow is an easy, bother-free way to bring colour to your garden. Here, three experts recommend their favourite flowers for growing direct

Flow of ideas

A creative meeting of minds has produced a dramatic spring garden of contrasts, with water at its heart

Natural selection

At Twelve Nunns Nursery in Lincolnshire, it has taken 20 years for three new erythroniums to be offered for sale

Grass roots

Bio-designer Zena Holloway goes back to basics with her organic sculptures, fashioned from wheatgrass grown at home

Colour magic

In his garden in the Irish village of Kiltegan artist TJ Maher paints with plants, which in mid to late spring means tulips galore

GEMMA JEROME

The director of Building with Nature on the need to put nature at the heart of development, and why we may have to rethink our desire for our own private gardens

Room for a view

Stefano Marinaz has created year-round interest in this small urban garden, providing spaces to share with friends and with wildlife

RANUNCULUS

Ranunculus asiaticus has long been a popular florist's flower, but a number of new garden cultivars can now offer home growers spring colour for the garden and vase