Gardens Illustrated Magazine March 2022

March is the month when spring really takes hold and we can start to enjoy buds and unfurling fresh green leaves, as well as an array of early spring flowers, including our cover stars – hepaticas (page 52). These little shade lovers will brighten up any space with their cheery blooms. This issue we also feature beautiful combinations for spring containers with head gardener Jenny Barnes’s pot display ideas (page 42). If you are planning new planting for your garden right now, check out our guide to perennials you can sow from seed for flowers this year (page 86), with expert picks from our panel including a seed expert, a designer, a head gardener and a nurserywoman. We’re also starting a new occasional series this month with insights and advice from Alys…

Clive Nichols Clive photographs the gardens at Lower Bowden Manor, page 32. “Shooting the orchard of daffodils in full flower at sunrise was a magical moment for me and one I will never forget.” Jenny Barnes Jenny begins a new series on stylish container planting, page 42. “It was fun to showcase my favourite plants of the season. Hopefully this month’s pots bring some spring cheer.” Naomi Slade Naomi learns more about the varied world of hepaticas, page 52. “The hepaticas at Ashwood Nurseries are gorgeous and it has been a pleasure to explore a plant of such infinite variety.”…

James Basson James lives in the South of France where he runs Scape Design, a practice 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 Dorset. Dan Pearson Dan…

The tour starts with a visit to Holker Hall and its 24-acre garden comprising yew hedging, rose garden and woodland with conifers from around the world. We travel on to The Lakeside Hotel on the southern shore of lake Windermere, our base for three nights. We’ll also visit Levens Hall, which has the most famous topiary garden in England, installed between 1689-1712 by the Frenchman Guillaume Beaumont, gardener to King James II. There will be lots to see in the garden at Yewbarrow House overlooking Morecambe Bay, which has a walled kitchen garden, an Italian garden, gravel garden and sculpture garden, and we will also take a look at Dan Pearson’s recent project at Lowther Castle, where his design has reinterpreted the historic gardens. We visit the fell-side garden at…

Euro visions The winning images in this year’s European Garden Photography Award (EGPA) show some of the best European gardens outside the UK. Tatjana Wittmer’s winning image, Bald Cypress in Autumn (top), is of Munich’s Westpark, while Richard Bloom’s third place image El Jaral de la Mira (above left), is a biodiversity project outside Madrid. Claudia Gaupp, who won second place for her image of the Killesbergpark in Stuttgart, was highly commended for her image (above right) of the Étretat Gardens in Normandy. The competition is a special award from the International Photographer of the Year (IGPOTY) partnership with Schlosspark Dennenlohe in Bavaria, and if you missed the IGPOTY exhibition at Kew, you can see the EGPA winners at Dennenlohe from 1 May. igpoty.com, dennenlohe.de TATJANA WITTMER; RICHARD BLOOM; CLAUDIA GAUPP /…

Full of beans If you’re still undecided on which beans to sow this spring, take a look at the Organic Gardening Catalogue. Among its tempting new cultivars for 2022 are the runner bean ‘White Swan’ (above) and the world’s first autumn-cropping broad bean ‘Luz de Otono’. All are supplied as garden-ready plants, grown in peat-free soil. ‘White Swan’ costs £11.99 for 15 plants, sent out from May, and ‘Luz de Otono’ is £11.99 for 12 plants, sent out from July. organiccatalogue.com Community collaboration The RHS has announced it will create four new major Community Gardens – one in each of the home nations. In January, communities and schools were invited to apply for RHS Community Grants worth up to £50,000 each for their proposed projects, with the winning spaces being chosen by a…