BBC Gardeners' World August 2021

Discover… how to get the most from shady spots with our 132-page guide to Gardening for Shade. On sale now in selected stores for £7.99 or at gardenersworld.com/ gw-special-editions Join us… Last chance to book our discovery tour of the Cotswolds! Join Adam Frost on a tour of Michael and Anne Heseltine’s garden. gardenersworld.com /adam-cotswolds-tour Listen up… Season 3 of our podcast launches this month, with episodes from Alan, Monty and Joe Lycett. Find us on Apple, Spotify and at gardenersworld.com Learn… New to gardening? Get to grips with the basics in our online, 5-week course for beginners led by expert David Hurrion. gardenersworld. com/futurelearn Save even more... Subscribe today and enjoy two years for the price of one, saving 50% – plus extra savings and benefits. Turn to p144.…

Viewer videos have been a discovery and joy for everyone on Gardeners’ World over the past 18 months – and we know you, our viewers and readers, love them too. They poured in at the height of last year’s pandemic and continue to delight the production team, so keep them coming! (Find out how at bit.ly/gw-viewer-videos). In this same spirit of putting our audience at the heart of not just WHAT we produce but HOW we produce it, we’ve thrown open the doors of Magazine Towers to all of our readers – a genuine first in this, the magazine’s 30th anniversary year. And how you responded! Hundreds of readers got in touch via email and social media, offering enthusiasm, ideas and inspiration – and we whittled this down to 48…

In our first-ever takeover issue (in 30 years!), GW Magazine readers worked with the editorial team to have a say on all areas of the magazine. This included researching and writing news stories, commissioning Alan Titchmarsh, putting veg-growing questions to Monty, debating what really matters about garden wildlife and much more. We share their views and interests throughout the issue – and give a flavour here of our extended editing team on this month’s very special issue. In total, 48 people from around the UK and beyond took part, helping to create a special issue entirely shaped by readers.…

I got involved mostly for a bit of fun! I love all things gardening and Gardeners’ World is an invaluable place to learn more – and I wanted to be a small part of that. By being a part of the Reader Takeover issue, I wanted to share a real beginner’s perspective and show that you can never underestimate how much there is to know and find out when starting out gardening. Often, the biggest barrier is just knowing where to start and I wanted to change that. Being part of the Reader Takeover has also opened my eyes to the inner workings of how the magazine comes together, and I found the process collaborative and completely open to all ideas. It showed just how accessible and inclusive the magazine…

When BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine announced the Reader Takeover, I knew I had to apply. The regular contributors are mines of information and, as readers, we can learn a lot and pick up wonderful tips and tricks along the way. But what about the view from the other side? This was a chance to give my input to a dramatic splash from the audience perspective. Being involved in the editorial process was interesting and fulfilling, and made me feel part of the GW family (of readers and contributors) rather than an outside observer. The peek behind the scenes showed that articles and images are carefully considered. There’s a lot of work in choosing that ‘perfect’ image, which is not as easy as it sounds. There is a multitude of photographs…

My involvement was primarily to share my passion for gardening and bounce ideas among like-minded individuals. I hope to learn and adapt my gardening practice to be ecologically aligned, and one of the participants expressed this ideally. I found the participating magazine staff open to new ideas and willing to translate them into practical solutions, which is encouraging and I see myself wanting to remain a member of this gardening community. Although we talked about the impact of gardening on mental wellbeing, I would like to see more concrete and practical suggestions around this topic in the magazine with, for example, basic (or top 10) ideas or simple things to do in one day that would help individuals who are struggling to organise their lives. Dr Vaishali Purbey contributed to…