Widely regarded as the Vogue of the gardening press, Gardens Illustrated aims to inspire you with an eclectic and international editorial mix of remarkable places, plants and people. With superb photography, authoritative journalism and exceptional design, this award-winning magazine is a style bible for garden designers, garden lovers and enthusiasts alike.
Welcome
Contributors
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Gardens Illustrated Magazine
DIG IN • What’s new, what’s growing and what’s going on this month
3 FOR THE GARDEN… DAY BEDS
DIARY: SUMMER
KITTED OUT • For growing, harvesting and displaying cut flowers
THE CONSTANT GARDENER • Summer is the time for easy living, with the promise of relaxed evenings spent soaking up the season’s sights and scents. But its unpredictable weather means adaptability is key
GARDEN JOBS for summer
HARRY HOBLYN • The head gardener at Charleston, the historic Bloomsbury Group residence, on blending art and ideas in a garden, and composting as a critical practice
Sweeping promise • Vast lawns, roses and a mix of cottage-garden favourites give this stylish garden in central Italy a distinctly English flavour
IN BRIEF
USING PLANTS FOR ATMOSPHERE
HOMEWARD BOUND • An award-winning show garden from designer Ula Maria has been given a second life in her father’s small plot
Creating privacy in the garden
PLANT PROFILE
Repeat-flowering plants • With a little effort, many perennials will reward you with a second flush of flowers and a longer flowering season. Writer and broadcaster Matthew Biggs recommends some proven repeat flowerers to offer months of colour
Techniques to encourage repeat f lowering
JOHN LITTLE • The grass roof and brownfield gardening expert has always gardened with wild abandon and believes a more liberal approach will help build back the nature we so desperately need
IN BRIEF
OPEN TO NATURE • For an eco-friendly home on the edge of the New Forest, designer Helen Elks-Smith has created an equally spectacular garden that brings nature to the door
CHILD’S PLAY • For the roof garden of Clorofilla Kindergarten in central Milan, designer Cristina Mazzucchelli has used a range of wonderfully tactile plants to engage the curiosity of young minds
Creating privacy screens with raised beds
Faith in foliage • Soft planting contained within a formal structure of neatly clipped box, bay and yew, has given the garden of this renovated church a new lease of life – and created a perfect sense of harmony between building and plot
8 key plants from Jenny and John’s garden
Using trees
Go with the flow • In their Oxfordshire garden, Chris and Toby Marchant, consummate planting experts to many a show-winning garden, have used a relaxed mix of plants in a naturalistic style
8 KEY PLANTS
PERFECTLY FORMED • York Gate in Leeds may be relatively small, but this historic, late 20th-century family garden is one of horticulture’s brightest gems
Reclaimed materials
FRESH EXPERIENCE
News
Garden getaways • Combine a perfect summer break with some garden-design inspiration at one of our selection of the best places to stay with a designer garden attached
Places to stay with a sense of design heritage
Outdoor dining sets • Make the most of warm summer days with a stylish table and chairs set
Summer reads • With the lazy days of summer comes the inviting prospect of lying back to while away a few hours in the company of a good book. We asked a selection of leading garden writers, gardeners and horticulturists to recommend the gardening books they most often take down from the shelf when looking for...