Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

It may be winter, but that shouldn’t stop us from getting outside and taking in everything the season has to offer, especially in the garden. Bundle up and brave the chill, and you can enjoy garden scenes like the Old Rectory (page 36) and St Timothee (page 62) in their frosty winter finery, with plumes of ornamental grasses, colourful stems and white-washed trunks. You can also take inspiration from our feature on small conifers (page 52), which are having a revival of sorts, with many garden designers now using these mini shrubs in their schemes for evergreen structure. This issue, we also asked a selection of top gardeners and designers about their great escape (page 68) - the place they go to when they need to recharge and get a…

DIG IN SHOPPING SCAN HERE Watch the behind-the-scenes video of our photo shoot and find lots of other great gift ideas at gardensillustrated.com/christmasgifts…

• Conifers are remarkably easy plants to please. They should be kept watered through the first couple of summers if conditions are dry, but once established, rarely need additional irrigation. • Most pines prefer full sun, and well-drained soil. Those that turn a golden colour in cold weather will give the most vibrant display in full sun. The exceptions to this rule are those with variegated needles, such as Pinus parviflora ‘Fukai’, which may suffer some sunburn on heavily banded needles. For these, a position away from the blazing midday sun would be beneficial. • Pines are easy to prune by trimming or removing new growths, sometimes known as ‘candles', in spring. These new shoots, which appear in the terminal growing points, often have a clear central leader that can…

“I need my daily trip to the valley to soak up the essence of the place and immerse myself in nature” Rivelin Valley, Sheffield Becky Crowley - gardener, artist Every day I take my dog Laika to the Rivelin Valley on the outskirts of Sheffield. It’s just ten minutes’ drive from my house but it is a world away from life in the city. I work from home and there comes a point in every day - usually around half four - when we both just need a break. I’ve lived in Sheffield for 20 years but only recently discovered the valley, and it is completely gorgeous. As soon as I get there I’m filled with gratitude to be surrounded by so much life. It’s an unspoilt English woodland with…

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Matthew Pottage Matthew reassesses small conifers, page 52. “Not all conifers are dull green monsters. Leylandii and 1970s rock gardens have a lot to answer for. I hope I can open your eyes to some unsung heroes.” Andrew Montgomery Andrew photographs dishes cooked outside, page 72. “Being able to use the countryside as a background for the recipes was a wonderful creative opportunity.” Georgina Reid Georgina visits a free-flowing private garden in Australia, page 78. “I love that this garden was mostly designed on site, not in the office, allowing for fluidity and responsiveness” CONTRIBUTING EDITORS James Basson James lives in the South of France where he runs Scape Design, a practice specialising in low-maintenance and dry gardens. He is a fervent advocate for creating sustainable landscapes. The winner of…

ERICA CARNEA ‘DECEMBER RED’ Heathers are a genus of plants that deserve to be used more often. There are a lot of different spring heathers, and with careful selection you can cultivate a patch that will flower from November to April. These flowers are so special through the darkest months and their hardiness is admirable, blooming their hearts out through snow and ice. They work well in a wild garden situation with naturalised bulbs, self-seeders and low grasses such as Stipa tenuissima. This rather lovely cultivar opens pink and darkens to red, persisting to early spring. Height and spread 50cm × 10cm. Origin Garden (species the Alps). Conditions Neutral to acidic, freedraining soil; sun or part shade. Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 5a-7b†. Season of interest December - April. COLLETIA HYSTRIX…

Dress pots If container displays are lacking in colour (violas often suffer after a frost), dress containers with cut sprigs of shrubs with interesting foliage, berries, hips and colourful stems. Organise seeds Go through existing seed, along with anything that has been collected this year, making a list of what you have and want to use next year, along with what new things you may want to order and grow. Force bulbs Continue to force prepared bulbs, potting hyacinths and daffodil cultivars every week or so, and growing them indoors to stagger their flowering past Christmas and into January. Check stored produce Go through any stored produce and check for rodent damage or rot, removing the affected fruits and vegetables to prevent the rest of the produce from being contaminated.…

Planning midwinter in midsummer sounds like complete insanity, but as soon as the longest day dawns, our thoughts turn to the shortest, and we begin cutting our flowers, grasses and herbs for drying. Breadth and variety is what we want, so things that others would compost we might end up using. We cut when fine weather is forecast, bunch up the stems in groups of 20 and hang them upside-down in the potting shed to air dry, and we keep cutting right the way through to early winter. An ingredients list for one of our wreaths or table centrepieces is as likely to include more traditional tilings such as opium poppy seedheads, ornamental grasses and rubycoloured strawflowers, as it is dried bracken, shepherd’s purse and gone-to-seed land cress, which we…

The sign outside reads ‘Beth Chatto Gardens’. There is a life-size photograph of the great plantswoman in the visitor reception building. But Beth Chatto died in 2018. So who is the living creative force in the garden today? The answer comes in the form of Åsa (pronounced ‘Orsa’) Gregers-Warg, the 53-year-old head gardener at Beth Chatto Gardens, who arrived at this obscure corner of Essex from Sweden 21 years ago as an intern - and stayed on. “I first came over one very, very cold January in 2001,” she recalls. “I had seen an article about Beth in a Swedish garden magazine. The whole ethos and philosophy attracted me: her wide knowledge of plants, her artistic eye and her passion for working with nature. So I stayed in London and…

Recently someone told me a story about their childhood, and eating outside. On Sundays, the whole family would set about making a campfire in the garden. When the fire was nice and hot, they’d wrap up potatoes in foil and tuck them into the flames. Then, they would all head off for a big country walk, the kids done up in coats and scarves, dogs charging about the place, dad out in front with a good stick. When they got back, a few hours later, the potatoes would be perfectly cooked. All the children would rush up to the fire and lift their spuds out of the ash and embers. Mum would grate cheese and they’d fork in plenty of butter. Everyone loved sitting there, eating hot potatoes around the…

RHS HOW TO GARDEN WHEN YOU RENT by Matthew Pottage, Dorling Kindersley Ltd, £14.99, ISBN 978-0241459744 One of the biggest barriers to growing in rented properties is the feeling that you are only there temporarily and a garden is, surely, a more permanent investment in time, money and emotion. Author Matthew Pottage, who has rented the same flat in London for more than seven years (which is shown throughout the book) convincingly buries this assumption with useful guidance and step-by-step projects for instant results. Reviewer Jack Wallington is a garden designer and author. WILD: THE NATURALISTIC GARDEN by Noel Kingsbury, photographs by Claire Takacs, Phaidon, £39.95, ISBN 978-1838661052 This book showcases gardens across the globe that, when viewed together, form an inspirational picture of ‘wild’, ecologically informed gardening. What’s special…

Be sure to check opening times. Some garden visits may need to be pre-booked. There are a number of wonderful gardens I could recommend you visit in December, but before you put on your boots to brave the cold and mud, I’m going to suggest instead you pour a glass of something nice, sit by a fire and plan some garden trips for next year. Much as gardeners love to work in their own gardens, it’s always good to get out and see other gardens, even though they’re probably at their best when we are at our busiest. Over the past year I’ve been lucky enough to be truly inspired by some wonderful Irish gardens that stood out not just for the quality of the planting but also the warmth…

First plant love When I was in my twenties, I spent two years working in New Zealand, near the Fiordland National Park. This was a turning point for me, falling in love with plants, and my first love remains the Dicksonia antarctica ferns that inhabit its lush rainforests. The sheer age, size and number of these giants inspired me to find my way into horticulture. Favourite landscape that has influenced you Temperate rainforests and wetlands are my main inspiration, especially when nature begins to overtake human-made structures. Angkor Wat in Cambodia remains a favourite landscape. Worthwhile tips for every gardener If you’re developing an area, try not to leave exposed bare soil. And if you have any, don’t get cross with pioneer plants, such as docks, when they crop up.…

PLANT PROFILE What A range of small and slow-growing conifers offering a range of foliage textures, colours and interesting bark. Origins Conifers are widespread across temperate and tropical climates, in both northern and southern hemispheres. Season Conifers come into their own in winter when the all-important structure and ‘bones’ of a garden come into play. Cultivars that change colour in colder weather also show their merit. Size The heights provided are an average after ten years. Over that period these conifers vary from around 30cm to 1.5m, dependingon conditions. Conditions Most conifers are fuller in habit and exhibit better foliage colour in good light levels. Cryptomeria and Podocarpus will tolerate shade. Hardiness All the conifers featured are reliably hardy across UK gardens. The exception is perhaps Podocarpus, which is only…