Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

As we welcome the transition from winter into spring, and the excitement of a new growing season, it’s the perfect time to embrace fresh ideas, inspiration and experiences. With this in mind, this month we present an edition packed with all things new. We start our new series from Sissinghurst in Kent with head gardener Troy Scott Smith, following the garden highlights and tasks that he and his team are busy with now and throughout the year, with plenty of insights and expert tips (page 30). And you can delve into the first instalment of Plantsperson’s Favourites from Andrea Brunsendorf, head gardener at Lowther Castle & Gardens in Cumbria, as she shares her top ten plant picks for March (page 18). This issue, we are also delighted to welcome renowned…

5 Lambeth Green Join Dan Pearson and architect Mary Duggan to learn more about London’s newest public garden. Tuesday 5 March, 7-8pm. £15. Garden Museum, 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB. Tel 020 7401 8865. gardenmuseum.org.uk 10 Mother's Day Bouquet Masterclass Create your own Mother’s Day bouquet using seasonal scents and colours and British flowers. All materials are provided. Sunday 10 March, 9-11am. £95. The Petersham (Covent Garden), 2 Floral Court, London WC2E 9FB. petershamnurseries.com 28 Easter Wreath Workshop Spend the morning creating a beautiful wreath for Easter. All materials are provided. Thursday 28 March, 10am-12pm. £60. Pod & Pip, Ebble House, Stratford Tony, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 4AT. Tel 07766 775869. podandpip.co.uk…

Growing plants in paving Vita dreamed of having a stone-paved courtyard, the cracks colonised by ‘lakes of Aubretia, bumps of thrift, mattresses of yellow stone-crop, hassocks of pinks and rivulets of violets’ . Where we can, we try to replicate this philosophy by sowing things, quite recklessly, in even the narrowest of cracks. We try those plants that would naturally self-seed, such as aquilegias and fleabane, which I recently sowed at the garden entrance, but also sometimes bulbous plants, such as miniature Iris pumila or the small narcissi. I say recklessly, as a lot will not strike or be trampled, but those that survive, their roots seeking out the cool reaches of the soil beneath, will live long and be protected from the extremes of heat and wet by the…

What did you do before gardening? I initially studied ecology, then worked various jobs including being a dog-sledding and whale-watching guide. I then taught song writing to disengaged young people for a charity where I was asked to help design and build a garden. This was a lightbulb moment: realising the creativity of gardening could be combined with helping wildlife and people. Horticultural heroes I admire those who question everything and challenge old convention. In the past, William Robinson, Christopher Lloyd and Beth Chatto. More recently, Peter Korn, John Little, Keith Wiley and Josh Sparkes. Pam Lewis at Sticky Wicket and her approach to wildlife gardening is a huge inspiration to me. And I wouldn’t be where I am without friend and designer Tracy McQue. Favourite landscape that has influenced…

Gardeners today sometimes think saving the planet means sacrificing pleasure for duty. Even with our swing towards naturalistic gardening, it seems that ecologists and gardeners are often opposed in their approach, with each side picking art or ethics. French botanist-gardener Véronique Mure insists you can have both, and enjoy every minute of it. Véronique grew up in the Mediterranean region of southern France, spending weekends in the garrigue landscape, which supports many of the tough, drought-resistant plants that are becoming increasingly familiar to UK gardeners adapting to climate change. She went on to study ecology and botany at the University of Montpellier, where she was taught by Francis Hallé, the botanist and biologist known for his innovative research on the architecture of trees. After graduating, she worked briefly as a…

Before spring visitors even step through the gates of Borde Hill in West Sussex, they are greeted by the soaring branches of magnolias; their blooms standing out like lanterns against a clear blue sky. “You can literally be enveloped by magnolias here,” says Harry Baldwin, Borde Hill’s head of horticulture. “We surprise visitors with an incredible amount of diversity in terms of their flowers, leaves, scent and habit.” Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke bought Borde Hill House in 1893 with 610 acres of land, and began his collection of ‘new and uncommon trees’ ten years later. “The colonel – or ‘Stephie’ as he was known to family and friends – was well connected with other important garden owners, such as JC Williams of Caerhays, the de Rothschilds of Exbury, the Messels…

AGAPANTHUS POPPIN' PURPLE (= 'MP003') This new Agapanthus is a fantastic cultivar with an abundance of purple-black buds that open into vivid purple. It doesn’t end with the interesting flower colour – it’s a very fast grower and has a very long flowering period, from July to September. It reliably reblooms. It is ideal in containers and in the border, in full sun and well-drained soil. Height x spread: 60cm x 50cm. RHS H4, USDA 6a-10b†. Available from How Green Nursery (wholesale only), Farmer Gracy, Crocus and J Parker’s. ANEMONE FRILLY KNICKERS (= 'FP007') Bred by us, and launched in 2020, Anemone Frilly Knickers is full of surprises. It looks as good from the back as the front. With semi-double blooms, each white, finely frilled petal is suffused with pale…

DOWNTOOLS BOOKS ,Why did you write this book? Drawn to the Garden was inspired by my lifetime love of gardening and drawing. I’ve been a grower and a painter for most of my life. My early ‘gardening’ was in window boxes and containers and then in small urban spaces. What started as a love of growing lilies in London led me to a big vegetable plot and an orchard in Devon. During the Covid pandemic, I started to share my garden and my interest in the natural world on Instagram (@cqgardens) and very quickly, I found I had a community of likeminded followers. I’ve always painted and drawn what I grow so, instinctively, I shared my artwork too. People seemed to like my watercolours so when my publisher Quarto asked me…

Andrew Maybury Andrew photographs our new Plantsperson’s Favourites series, page 18. “It’s been a privilege to work alongside Andrea and capture the amazing variety of plants that thrive at Lowther Castle.” Troy Scott Smith Head gardener Troy begins a new practical series, page 30. “I am thrilled to be back in the pages of Gardens Illustrated as I share with you an entire gardening year from Sissinghurst.” Fionnuala Fallon Fionnuala visits an exceptional daffodil farm, page 90. “The story of Esker Farm Daffodils is fascinating, reflecting the rich history of daffodil breeding in Northern Ireland.” CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Charlotte Harris Charlotte co-founded the values-driven landscape design practice Harris Bugg Studio with Hugo Bugg in 2017. She has won three Gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, as well as Best…

HAMAMELIS X INTERMEDIA 'JELENA' This vigorous and deciduous witch hazel hybrid of Japanese and Chinese parentage becomes a wide-spreading, arching shrub with age. Loved for its abundance of orange, coppery flowers, made of narrow, ribbon-like, crinkly petals, and for its subtle citrus fragrance from late winter into early spring. Viewed from a distance, it glows like copper in the wintery sun. Its broad-oval leaves turn a magnificent orange-red in autumn. AGM*. Height and spread 4m × 4m in ten years. Origin H. japonica and H. mollis hybrid. Conditions Moist, acid to neutral, organically rich, well-draining soils; full sun to part shade. Hardiness RHS H5, USDA 5a-8b†. Season of interest Late January – March for flowers; September – October for autumn colour. SARCOCOCCA HOOKERIANA VAR. DIGYNA 'PURPLE STEM' This evergreen shrub fills Lowther Castle’s ruin with…

DIG IN THE GARDEN CHRONICLES It is half a century since I ran up the path to my father’s greenhouse to tell him that the seeds I had planted in my thin strip of garden were peeping through. I can no longer remember if it was the calendula, cosmos or candytuft (my pocket money obviously hadn’t got me very far through the seed catalogue), but I still remember the excitement with which those shoots were greeted. To be honest, it is no different now: the excitement – no, the amazement – that a seed I have sown or bulb I have planted is poking its green tip through the earth. Current ‘amazements’ are the collection of narcissi in pots clustered about my long, slim London garden. They announced their presence…

DESIGN INSIGHT The brief Dutch designer Erik Funneman had to visit the site of this city garden in Utrecht twice before a vision began to emerge. “When I got there, it was full of building materials and plastic covering,” he explains. “It was quite difficult to make something out of it” . It was paved with cheap concrete bricks, with no areas for plants. “The garden didn’t fit the space,” he says. “We had to remove everything.” Aside from a few specifics – a vertical garden, some water, plants to attract birds and a space to sit – the clients gave Erik a lot of creative freedom with the design. “It was not a very promising space,” he says. “They had no idea what they could do with it, but…

THE REVIEW Dutch landscape designer Mien Ruys created more than 3,000 gardens and landscapes, so why is this the first comprehensive book to celebrate her work in English? MIEN RUYS: THE MOTHER OF MODERNIST GARDENS by Julia Crawford Lund Humphries, £39.95 ISBN 978-1848225640 It was with trepidation that two years ago, I made my first visit to Tuinen Mien Ruys in Dedemsvaart, in the Netherlands. They say that you should never meet your heroes. I wonder if that applies to visiting their gardens? I have held Mien Ruys, the Dutch landscape designer, in such high esteem since I first discovered her, largely thanks to John Brookes who championed her work. The garden did not disappoint. I was in awe and it looked as if it had been designed yesterday. I…

WHAT TO READ CALL OF THE WILD Wilding, Isabella Tree’s best-selling book recounting the rewilding project she and her husband Charlie Burrell undertook on their Knepp Estate in West Sussex, is reissued this month with gorgeous illustrations by artist Angela Harding. The new edition aims to introduce the benefits of rewilding to a younger audience while also providing a new perspective on the text to readers of any age. Featuring maps, timelines and rewilding activities to try at home – from growing pollinator-friendly flowers on your windowsill to creating an animal superhighway in the back gardens along your street – this beautiful book helps brings the Knepp rewilding experiment to life through Harding’s exquisite lino prints and watercolours, based on observational drawings done on three visits to the estate across…

DIG IN IN THE GARDEN We hope to bring about a celebration of everything that is good about the garden: rich, lavish, generous, fragrant, optimistic and romantic to the extreme My first meeting with Sissinghurst was more than 30 years ago. I worked here for five years, honing my craft as a gardener, and taking the time to cultivate what was to become a lifelong relationship with the garden. In 2013, I returned as head gardener. Along with the immense privilege of gardening within these six acres, I was also immediately aware of the responsibility and huge challenge that goes with it. Immersing myself in the practicality of the garden, I have slowly developed, with my team, a way of gardening that places beauty and romance first. Vita Sackville-West and…

• Bergenias are tough plants that can be grown in sun or partial shade. Most are fully hardy but in some, the leaves can be damaged by frost. They will survive drought, but will do best if the soil retains a little moisture in summer. Other than in deep shade or waterlogged soil, bergenias will thrive almost anywhere, but perform best in full sun. Their thick rhizomes should be planted at, or just under, the soil surface. They don’t want to be buried, as this can cause them to rot. • Generally, bergenias are evergreen plants but leaves that are damaged by frost or slugs are best removed to make way for the new foliage to appear in spring. This also makes them look a lot neater. The purple-leaved cultivars…

Easter wreath Plants to use • Acer palmatum Use any green-leaved Japanese maple • Amelanchier x lamarckii In March snowy mespilus offers both beautiful spring foliage and blossom. • Betula pendula Use silver birch when tight in bud and strewn with catkins • Cercidiphyllum japonicum Use the copper-toned green foliage of katsura • Hedera helix Common ivy • Helleborus argutifolius Holly-leaved hellebore. Flowers January to April. • Helleborus x hybridus Try Harvington hybrid cultivars, such as ‘Harvington Single Lime’ or ‘Harvington Shades of the Night’ . Flowers February to April • Lonicera ligustrina var. yunnanensis Shrubby, evergreen honeysuckle. • Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia creeper used for the base • Prunus Any species, such as cherry or plum, with good blossom • Spiraea ‘Arguta’ Bridal wreath with pretty white flowers from April…

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100 HERBS TO GROW: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE BEST CULINARY AND MEDICINAL HERBS by Jekka McVicar Quadrille, £30 ISBN 978-1837830442 Crowned the’Queen of Herbs’ by Jamine Oliver, Jekka McVicar has worked with herbs since 1985 and has witnessed changes in the climate, pests and diseases that affect them. 100 Herbs to Grow is her authoritative herb handbook, with advice on the herbs that have most inspired her in the kitchen and garden. THE SCIENCE OF GARDEN BIODIVERSITY: THE LIVING GARDEN by Julian Doberski Pimpernel Press, £9.99 ISBN 978-1914902093 The author of Life, Death and Decay: The Science of Compost turns his attention to how the garden functions as an ecosystem. He shows that garden biodiversity goes beyond the birds, mammals and insects we may be familiar with, and encourages…