Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2024 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

It may be cold outside, but we can still embrace the subtle magic of winter in the garden – with a little help from cosy coats, warm socks and boots, of course. This issue, we visit several sensational seasonal gardens full of quiet beauty, with strong structural elements such as crisp topiary shapes, all sparkling with frost. At Sissinghurst, head gardener Troy Scott Smith shares how he and his team spend their time over winter (page 34). We discover how Helmingham Hall in Suffolk is now under the care of a new generation of guardians (page 52), and the genius of Parsonage Farm garden, with its elegant geometry that emerges most vividly at this time of year (page 72). And for a little ray of sunshine, there’s a new garden…

7-21 DECEMBER Christmas at Levens Hall Take a festive stroll around the house and famous topiary garden. Saturdays and Sundays up to Christmas. From £11.50. Levens Hall, Kendal, Cumbria LA8 0PD. Tel 01539 560321, levenshall.co.uk 10 DECEMBER Life after Leylandii Discover why not all conifers are parkland giants and how they can be a great addition to gardens of any size, in this online Garden Masterclass with Matthew Pottage. 6-7pm. £24. gardenmasterclass.org 14 DECEMBER Festive Wreath Making Learn to create a winter wreath with expert Peter Hughes. 10am-12pm or 1.30-3.30pm. £69.35. RHS Garden Bridgewater, Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester M28 2LJ. Tel 0161 503 6100, rhs.org.uk…

DIG IN THE GARDEN CHRONICLES The garden is falling asleep. Leaves sit in untidy piles ready for their transfer to string bags, where they will eventually break down into ‘gardeners’ gold’. Pelargoniums are shuddering at the recent cold snap, and bags of late-flowering tulip bulbs sit quietly waiting to be planted. The spindle-stemmed twigs of the wisteria are almost all down now and poised to be shredded for compost. The branches of the fig tree reach toward the sky, awaiting their fate with the tree surgeon. A few late roses droop, hanging their heads as they too are ready to sleep. I look forward to winter in the garden, especially the seasonal tidy up, which I usually do all too late, when everything has turned to mush. Pelargoniums ‘Attar of…

On the day we speak, Jane Scotter is in her flat near Heckfield Home Farm, on the 400-acre estate that supplies the renowned Heckfield Place hotel in Hampshire. “I’ve had a sort of change of life,” she says. “I’d been a consultant here for about six years when they offered me the position of head grower, and I thought, why not? I’d recently become a grandmother and needed to be in London a lot more, and I realised that my experience and expertise could be put to much better use here than digging leeks out of frozen ground.” She’s certainly done more than her fair share of that. In 1996, Jane left her job as a partner in Neal’s Yard Dairy and upped sticks to Herefordshire, where she bought Fern…

Natural changes in elevation can help break up a space. They enhance movement and offer up new perspectives and vistas. Gradients also offer exciting opportunities for thinking about planting differently. This is why, despite some potentially daunting slopes, a new garden site that we’re working on in northwest Scotland excited us from our first visit. Leaving aside the breathtaking views across a sea loch and the rugged terrain, this sloping garden has dynamic potential. In this case, we wanted to design a beautiful garden that could be sensitively woven into the landscape, while also minimising any heavily interventionist construction. A thorough topographic survey, with contours and levels at regular intervals, was critical. This detailed mapping provided a precise understanding of the levels – an understanding that became even more nuanced…

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What makes a great garden? It’s a big question. But when I think of my true favourites, the thing they have in common is a personal vision, endlessly pondered over, enriched and revised over time. There are the likes of Charlotte Molesworth’s garden at Balmoral Cottage in Kent, its disarmingly informal, lighter-than-air topiary, a decades-long labour of love. Or Andy Salter’s plot not far away, a passion project of strong colours and textural contrasts around a storybook cabin, enveloped by an expanding meadow. Salter has arranged his working life in TV to accommodate maximum gardening time. My neighbour Fred’s terraced-house yard is up there too; a postage stamp he toils in most days, impossibly stuffed with dahlias on begonias on chrysanthemums. In short, my favourite gardens are those that are…

Bex Partridge Floral artist Bex shares ideas for natural Christmas decorations, page 44. “From seedheads to ethereal flowers, you can achieve so much with what nature has to offer us.” Errol Reuben Fernandes Errol explores a garden in Mallorca, page 82. “Gardens like this that gently elevate the natural elegance of a place rather than imposing on them will always captivate me.” Carrie McArdle Carrie visits a garden in West Sussex with strong winter structure, page 72. “I know this garden well and love its scale and vision. It takes you on a journey and always surprises.” 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…

TSUGA HETEROPHYLLA A tall, evergreen conifer with a pyramidal shape, slightly drooping branches, fine-textured, dark-green needles that have two white stripes underneath, and a grapefruit scent when crushed. It has reddish-brown bark with deep, scaly ridges. Small cones with thin, flexible scales hang from the branch tips. I see this tree as a graceful northern alternative to cedars, which struggle in cool and wet climates. If you don’t have space for a fully grown tree, it also makes a beautiful hedge that can even be shaped into topiary, serving as a substitute for yew. AGM*. Height and spread 45m × 20m. Origin Western North America. Conditions Moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil; part to full shade. Intolerant of periodic droughts. Hardiness RHS H6, USDA 6a-8b†. Season of interest Foliage: year round: cones:…

People see horticulturists as garden labourers, but I want to shift people’s thinking, to appreciate them as artists of the natural world Earliest gardening memory Begging my mother to get us an allotment when I was seven. I remember the criticism we received for keeping the tall ash tree that grew in the middle of our new plot. I hope opinions have changed 20 years on. First plant love Roses. I remember my mum taking my brother and me to this old walled tennis court on an abandoned estate to play tennis as children. Surrounding the court were roses, and despite not having been pruned for many years, they flowered prolifically. I would collect as many petals as I could to take home and dry into confetti. Who has inspired…

FACT FILE What Popular and widely grown, repeat-flowering, exotic houseplants in the genus Phalaenopsis. Common name: moth orchid. Season Flowering intermittently year round, depending on cultivation techniques. Size Variable but no more than 60cm × 30cm. Conditions Phalaenopsis are epiphytic plants, meaning they grow in the wild on the surface of trees rather than in the soil, and should be grown in a proprietary orchid compost or bark chunks. They need bright, indirect light, tolerating some shade, constant temperatures and free-draining compost. Moderate humidity is preferable. Origins Southern Asia, from Assam to Japan, including the Philippines and as far south as northern Australia. Hardiness RHS H1A, USDA 10a-12. *Holds an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. With their large, exotic blooms, usually in shades of pink, white or…

WIN THE TOP 14 BOOKS OF THE YEAR BOOKS OF THE YEAR A FLOWER GARDEN FOR POLLINATORS by Rachel de Thame Greenfinch, £25 ISBN 978-1529422146 Horticulturist and Gardeners’ World presenter Rachel de Thame suggests plants we can grow that are rich in nectar and pollen in every season, but also highlights the importance of including plants that provide shelter and places to lay eggs. “By adopting a holistic, year-round approach, one can really make a difference,” she says. “I believe having a beautiful garden can go hand in hand with creating a space that delivers equally for the pollinators and other beneficial insects so vital to a healthy and vibrant ecosystem.” ONE GARDEN AGAINST THE WORLD: IN SEARCH OF HOPE IN A CHANGING CLIMATE by Kate Bradbury Bloomsbury Wildlife, £18.99…

SHOPPING UNDER WRAPS Bristol-based print designer Grace Gillespie, known for her brightly coloured linocuts, has teamed up with The British Blanket Company to launch a range of colourful, cosy blankets just in time for winter. Featuring two bold botanic prints – Prayer Plant and Flowers – the limited edition blankets are created on jacquard looms in Lancashire, allowing for the designs to stretch across the entire surface. Each blanket is reversible, giving two colourway options, and they are made from recycled cotton, giving them a soft, brushed finish. This is the first time Grace’s designs have appeared on home textiles, and she worked closely with Bethan and Joe from The British Blanket Company to bring her designs to life for this collection. There are four blankets to choose from, with…

SCAN HERE Scan the QR code to find loads more gift ideas or head to gardensillustrated.com/gardening-gifts…

Planting bulbs We aim to get all our spring-flowering bulbs planted by Christmas. Sooner would be better, but our schedule rarely allows this. In the beds and borders we plant bulbs that we expect to be long-lived, this year adding Narcissus ‘Snipe’, a cyclamineus type raised in Wales in the 1940s. In the raised stone troughs we take the opportunity to experiment with new bulbs. This year we are planting Fritillaria pontica and Cyclamen coum, their new growth protected from birds and mice with a ‘cage’ of fern fronds and Cornus twigs. Marking plants Befor the first frosts of the winter and the cutting down of herbaceous material we place bamboo sticks horizontally, pinned in place with bent wire, and short sticks pushed into the ground, with different-coloured tape on…

• Grow in bright light in a spot that gets a little direct early morning or late evening sun. A windowsill is ideal. Keep away from radiators and draughts, and bring in from behind curtains at night; low temperatures can cause buds and flowers to drop. Plants withstand temperatures down to 10-12ºC but a minimum of 15ºC is ideal. • Grow in an orchid compost or in 50mm to 1cm bark chunks to allow airflow around the roots, improve drainage and prevent rot. Clear plastic pots make it easier to check the colour of the roots -green roots are hydrated, while silvery ones need watering – and can be hidden in an outer ornamental pot. Water regularly rather than wait for the roots to dry out and change colour. Brown…

GARDENING HEALTH Personally, I’ve never been one for the gym, and the pinnacle of success in sport for me at school was defined by the rare occasions when I was not picked last for any team. No, for me, sport is strictly for watching. Nevertheless, through my medical school and junior doctor years, I realised the benefit of physical exercise to keep me in shape and relatively fit, and happily I found it in the Lycra-free environment of the garden. So if, like me, you want to use gardening to maintain your physical fitness, just how does that work, how effective is it, and how big a difference could it make? Physical inactivity has a massive price tag for us all. With increasingly sedentary lifestyles, 38 per cent of the…

Well known for its regenerative, creative-design approach that prioritises stewardship and social responsibility, Terremoto produces work of radical re-imagination. After talking to David Godshall from Terremoto about its design for two sloping gardens, I came away feeling so invigorated. “A wall with concrete should be the last solution, not the first,” says David, “and only used when all other options are exhausted. Let the land be. Slopes are exciting, and kids love to play on hills.” Responding to, rather than imposing on, the site comes from knowing it, walking it and revering it. In one garden, a simple series of trails avoids all tree roots. Elegant, timber-fronted steps curve down through the landscape and carefully past the trees. This makes it enjoyable to explore, while at the same time is…