Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2024 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

Autumn has arrived with its rich tapestry of colours and textures, and we celebrate the season in style this issue, with three beautiful gardens that take full advantage of this special time of year. Karin Winkler's naturalistic country garden is the culmination of years of joyful planting and tending, a personal oasis that speaks to her passion and dedication (page 30). There's a tiny urban garden designed by Stefano Marinaz, who has transformed a small city plot into a mini woodland grove, with nine trees and exquisite design details (page 48). And for something completely different, we visit Little Island in New York, the arresting new park on the Hudson designed by Heatherwick Studio and planted by MNLA (page 62). Award-winning landscape designer Charlotte Harris continues her new design solutions…

If you've recently gone online to find a solution to the problem of mould in your home, you will almost certainly have come across sites suggesting various houseplants, including ivy, Boston ferns, spider plants and orchids, can help banish it. If they cite any evidence at all, most of these online articles argue that houseplants absorb moisture through their leaves and can therefore be placed in damp or humid rooms to prevent mouldy patches appearing. But is there any truth to these claims? Can plants really absorb moisture from damp rooms? “It would save a lot of watering were it true,” said Guy Barter (above), chief horticulturist at the RHS. “I am not so sure how plants can beat mould. Houseplants emit water vapour during transpiration, an unavoidable part of…

DIG IN PLANTSPERSON'S FAVOURITES VIBURNUM OPULUS This rounded deciduous shrub features creamy-white, lacecap-type flowers that turn into eye-catching clusters of translucent red berries, which often linger into the winter. The berries are technically edible, but bitter, so best left for the birds. The dark-green, palmately lobed foliage takes on a captivating yellow-orange to red tint in the autumn. This flamboyant native is an indicator species for ancient woodland and offers multiple seasons of interest, making it a great addition to any garden. Height and spread 5m × 4m. Origin Europe, including UK, Asia and northwest Africa. Conditions Moist, well-draining soil; full sun to part shade. Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 3a-8b. Season of interest Flowers: April – June; fruit: late August – December; autumn foliage: late September – early November. ROSA SERICEA SUBSP. OMEIENSIS F.…

My favourite planting style? It's what I like to call 'wildamental' – a fusion of wild and ornamental planting Earliest gardening memory My Maltese grandad gathering tomatoes and courgettes from his mad wildlife garden in South Wales. He had a swimming pool of fish; small ponds; aviaries with birds; and guinea pigs on the ground. It was a bonkers place full of home-grown food, weeds and animals; something out of a children's book. Who has inspired your career the most? John Little is going to cringe, but he and his wife Fiona have taught me so much. Not only flipping gardening on its head but how important it is to share your knowledge and help others out. Who are your horticultural heroes and why? Parasitic wasps and aphid-hunting wasps. They…

In 2021, Kenyan-born Wambui Ippolito was named by Veranda magazine as one of '11 revolutionary female landscape designers and architects everyone should know', an accolade she attributes to her roots. “I believe it is because I have an optic outside of anything western European or American,” she says. “There is a long tradition of gardening in the UK – a certain template that is echoed in America too. But I take a very different approach; growing up in East Africa, the landscape is so vast, it gives you a panoramic view.” Based in New York, Wambui practises mostly on the East Coast and is currently working on large estates in the Westchester area, north of the city. She is also in demand on the lecture circuit and as a consultant…

When a fallen tree is brought to Alison Crowther's attention, she reads the timber closely, intimately. Using the barely visible tracery of annual rings and medullary rays as a natural template, she coaxes new forms from the wood – spheres, giant eggs, benches and desktops. Her carving process reveals a unique map of fine lines or a deeper grid that follows the patterns within the timber. “The carving of the wood feels like it's singing with the tree, that we are in it together. I'm not this artist enforcing their will onto the material to make it do something it really doesn't want to do,” she says. “I'm giving the tree its second life. Each branch has its own annual rings and that's where the interesting bits, the complex bits…

THE BOTANISTS' LIBRARY: THE MOST IMPORTANT BOTANICAL BOOKS IN HISTORY Carolyn Fry and Emma Wayland Ivy Press, £28, ISBN 978-0711294943 Traces the development of botanical publications from Theophrastus's Historia Plantarum, through the herbals of the 16th century, and the works of the 18th- and 19th-century plant hunters, to more recent botanical reference tomes. UNFORGETTABLE GARDENS: 500 YEARS OF HISTORIC GARDENS AND LANDSCAPES The Gardens Trust Batsford, £30, ISBN 978-1849949033 Arranged chronologically, the book charts an overview of British garden design from the 1500s to the 21st century, with text from leading garden historians and conservators. CITRUS: A WORLD HISTORY by David J Mabberley Thames & Hudson, £35, ISBN 978-0500026366 This sumptuously illustrated book traces the history of citrus fruits from their cultivation from a few original 'wild' species in the…

Robert Mabic Robert photographs a naturalistic German garden, page 30. “The result of knowledge, work and love, this garden blends beautifully into the landscape with rich colours and texture.” Humaira Ikram Humaira visits a new park in New York, page 62. “I was eager to see Little Island in all its glory and I wasn't disappointed. Textural and believable planting and all the drama of the terrain.” Richard Claxton Richard examines the effects of gardening on the brain, page 80. “It's wonderful to write about a treatment - both preventative and rehabilitative – with so many beneficial side effects.” 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,…

14 NOVEMBER Inside & Out Join Create Academy's talk with garden designer Butter Wakefield and interior designer Rita Konig at Thyme. 5.45-7.45pm. £20. Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Gloucestershire GL7 3NX. Tel 01367 85017, thyme.co.uk 16 NOVEMBER Christmas Card and Bauble Painting Workshop Get festive with this Christmas craft workshop. 10am-12pm. £60. Pod & Pip, Ebble House, Stratford Tony, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP5 4AT. Tel 07766 775869, podandpip.co.uk 18 NOVEMBER Succession planting Join head gardener Fergus Garrett for this one-day masterclass on creating a long-season border. 10am-4pm. £180. Great Dixter House & Gardens, Northiam, Rye, East Sussex TN31 6PH. Tel 01797 253107, greatdixter.co.uk…

DIG IN THE GARDEN CHRONICLES Sitting at my desk, I can see them fall: leaf upon leaf, in shades of ochre and gold, orange and honey. Leaves from the cherry and the wisteria, chestnut and jasmine, each one waving 'goodbye' as they pass the study windows. I have been charmed by falling leaves all my life, and even now I am not past throwing handfuls into the air each autumn, watching them fall slowly back to earth. The leaves of the vast, ornamental cherry on the street outside my house descend slowly, clearly in no hurry to meet their fate. They end their year in shades of butter and rust, but without the brilliant reds and oranges I hope for. Nevertheless, even in their muted colours, the cherry's leaves are…

PLANTS POTS OF STYLE SCAN HERE Watch Jo explain this planting scheme in our video. Simply scan the QR code with your phone camera or head to gardensillustrated.com/pot-for-november WILDLIFE BUFFET This glazed container needs only the simplest of components to inject a mood-boosting shot of colour to counter late autumn and winter's grey skies. The early flowers and later berries of the cotoneasters make this not just a feast for the eyes but an invitation for both pollinators and birds to continue to visit. Even without flowers, the turning colours of the leaves provide drama, heightened by the cornus's show-stopping red stems. How to achieve the look Container and composition Simplicity is everything when it comes to this late-season display. I've used just three plants – all of which have…

PLANTS NURSERY As any good gardener knows, September and October can be among the most glorious months of the year. But November? and Helen Andrew Ward of Norwell Nurseries are enthusiasts of this month, too. “I'm particularly keen on plants that make the coldest, darkest part of the year feel as short as possible, so there are lots here that look great late, and early, in the growing season,” says Andrew. The couple came to Norwell in 1994. It had always been Andrew's dream to start a nursery, and the south-facing, sloping two-acre field set behind a row of cottages in the pretty Nottinghamshire village offered great potential, despite heavy clay soil, and brambles that needed clearing before the rewards of growing plants could be enjoyed. The site also proved…

Find more fireplaces by scanning this QR code with your phone camera, or visit gardensillustrated.com/fireplaces…

DOWNTOOLS BOOKS What's your book about? It's connected to the TV series, Monty Don's Spanish Gardens. Spain was somewhere that I didn't know terribly well and I certainly didn't know the gardens well. I had the great privilege of being able to film the series and write about it at the same time. The root of my books is not to tell people what I already know, it's to share what I find out. What did you learn from writing it? About the incredible diversity of Spain itself and the incredible diversity of gardens and gardening. Is there one idea that you'd like to share from the book? From a horticultural point of view, it's accepting, adapting and dealing with the conditions you're given. We completely underestimate in this country…

GARDENS ILLUSTRATED DECEMBER • Beautiful Christmas makes by floral artist Bex Partridge, using natural materials from the garden • Crisp lines and clipped topiary come to the fore in a frosted Sussex garden in winter • Winter colour: the enduring appeal of the moth orchid • An uplifting garden around a historic finca in Majorca, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith PLUS Sissinghurst in winter, and a bumper Christmas gift guide for gardeners…

Piet Oudolf once told me: “Americans like to display their mulch.” He's not wrong, sadly. Mulch is part of our garden aesthetic. Is it a lack of imagination? A nefarious scheme to lower the required training of landscape staff? Whatever the reason, I'm so grateful it's changing. Gardeners all over the world are developing strategies to encourage biodiversity in our landscapes. The rewilding movement is spreading and naturalistic gardens are seeding in everywhere. But even people who prefer more formal or floral gardens can incorporate practices that invite in wildlife. A big part of that work starts with mulch, leaves and soil. The very top of the ground, where leaf litter breaks down into humus, is an incredibly rich ecological zone that gardeners often unknowingly remove. That zone, the 'duff…

This deciduous climber, with sturdy, rope-like stems, is unquestionably vigorous, and, with its clinging tendrils, it will easily reach into the treetops. It has striking, heart-shaped, dark-green leaves, slightly lobed, with a brown, velvety underside. The spectacle certainly doesn't stop there as autumn turns the foliage a stunning scarlet-crimson. Insignificant flowers become small berries used to make wine in Japan and Korea. Mulch annually to stop the soil drying out. AGM*. Height and spread 15m × 4m. Origin Korea, Japan and far eastern Russia. Conditions Moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil; sun to part shade. Hardiness RHS H5, USDA 5a-9b†. Season of interest Foliage: September through early December.…

• Buy the best quality pot you can afford. There is a huge variety of pot shapes and styles. Consider the proportion of the pot in relation to the height of the tree. If the container is going on a balcony or roof terrace, find a lightweight container that won't increase the overall weight.• Lighter coloured pots (ideally terracotta) are preferable – dark pots retain heat, drying out the growing medium. Terracotta is still the best, as it is porous and doesn't get too hot.• Don't grow trees in a pot that is too big – either pot them on regularly or root-prune them every few years. This involves getting an old kitchen bread knife or hori hori to cut a couple of inches of the rootball away. Then replanting…

GARDENING HEALTH As Oliver Sacks, the celebrated neurologist and writer wrote: 'I cannot say exactly how nature exerts its calming and organising effects on our brains, but I have seen in my patients the restorative and healing powers of nature and gardens, even for those who are deeply disabled neurologically. In many cases, gardens and nature are more powerful than any medication.' And it's true: our brain health is enhanced by being in nature and by gardening, and this is because of the complex interaction of different cognitive processes we employ. It happens in a variety of different ways as we garden; these are both conscious and subconscious. Brain power We're only just beginning to understand how the heady mix of so many different sensory signals in our gardens can…