Gardens Illustrated Magazine Special 2021

Our gardens are now in full swing. We will have forgotten the loss of an early seedling to a late frost or the demise of a French bean to a hungry slug. There’s more than enough to hold our attention, and perhaps even to take time to sit and reflect on the generosity of nature. When this generosity is equalled in a gardener, we’re on our way to achieving something great. In this issue we highlight just some of the plants and gardens nurtured so thoughtfully by passionate gardeners and plantspeople. Our kitchen-garden columnist Aaron Bertelsen takes a moment to note other vegetable plots that offer him food for thought – and perhaps a generously offered handful of fresh produce too. We also admire the dedication and expertise Jim Marshall has…

Jodie Jones Jodie interviews photographer Howard Sooley, page 64. “Howard’s work has been on my bookshelf and in my Instagram feed for years, so to meet the man behind the camera was a pleasure.” Tom Brown Tom chooses the best plants from the non-climbing, herbaceous clematis, page 66. “Herbaceous clematis are such an easy and rewarding group of plants to grow, revel and indulge in.” Tim Richardson Tim reflects on the rise of community gardening, page 78. “I was amazed at all the different cultural, artistic and political activities it encompasses – it’s not just about growing veg in old tyres.”…

James Basson James lives in the South of France where he runs Scape Design with his wife Helen, specialising in low-maintenance and dry gardens. He is a fervent advocate for creating sustainable landscapes. The winner of four Chelsea Gold medals, he was awarded Best in Show in 2017. Fergus Garrett Fergus was appointed head gardener at Great Dixter by Christopher Lloyd in 1993. He is passionate about passing on his knowledge through student programmes at Dixter and worldwide lectures. He was awarded an RHS Associate of Honour in 2008 and an RHS Victoria Medal of Honour in 2019. Anna Pavord Anna’s books include her bestseller The Tulip and most recently Landskipping. For 30 years she was The Independent’s gardening correspondent. In 2000 the RHS awarded her the Veitch Memorial Medal. She lives and gardens in…

TOUR HOST Sarah Wain Sarah, along with her husband Jim Buckland, is the inspirational force behind the restoration of the Kitchen Garden at West Dean, Sussex, where they perfected the growing of both fruit and vegetable crops. With the call to grow your own becoming ever louder, our tour offers help, inspiration and expertise on how to grow the finest kitchen garden produce throughout the year. We visit a contrasting selection of the very best examples of kitchen gardens in the South West: we are taken from the plot to the plate at both The Pig at Combe and at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s organic smallholding at River Cottage; at South Wood Farm we see Arne Maynard’s design for a productive potager and we glimpse true estate gardening at Edmondsham House, while also visiting the…

Tom Massey is an award-winning designer known for his clever combinations of hard and soft landscaping. Sarah Mead is the creator of an extensive organic garden on the Yeo Valley family farm. Joining them is plantsperson, writer and lecturer, Marina Christopher. A beautiful patchwork of colour and texture, Yeo Valley Organic Garden is one of the UK’s largest organic ornamental gardens certified by the Soil Association. It has been created by Sarah Mead over the past 30 years and occupies six and a half acres around the family home on the Yeo Valley Organic farm. It is also the inspiration behind Yeo Valley Organic’s show garden at this year’s much-anticipated RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Designed by award-winning garden designer Tom Massey in collaboration with Sarah Mead, the garden will offer a rich…

Earthly paradise Islamic Paradise Gardens, first made by the Persians more than 1,000 years ago, continue to inspire garden designers today as spaces of sanctuary and contemplation. Making Paradise, a new exhibition at the Aga Khan Centre Gallery near London’s King’s Cross, explores the Islamic concept of al-Jannah or Paradise through a richly diverse range of works, from Soraya Syed’s Islamic calligraphy to ceramic plates by Yasmin Hayat. On the gallery’s four walls (evoking the quadrants of a Paradise Garden), are botanical illustrations and contemporary works of fruit and vegetation, while the centrepiece, as in a Paradise Garden, is a fountain, designed by Emma Clark, from which springs a paper-cut installation by American artist Clare Celeste Börsch. The multi-sensory experience is enhanced by a perfume especially created by Alessandro Cancian dispersed…