Features
All the latest features from Gardens Illustrated magazine
‘Just’ a gardener? We’re actually highly skilled creative professionals who deserve better than this
Good gardens are constantly evolving, so why, asks gardener Colin Stewart, do people place more value on their initial design than on their ongoing care?
Illustration: Rosanna Morris
Gardening mistakes: gardening celebrities reveal their worst gardening failures
Feel like you're always making mistakes in the garden? You're not alone. We asked gardening experts about their gardening failures
Gardens Illustrated's quiz of the year
Test your gardening knowledge with our quiz of the year
How to make a decorative Christmas cloche as an impressive centrepiece for a party table
Entertain in style this Christmas with this beautiful floral cloche from Swallows & Damsons. Words Anna Potter, photographs Andrew Montgomery
Best UK gardens open for Boxing Day walks
Many UK gardens are open this festive season, so why not work off your Christmas indulgence between Boxing Day and New Year with a winter walk at one of these 13 great open gardens?
Make this simple hanging Christmas table display using seedheads and twisted hazel for festive wow-factor
Bex Partridge offers an elegant but easy way to decorate your home with plants and seedheads
Nigel Slater is getting ready for winter in the garden and allowing the plants their beauty sleep
As his garden slumbers, Nigel Slater finds both joy and a sense of purpose in tidying his plot and protecting plants from inclement weather
Illustration: Paul Wearing, Portrait: John Campbell
Can gardening make you smarter? It improves your Focus, cognition and creativity, says expert doctor
Gardeners know that time in the garden can clear your head, but as Dr Richard Claxton reveals, it can actually improve your focus, cognition and creativity.
Illustration: Vicki Turner
Give your containers autumn style with the help of designer Jo Thompson's hellebore and euonymus designs
Designer Jo Thompson creates this stylish display using hellebores and euonymus to see you through the colder months
We need to stop the ecocide by councils, developers and big business, says this community gardener
As a community gardener at the Eden Nature Garden in Clapham, south London, former marine biologist Benny is on a mission to promote ecology within the garden world.
Portrait: Andrew Montgomery
The woman who crafts beautiful objects from fallen oak trees with her bare hands
Sculptor Alison Crowther uses centuries-old fallen oaks and other timber to create her distinctive art and furniture.
Words: Camilla Phelps, Photographs: Andrew Montgomery
There's still a lot to do in a famous garden in winter: discover a frosty Sissinghurst and the jobs that keep the gardeners busy
In our final visit of the working year to the gardens of Sissinghurst, head gardener Troy Scott Smith explains how he and his team prepare Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson's stunning garden for the year ahead.
Photographs: John Campbell
Artifical lights at night do more harm than you realise: here's how to light your garden responsibly
How does artificial lighting in our garden effect wildlife; and what can we do to minimise the negative impacts?
Seeds to sow and plants to get in the earth in January to make sure you've a thriving garden in spring
Head gardener Benjamin Pope is keeping busy this month in preparation for spring. Here are his suggestions of what you could be planting through the month of January
This wreath made from honesty is an eye-catching natural Christmas decoration
Bex Partridge offers this elegant but easy way to create a wreath using honesty seedheads
Meet the landscape designer on a mission to 'beautify' cities
The award-winning landscape designer and horticulturist on her Kenyan childhood, feeling a strong connection with the land and her desire to beautify cities.
Words: Paula McWaters, Portrait: Rachel Warne
The Christmas treat that's grown in a bog and harvested underwater: discover the surprising story of this festive fruit
Plant ecologist Ken Thompson on the remarkable cranberry plant and it's tricky way of harvesting underwater
The best indoor orchids for long-lasting, colourful blooms plus how to to keep them alive and flowering again
Add colour to the winter months with these delicate houseplants that offer exotic, long-lasting flowers, and are easier to look after than you may think.
Words: Matthew Biggs, Photographs: Éva Nemeth
This garden may look ‘messy’ to some, but it's low maintenance, keeps wildlife very happy and looks stunning in autumn
With no horticultural training, art teacher Karin Winkler relies on intuition to create her naturalistic garden, which comes into its own each autumn. Words: Claire Masset, Photographs: Robert Mabic
A great planted pot for winter and autumn using succulents with architectural texture
Designer Jo Thompson creates a stylish display to see you through the colder months using aloe and other succulents
Nigel Slater on savouring the end of autumn
For Nigel Slater, one of the great joys of autumn is the sight of golden, bronze and rich-red leaves gently falling – a slow dance that completes the circle of life.
Illustration: Paul Wearing, Portrait: John Campbell
You can have a sustainable garden that's also beautiful - here's how to design stylish ecological gardens
Charlotte Harris explains how to design gardens that are ecological and beautiful in her expert guide to sustainable garden design
This futuristic park on stilts is a new landmark for New York with planting prowess from top designers
Little Island park in New York, designed by Heatherwick Studio and with planting by MNLA, is an exciting new city landmark.
Words: Humaira Ikram, Photographs: Ngoc Minh Ngo
Not just your granny's favourite: discover the place bringing chrysanthemums back in fashion
Norwell Nurseries has an inspiring on-site garden and a sparkling range of plants on offer, with many late-flowering
perennials, including colourful chrysanthemums. Words Phil Clayton, photographs Clive Nichols