Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2025 i Gardens Illustrated Magazine

To brighten up the start of the year, this issue is full of happy temptations and beautiful spaces, with a special focus on gardens where you can stay the night. Take your pick from Aldourie on the shores of Loch Ness (page 20) in Scotland, where Tom Stuart-Smith has redesigned the gardens around a fairytale castle; or Borgo Lianti in Sardinia (page 58), where planting designer Marco Scano has embellished the stunning views of the sea with a naturalistic garden inspired by the local landscape. Take a dip in a mini swimming pond among wildlife-friendly planting at Berrywell cabin near Sheffield (page 44), or stay on a houseboat and discover unusual edible plants at the walled garden of 42 Acres in Somerset (page 70). Looking to try something new in…

I love the idea of beauty in chaos, where flowers tumble over each other in joyful abundance. It feels natural, playful and oh-so-fabulous Earliest gardening memory I was definitely a late bloomer. Gardening wasn't part of my childhood at all. My first real memory is spotting a patch of allotments out of the train window on my daily commute to Birmingham. I was mesmerised by how, in the heart of a big grey city, people were cultivating these little Edens. It was like a secret garden rebellion, and I knew I wanted in. First plant love Inspired by those rebellious allotment gardeners, the first thing I grew was… a marrow. Was it a triumph? Let's just say that marrow and I had a very short-lived relationship, and I've never grown…

The benefits for our mental health and wellbeing of both gardening and having a closer connection with nature are now widely acknowledged. For many this came to light in 2020, during the Covid pandemic and successive lockdowns. However, the link has been understood for far longer: both the Buddha and the ancient Stoic school of philosophy in ancient Greece identified that attuning with the seasons and the natural world was necessary for a full life. Our biochemical make-up is affected by time spent gardening. This happens in various ways, including through sunshine, which helps raise our vitamin D levels; exercise, which raises our endorphin levels, giving us a natural high; and because cortisol – our stress hormone – is reduced when we are in the garden. All these chemical changes…

GARDENS ILLUSTRATED THE PLANT ISSUE • Jinny Blom picks her top 50 plants • A peek inside designer Maurizio Usai's own experimental, plant-packed garden • Tree expert Tony Kirkham selects the best flowering shrubs for scent and colour in early spring • Nigel Dunnett on his planting at the Barbican, ten years on, and what's in store for its next phase PLUS Dan Pearson's best plants for February and Charlotte Harris's top tips for designing planting beds…

George Plumptre George visits a new Tom Stuart-Smith garden at Aldourie Castle, page 20.“Tom's consummate planting and design – as well as the setting – make Aldourie's garden a pleasure to explore.” Katy Merrington Katy stays in an Airbnb rental with a beautiful garden and natural swimming pond, page 44. “‘It's a dreamy combination to stay in this toasty cabin and then swim amid the planting.” Vicki Turner Vicki illustrates our monthly health column, page 78. “It's lovely to respond to Richard's column each month and visualise the symbiotic relationship between plant and human.” 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 Show…

I am not an impulsive gardener. Each plant is bought only after much consideration; every pot is lovingly handled before purchase, and each new piece of equipment researched and given detailed thought. My notebook is full of plans, drawings and checklists. Almost nothing is done spontaneously. I like to take my time. To mull things over, consider my options and weigh up the situation. Thinking about a project is almost as pleasurable as doing it. (Occasionally, even more so.) None of which stops me putting the right plant in the wrong place finding a well-researched piece of kit doesn't live up to its promise or my carefully laid plans going wildly astray. Now, when the garden is at rest, is the best time to draw up a wish-list. To see…

Gilles Clément, France's most influential garden maker, has been inspiring professionals and home gardeners alike for decades. Now in his eighties, he remains a charismatic teacher and speaker, drawing crowds of young people to lectures and workshops. They especially like his refusal to separate concept and practice, head and hands, and his defense of a humanist ecology where people – gardeners – enjoy mutually beneficial partnerships with the rest of the living world. Despite international renown as a designer, he has always called himself a gardener. In 1969 as a conscientious objector to military service he was sent to work in Nicaragua, which gave him a taste for international travel. A later trip to Bali, in Indonesia, completely changed his perceptions of habitable spaces and gardening. In the early 1970s,…

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As a garden historian, I think we are in one of the most exciting and important periods of garden history. But the study of the subject seems to be in the doldrums. No other art form – art, sculpture, architecture, photography or literature – turns its back upon its history in this way, ignoring what has been before. In my book England's Gardens, I wanted to tempt readers into thinking more about the gardens they were visiting, to introduce them to a historical timeline of gardens and tease them with insights into the gardens and their makers. I wanted to spark an interest in garden history. My own journey started when I was given a National Trust membership for Christmas in 1998. It depressed me – was I destined for…

FACT FILE What Grass-like plants in the Restionaceae family, restios make up of around 50 genera of evergreen, rhizomatous, clump-forming plants. The leaves are reduced to sheaths on the verdant stems, and the small flowers are offset by ornamental bracts. Usually referred to as restios. All species are dioeceous (ie male and female plants). Season Evergreen stems provide year-round interest. Size Ranging from 10cm to 3m tall and forming clumps 15cm to 2m wide. Conditions The species in cultivation demand well-drained, neutral-to-acid soil and full sun. Origins Restios are found in all continents of the Southern Hemisphere. Hardiness Restios are not completely frost-hardy. Most species sold for UK cultivation will tolerate temperatures of around -8ºC to-10ºC, although established specimens are often more resilient to cold. *Holds an Award of Garden…

Need to read: the best seed catalogues Three expert gardeners pick their favourite seed catalogues and online plant lists that are also an enjoyable and informative read Becky Crowley Cut-flower specialist and assistant head gardener at Raby Castle For the plantaholics among us, Derry Watkins’ Special Plants Nursery is hard to beat. Last spring, I had the pleasure of exploring Derry's inspiring garden near Bath, and I now visit her online seed shop for garden staples including verbascum and nicotiana, and special lunarias such as L. annua ‘Chedglow’. Inevitably, I'll find myself drawn to the more intriguing, lesser-known offerings too, such as Michauxia campanuloides – how could I resist its description as a ‘stupendously beautiful biennial’, even when warned that it's ‘hardy but hard to grow’? Derry's online shop is…