A Year in the English Garden 2024

The English Garden

Bringing the UK's most beautiful gardens to life.

The English Garden1 min read
Welcome
The weather we experience in each season is certainly getting harder to predict. Will summer be one that brings record-breaking temperatures, or will it be a mild, grey washout? Will we have punishing frosts in winter or will we endure months of rain
The English Garden1 min read
The English Garden
For everyone who loves beautiful gardens theenglishgarden.co.uk 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT Tel: 020 7349 3700 Email: theenglishgarden@chelseamagazines.com Editorial EDITOR Clare Foggett DEPUTY EDITOR Vivienne Hambly ART EDITOR
The English Garden2 min read
Summer Spectacular
Anyone lucky enough to have attended the Chelsea Flower Show will have come to expect a display of immaculate tulips from Bloms Bulbs. It’s a highlight of the Floral Pavilion, but these stalwarts of spring aren’t the only bulbs the Blom family offers
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Try propagating fleshy rooted perennials such as verbascum and oriental poppies. Cut 5-10cm lengths of root and push them vertically into pots of gritty compost. Once you’ve taken the tree down, put it to good use. Push its branches through a shredde
The English Garden5 min read
A Breath of FRESH AIR
The most Elizabeth Cairns has spent on a snowdrop bulb is around £40. “Something like that. I do try to be sensible about it.” As any collector will understand though, it is addictive. Elizabeth grows more than 120 varieties in her Kent garden, which
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
Through winter’s darkest days, you can rely on Viburnum tinus to lift the spirits as it produces its heads of white or pink-tinged flowers above glossy evergreen foliage. Yes, it can be seen adorning many a car park, but there’s a reason for its ubiq
The English Garden5 min read
The Future’s BRIGHT
York Gate in Adel, just north of Leeds, is often cited as one of the best of its kind in the pantheon of smaller UK gardens. While rightly feted for its lush plantings set amid an intricate architectural design, it takes on a different perspective in
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
It’s time to prune Group 3 clematis, cutting them back hard to 30cm above the ground. An aide memoire: some clematis growers refer to it as ‘the Valentine’s Day massacre’. Use a heated propagator to sow chilli seed, growing them on frost-free. Sow Ca
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
Snowdrops always steal the limelight at this time of year, with gardens dedicated to them, festivals celebrating them and galanthophiles happily addicted to collecting them. But what about the winter aconite, Eranthis hyemalis? These optimistic butte
The English Garden5 min read
The Joys of SPRING
There is no finer picture than a garden bursting with the harbingers of a new gardening year: spring bulbs. At Stoke Albany House in rural north Northamptonshire, carpets of daffodils create a gilded frame around much of the garden. Arcing around the
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
Flowering currants, Ribes sanguineum, are a March staple. On sunny spring mornings, dripping with their pendent flower clusters, these shrubs are a charming sight. Most common are the vibrant rose-pink selections, such as ‘Pulborough Scarlet’ and ‘Ki
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Pot up dahlias in containers of compost large enough to hold each tuber comfortably. Water and grow on in the greenhouse, then plant out when all risk of frost has passed. Cover the soil surface with a generous layer of organic mulch such as well-rot
The English Garden5 min read
A Visual Feast
Enchanting gardens are long in the making, and Ann Bartleet’s is no exception with mature trees and herculean hedges sequestering different spaces within, watched over by giant topiary snails. “It took five years to shape the snails from yew. I did i
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
While its Latin name might suggest it’s an annual, lunaria, or honesty, is usually grown as a biennial: sown one year to flower the next. Don’t let that put you off though, because the wait is worth it. With simple flowers in purple or pure white, it
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
To make the most of the growing season, sow tomatoes by early April. They can be moved outside once the risk of frost has passed, or you could grow them under glass. Summer-flowering bulbs, such as lilies, gladioli and dahlias, can be planted outside
The English Garden5 min read
Big Sky Thinking
Marysa and Graeme Norris moved from London to Suffolk in 2011. When they began house-hunting, Graeme said he didn’t mind where they lived as long as it was not in the flatlands of Suffolk. “But what delighted us about Suffolk was the wide-open skies
The English Garden1 min read
Things to Do
Protect strawberry fruit from rot and ground-dwelling pests by placing a layer of straw or hay beneath them. If your garden is popular with birds, cover plants with taut netting. Transplant hardy vegetables sown earlier in the year, such as leeks and
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
Even if you didn’t go to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2023, there’s a good chance you’d recognise the garden Sarah Price designed. Inspired by Cedric Morris’s former home, Benton End in Suffolk, and featuring many of the irises Morris bred while he
The English Garden4 min read
Home Is Where The Heart Is
With its borders of roses and cottage-garden flowers complemented by old stone and weathered brick and flint, the Norfolk garden of Rachel and John Hannyngton initially appears to fit neatly into the English country garden tradition. This is both tru
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Early summer’s young growth is the ideal subject for taking cuttings. Try fuchsias, salvias, dianthus and penstemons, rooting the cuttings in pots of free-draining compost. June is the time to prune evergreen hedges such as box – doing it in on Derby
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
Late spring is when borders really start to shimmer: the first catmint flowers open to create a pretty haze of lilac purple that will last for the next few months. A couple of big-hitters are probably the most widely grown and readily available: ‘Six
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Autumn bulbs such as colchicums, autumn crocus, nerines and amaryllis can be planted now in borders or containers. Nearly all of them will appreciate a warm, sunny spot. Make sure vegetable crops are regularly watered in hot, dry spells, ideally in t
The English Garden5 min read
Enchanted ISLE
Historic gardens evolve unhurriedly at the whim of each generation, and this is the case at La Seigneurie on Sark. “The gardens reflect the people who have lived and gardened here, and what you see is an accumulation of their ideas alongside glimpses
The English Garden5 min read
Let the Fireworks COMMENCE
Exotic planting that blazes with tropical colour, swathes of perennials and grasses that merge into hillside views, and bold, broad herbaceous borders. It is no wonder that Abbeywood Gardens has become one of Cheshire’s top garden destinations as wel
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
There’s a plethora of dahlias to choose from these days, all delivering flowers with saturated jewel-box colours from late summer to the first frosts of autumn. Where would we be without them and the satisfying ritual of starting their tubers into gr
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
Don’t feel that just because it’s a herb, oregano should be restricted to the herb garden. It forms a lovely mound of aromatic leaves, and with its pretty pink summer flowers, it’s ornamental in its own right: the perfect mix of beauty and usefulness
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Once lavender’s flowers have faded, you can give it a prune to keep it bushy. Shear back the faded flowerheads just into leafy growth, but never cut into the old, woodier growth. Once summer-fruiting raspberries have finished cropping, prune away tho
The English Garden4 min read
The Test OF TIME
If ever anyone was born to be a gardener, it’s Claire Austin. Her father, David, was the pioneering rose breeder whose English roses are now sold all over the world. “It sounds strange, but when I was growing up I didn’t consider my father a gardener
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
Formerly an aster, but now reclassified by botanists, Symphyotrichum ‘Little Carlow’ may not roll off the tongue quite as easily, but it’s still a must-have plant for this time of year. Clouds of small mauve-blue daisies cover mounds of fine foliage.
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Make more of perennial plants by lifting and dividing large clumps before replanting smaller portions. Try it with geraniums, hostas, daylilies and herbaceous salvias. Daffodil bulbs like being able to get their roots going early, so they are best pl
The English Garden5 min read
After GLOW
September: a sweet month that washes away the wearisome dog days of August with its down-at-heel trees and harsh light. Summer’s last hurrah before the mists and mellow fruitfulness of autumn overtake, sweeping all before it. Until recently, the joys
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
For the perfect small garden tree, look no further than a crab apple – they have it all! A winning combination of beautiful garden attributes and an easy-going nature, these are exceptionally straightforward trees to grow. Probably their biggest virt
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
Ornamental fruit often lasts much longer than autumn’s bright foliage, so if you want to ensure your garden has plenty of interest into the final weeks of autumn, be sure to include some berrying trees and shrubs in your planting. There are plenty of
The English Garden5 min read
The Ultimate COLLECTION
Borde Hill is a rich and complex garden with many different aspects. It sits on the edge of the High Weald in West Sussex, looking north towards the dramatic 1840s Ouse Valley Viaduct and south across rolling parkland towards Haywards Heath, both vis
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Autumn-sown sweet peas will develop into bushy, vigorous plants that are raring to go come spring. Sow them in pots and keep them in a sheltered spot outside over winter. Add cheerful spring bedding to borders and pots for displays next year. Scented
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Collect leaves from the lawn so the grass isn’t smothered and use them to make leafmould. Keep ponds clear of leaves, too, so they don’t decompose and spoil the water quality. This is the month to plant tulips, which are far less likely to suffer fro
The English Garden5 min read
Quiet Season
Returning to live in your childhood home might seem daunting, but Henry Crawley has embraced the situation. His parents moved to Hunworth Hall in Norfolk in 1965 and, after leaving to study medicine, Henry returned to work as a GP here in 1982 with h
The English Garden2 min read
Things to Do
Forage evergreen foliage from conifers and shrubs such as Portuguese laurel, holly or bay to make a wreath for the door. Use pine cones, seedheads and berries as highlights. If you have heating in the greenhouse, make sure it’s working as it should b
The English Garden2 min read
Plant Of The Month
With its clinging habit and sometimes unruly ways, ivy is viewed with suspicion by many gardeners – yet it has so much to recommend it. Its main attribute is its evergreen leaves, which furnish the garden with interesting greenery all year round. Use

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