The English Garden

Enjoy over 60 beautiful gardens a year with The English Garden. Every issue features country, city, cottage and coastal gardens, with advice on how to recreate them. Be inspired by articles written by the country's top garden designers and discover the best plant varieties for your garden, chosen by expert nurserymen and plantspeople.

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The English Garden

This Month • Our guide to plants, people, gardens and events, tasks and shopping in May

People to Meet • Introducing the gardeners and public figures we most admire in British horticulture

Out & About • Unmissable events, news and the very best gardens to visit this month

Things to Do • May is a busy month in the garden, and in between flower show visits Jane Moore is performing the Chelsea chop, planting out pot-grown tulips and staking peonies

Beautiful & Useful • New plants, books, tools and creative designs, plus shopping inspiration

Chelsea Style • The season of floral dresses and lovely light linens is upon us. A tailored jacket, comfortable shoes, and an umbrella (in case the sun lets us down) are just some of the sartorial pieces you might choose to bring with you to the showground – and don’t forget the components of that all-important picnic. Bees picnic bag, £51. Tel: 01778 560256; sophieallport.com

Living MUSEUM • The Manor House at Upton Grey is the only existing example of a Gertrude Jekyll wild garden, and owner Rosamund Wallinger has been hard at work over the past 40 years to restore the great designer’s legacy

Low PROFILE • The wind whips in from the North Sea at designer Natasha McEwen’s pretty Northumberland garden, shaping her every decision. Consequently, support, shelter and tough low-growing perennials are key to its success

All CHANGE • It’s not just the season that’s changing at Newby Hall in North Yorkshire. As May tips the 25-acre garden and its masses of dogwood into full floriferousness, work continues apace to restore and revitalise

Bowled OVER • Set in the deep hollow of an old sandstone quarry, Bide-a-Wee in Northumberland enjoys a sheltered and protected position that lets it put on the most spectacularly lush display, dazzling visitors all year round

New LIFE • Spring brings renewal to the garden of Church Farm Cottage in Somerset, but this is a constant theme for owner Annie Stanford, who uses her artist’s eye to repurpose all manner of gardenalia for wonderful displays

Under WRAPS • Protected from the tides and elements by the sheltering embrace of a weathered brick and flint wall, the waterfront garden of Harbour View in Sussex has been developed by designer David Loy to withstand anything

Show & Tell • We talk to the talented designers who will be responsible for creating the 16 show gardens at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show

Outside INTERESTS • Dining sets to suit all garden styles and budgets, plus parasols, linens and storage units, will help you maximise your garden’s use over the warmer months, turning the outdoors into an extension of the house

Heaven Scent • Choose plants that offer delicious fragrance in spring and summer for an extra layer of garden interest, with suggestions from RBG Kew’s Tony Hall

The Sweet Spot • Over the past 150 years, Lathyrus odoratus has been transformed by successive breeding work into the dazzling range of sweet pea cultivars available today. Philip Clayton visits Phil Johnson at English Sweet Peas to see his latest fragrant introductions

A TOUGH ACT • At Binny Nursery near Edinburgh, Billy Carruthers grows a range of top-quality perennials, along with his beloved peonies, all of which are tough enough to withstand the rigours of the Scottish climate and will consequently thrive...