Niamh Collins

Claire Margetts is a senior gardener and the National Trust’s first-ever Sissinghurst Scholar, part of an 18-month programme designed to cultivate future head gardeners under Troy Scott Smith. “Vita wrote that ‘climbers are among the most useful plants in any garden’, says Claire. “I couldn’t agree more and could happily extol the virtues of any of the hundreds of clematis and climbing rose forms that adorn the medieval walls, farm buildings, homespun chestnut structures and which grow in the orchard here.” This month, Claire picks ten best climbers that will grow in shade or partial shade, are happy in most soils and are generally hardy.  

Early shoots are now beginning to emerge – a welcome treat after the garden’s winter slumber. Crocus peep their heads above ground in shades of purple, white and deepest gold, while the subtle blooms of hellebores are a discreet pleasure. Once snowdrops have gone over, it’s time to divide them while they’re ‘in the green’. And don’t forget to cut back ornamental grasses like calamagrostisand sow sweet peas.

Best places to see snowdrops 

Away from the Show Gardens on Main Avenue, the Sanctuary Gardens offer plenty of inspiration and often on a more achievable scale. A garden that honours 200 years of the National Gallery, a family space that can bounce back from heavy rainfall, and a sensory haven that supports the emotional wellbeing for children undergoing cancer treatment, feature in 2024’s line up.

The All About Plants category debuted in the Great Pavilion at RHS Chelsea 2022. This year, six gardens supported by Project Giving Back and designed in collaboration with a UK charity, will be on display. A grief garden, a skate park with a focus on edible planting, and a vibrant design that champions good gut health are just a snapshot of the gardens putting plants at the forefront of the design and keeping hard landscape at a minimum.

The Main Avenue of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the heart of the iconic event. An extraordinary opportunity for talented newcomers and experienced designers alike to showcase innovation, creativity and the transformative power of a garden space in the heart of the city and watched by an audience of millions. Tom Massey is back after his 2023 Chelsea Flower Show success, this year partnering with Je Ahn, and familiar faces Ann-Marie Powell, Matthew Childs, Tom Stewart-Smith and Robert Myers are designing show gardens supported by Project Giving Back. 

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2024 makes its anticipated return to the spring season this year, taking place between 21 – 25 May 2024. Discover our coverage of the gardens and other attractions this year.

From the traditional bunch of classic red roses, to a theatrical spectacle of fern fronds and striking blooms, a bouquet of flowers can be a timeless or show stopping gesture of friendship, celebration, or romance. Yet, not all bouquets are created equal. Sustainability credentials, community impact, artistic craft and founder vision may be paramount considerations when choosing where to source your flowers, but we’ve taken the thorn out of the task by rounding up a list of pioneering florists around the country who are creatively inventive, sustainability-minded and will deliver a bouquet worthy of any special occasion. 

Susie’s abundant ten-acre garden at Coton Manor in Northamptonshire is filled with vibrant and distinctive bulbs each spring, from the first glimmer of aconites to late-flowering tulips.

Mat Reese is head gardener at Malverleys in North Hampshire, where, with its owners, he has designed and developed a modern English flower garden over the past decade.

‘Marvels of Monmouthshire’ takes in the lovely scenery of this part of the world and a selection of special gardens, chosen by Sisley Garden Tours to be in their full summer glory. Many of the gardens have been featured in The English Garden magazine.

As 2024 gets underway, we’ve taken inspiration from Janus, the god of beginnings, transitions and time, who looks both forwards and back. Our gardens have all featured in our pages in the past, but we revisit them here and take a closer look at how they’ve developed over time, and how they’re changing now their owners have new challenges to contend with.

This is a month for planning ahead. What seeds do you need to order? Do tools need cleaning? And does the greenhouse need a good tidy? By the end of January it’s time to start pruning wisteria to ensure a showstopping display of delicate blooms. It’s also time to plant bareroot roses, take hardwood cuttings, plan this year’s crop rotation and force rhubarb. Start the year off as you mean to go on.

The Society of Garden Designers has announced ten finalists across three award categories, in its annual SGD Student Awards, including the recently introduced urban sustainability award.  The shortlist was chosen by a judging panel that includes SGD Fellows Sarah Morgan FSGD and David Stevens FSGD and Tom Massey MSGD, who was a recipient of two of the first SGD Student Awards in 2015.

The festive season is here. Perhaps it heralds crisp snow, or just the promise of frost.

‘Marvels of Monmouthshire’ takes in the lovely scenery of this part of the world and a selection of special gardens, chosen by Sisley Garden Tours to be in their full summer glory. Many of the gardens have been featured in The English Garden magazine.

An elegant wool coat for chilly winter walks, a show-stopping candelabra for the New Year tablescape, a brand new trowel or a cosy pair of cotton pyjamas: Christmas is the perfect opportunity to treat the gardener in your life to the tools, accessories and treats they’ll cherish for years to come. 

Torc sculpt everything by hand from their studio in the British Isles creating beautiful pots and planters. Their one-off designs are beautifully crafted and made by hand to last a lifetime. They make unique distinctive statements for both home and commercial settings. New Torc offerings are their waterbowls and firetables which can be made to any design required.

For gardeners, glancing to the months ahead is part of the course. We’re always keeping one eye on what seeds will soon need to go into the ground, anticipating the vegetables that will soon be sprouting, or preparing for our next round of pruning. With 2024 fast approaching, a calendar that not only keeps you organised and motivated throughout the year, but is as informative as it is beautiful is a worthwhile purchase. We’re rounded up some of our colourful and eye-catching favourites below.

Christmas markets across the UK

Order yours from £110 from lechameau.com

Growth may be slowing, but this month still offers plenty of opportunities to maximise the possibilities of winter and get ahead for spring. November is a month for protection, ensuring that rain and frost don’t wreck havoc.

Budock Vean has teamed up with The English Garden to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a stay in their award-winning four star hotel, worth up to £1000.

Budock Vean has teamed up with The English Garden to offer one lucky reader the chance to win a stay in their award-winning four star hotel, worth up to £1000.

Growth may be slowing, but this month still offers plenty of opportunities to maximise the possibilities of winter and get ahead for spring. November is a month for protection, ensuring that rain and frost don’t wreck havoc.

Daylesford Organic share this thoroughly warming recipe made with nature’s true superfoods, packed with the benefits of lean venison and seasonal ingredients.

Inspired by places and people they love, Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison, founders of Tart London and Wild by Tart have partnered with Daylesford Organic to share their recipe for Pumpkin pappardelle.

Extracted from The Farm Table by Julius Roberts (Ebury Press, £27). Photography by Elena Heatherwick. Read our interview with Julius here.

Daylesford Organic share a cosy autumnal recipe for whole baked squash. Try baking a variety for added colours and textures and serve as they have done here on a big platter, drizzled with the flavourful butter.

Project Giving Back has announced that it will be continuing its support of gardens for good causes at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2025 and 2026. Speaking at the opening of the 2023 Gardens For Good Causes Exhibition at the Garden Museum in London, Project Giving Back’s CEO, Hattie Ghaui, said: “I am thrilled to confirm we will be supporting even more gardens for good causes at RHS Chelsea Flower Show until 2026. As we move into our third year of funding, it feels like PGB is still in its adolescent years and we wanted to give it time to mature into adulthood. We know from having to turn down some incredibly strong funding applications over the past couple of years that there are so many wonderful stories waiting to be told. We’re all excited to see how the creativity of charities, designers and wider garden teams continues to unfold and look forward to welcoming more partnerships into the PGB family.”

If you’ve gazed at your summer garden thinking about gaps in your planting, are developing an area or taking on a completely new garden, it can be difficult to know quite what to include, and where it might go. Designer Humaira Ikram is regularly commissioned to devise planting schemes for major show gardens and also runs the Garden Design Diploma at the KLC School of Design. Follow her primer on how to plant like a pro and you will soon be on your way to successful schemes.  

Extracted from The Farm Table by Julius Roberts (Ebury Press, £27). Photography by Elena Heatherwick. Read our interview with Julius here.

With winter rapidly approaching, it’s time to give lawns some final TLC, helping them to recover from the challenging summer months of warm weather and heavy footfall, and to prepare for the colder months to come.

To celebrate the launch of the new Cobra Fortis cylinder mowers, we’re giving you the chance to win the Cobra Fortis 14L cylinder mower worth £1,099.00.

Extracted from The Farm Table by Julius Roberts (Ebury Press, £27). Photography by Elena Heatherwick. Read our interview with Julius here.

It’s a well-worn stereotype, but the tale of the ambitious twenty-something tends to be one set to the backdrop of a thrumming city. Where the buzz of cocktail bars, late-night restaurants, and thunderous commuter traffic on the Central line attracts energetic young things hungry to seize the opportunities a busy metropolis offers. Moving out of the city was long an indicator that fleeting youth had vanished: when the tube gave you a headache, when a bar crammed to it’s seams became irritating, when the peace of being away from the so-called ‘action’ was more alluring than the excitement of being in it. How refreshing then to meet with Julius Roberts, who, eight years ago at the tender age of 23 made a decision many of his peers may have considered ‘before his time’, to flee a bustling capital city life as a chef to start a new one as a self-taught, first-generation farmer in rural Suffolk, and by doing so, has inspired a generation to look at life, success, food and opportunity quite differently.