Widely regarded as the Vogue of the gardening press, Gardens Illustrated aims to inspire you with an eclectic and international editorial mix of remarkable places, plants and people. With superb photography, authoritative journalism and exceptional design, this award-winning magazine is a style bible for garden designers, garden lovers and enthusiasts alike.
Editor’s letter
Contributors
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Gardens Illustrated Magzine
JAPAN’S HIDDEN GARDEN GEMS • Travel with Japanese garden expert Hannah Gardner on this far-reaching, two-week itinerary and discover some of Japan’s most compelling gardens
CONTEMPORARY IRISH GARDENS • Join plantsperson extraordinaire Jimi Blake to explore some of the best gardens around Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains
DIG IN • What’s happening, what’s in flower and what to buy this month
News
3 FOR THE GARDEN… PEAT-FREE POTTING COMPOST
KITTED OUT • For visiting spring gardens
April plants • With spring in full swing, Jimi’s choices lean towards flowers that will brighten dappled shade, including a gloriously coloured erythronium and a delicately beautiful epimedium
STIRRING THE ROOTS • April can be a changeable month – warm and sunny one minute, with frosts the next – but it’s time to get busy with your seed sowing and make the most of your harvested rhubarb
Jobs for April
GRAHAM HODGSON • A gardener at Great Dixter for more than a decade, Graham enjoys an experimental approach and continues to learn as he gardens – and share his findings
Guiding nature • At Belcombe Court classical parkland combines with a contemporary walled garden that in spring is alive with the bright colour of tulips
IN BRIEF
24 KEY TULIPS
EUPHORBIA • This vast and diverse genus brings structure and texture to a mixed planting scheme, and in spring plants also offer attractive flowers in many colours
PLANT PROFILE
Call of the wild • For her own garden in rural Kent, designer Amanda Buckland has given the natural meadow-style planting she loves a modern twist by contrasting its softness with more formal evergreens and contemporary hard landscaping
Natural beauty • At Mothecombe House in south Devon the relaxed gardens now include a walled garden that has become a sanctuary for bees
12 KEY PLANTS
RICHARD SCOTT • The director of the National Wildflower Centre on helping bring nature into the city, the importance of raising people’s aspirations and helping them to engage more with nature
Supporting roles • Plant supports are essential for climbers and tall plants that have a tendency to flop. But they will also help save space in your borders and encourage good air circulation, which prevents some pests and diseases, and makes for healthier, stronger plants – and now is the perfect time to make your own
Shooting stars • From small beginnings Bluebell Arboretum & Nursery in Derbyshire has grown to become one the UK’s top nurseries for sourcing unusual trees and shrubs, and a beautiful spring destination – just don’t expect to see any bluebells
16 key trees and shrubs
IN BRIEF
PAINTING WITH PLANTS • Beauty and sustainability combine in the gardens David Glenn and Criss Canning have created alongside their world-renowned Lambley Nursery
24 KEY PLANTS
Pearls of perfection • Like their more ornate counterpart the tulipiere or tulpenvaas, flower bricks were designed to hold single stems of cut flowers but these smaller vessels were used in the 18th-century to display less valuable flowers than the much sought-after tulips. Flower bricks are wonderfully practical with an often simple design that is regaining popularity. They have also inspired gardener Hannah Gardner to explore the...