BBC Gardeners' World

Treat yourself… to our tailor-made tour exploring world class gardens in Kent and Sussex, while enjoying the comfort of the four-star East Sussex National Hotel. For more details and how to book see p86 Get ready… for your best gardening year yet, w

Go for a walk – urban, suburban or rural – at this time of year and you’ll come across ivies dripping with clusters of black berries. The thrushes, blackbirds, and blackcaps that depend on them as winter tightens its grip will also surely be in evide

WORTH £27.97 Clusters of pretty white flowers, blushed with pink, hang along the stems of this deciduous shrub. In winter its peeling bark adds extra interest. Plant in sun or light shade. Height x Spread 2m x 2m Flowers May-Jul Bright yellow flowers

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Full Monty and our Over the Fence debate this month. They really got me thinking about what the month of December, and all the festive celebrations, mean to me – particularly in relation to my garden. Like Monty, I don’t

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Dark Desire’ What a truly remarkable grass this is: even though a lot of her much vaunted ‘dark desire’ is spent by this time of year. The winds and frosts of winter have beaten her back but she is still undefeated. In her y

GREAT GIFT FROM £105pp Dates from January to March 2024 Explore the wonders of Blenheim Palace, Park and Gardens, set within 2,000 acres of beautiful parkland. Uncover its 300-year history as you wander around the Palace State Rooms, with priceless c

SAVE £35 With frosts setting in, it may be beginning to feel like it’s “always winter, but never Christmas”. The team at Leeds Castle, in Kent, have set out to change this by bringing the world of Narnia to life on weekends and school holidays this D

The former home of Victorian plantswoman Gertrude Jekyll – Munstead Wood in Surrey – has been saved for the nation following the death of its previous owner, Marjorie Clark. But the challenge of restoring and opening this historic private garden to t

Forage for winter decorations and connect with nature by adding your finds to a potted evergreen ball, creating a display that lasts long after the festivities. The glossy, leathery texture of the magnolia leaves and the tonal greens of conifers, com

This is a classic winter container combination: the skimmia gives a bit of evergreen structure while the cyclamen provides the flash of Santa red for a welcome bit of cheery zing. Add a variegated carex for an extra frisson! ❶ Skimmia japonica Therez

Christmas represents a wonderful opportunity to unleash your creative flair. Bringing in fresh foliage from your own garden to create wreaths, decorations and gifts is an easy win on many levels: it’s sustainable, eco-friendly, thrifty and, most impo

EXCLUSIVE DISCOUNT UP TO £100PP* 7 nights from £1,399pp* December 2023-October 2024 departures Discover traces of former civilisations including Phoenician settlements, Roman amphitheatres, Greek temples and Aragonese churches, on this seven-night, f

SAVE £20 Add winter romance to your festive displays with these illuminated hyacinth baskets. Perfect for decorating your home or as a gift for friends and family, the delicate blooms of the hyacinths will fill a room with their wonderful fragrance.

“Deck the halls with boughs of holly” …and don’t forget the Christmas tree. As if you could! Even the most restrained of Christmas decorators will indulge in a modest arboreal show in December, but which of the many types of tree will you choose and

VISIT GardenersWorld.com/reviews for more gift ideas for gardeners plus product guides and reviews PHOTOS: CONCERN WORLDWIDE; JASON INGRAM; KATE PETTITT; *TRANSACTION FEE PER BOOKING. £22.50 TICKETS ARE FOR 11:30AM ENTRY. T&CS APPLY – SEE BBCGARDENER

The winter-vegetable garden may not have the colour or freshness of June or even October, but there is a rich reassurance in the kale, sprouts, turnips and beetroot that rides the worst of the weather with a kind of insouciance. Even if the snow has

“I’ve dug out thousands of stones and built 90 per cent of the stone walls. I don’t think there’s an area I haven’t dug!” Helen Maxwell’s garden in rural Carmarthenshire surrounds the house that her husband (who’s an architect) designed. They moved t

Emma Crawforth, Horticultural Editor Garden visits were the highlight of my trip last April to the Côte d’Azur, in the south of France. All the gardens were amazing, but one stood out for me – Le Jardin Serre de la Madone, in Menton. This terraced ga

Our gardens are home to one of the most biodiverse and mysterious ecosystems on the planet. Soil is the foundation of life on Earth, yet most of us consider it to be just sand, silt, clay and organic matter. We know that when our soil is healthy, our

Do you fling an orchid into your basket at the supermarket checkout? Or spy a fern at the house plant shop and go weak at the knees because it’s been on your wishlist for months? House plants are so beautiful and appealing that the occasional impulse

Non-gardeners often assume that winter is a quiet time, but for the avid veg grower there is plenty to do. That said, winter isn’t as busy as the rest of the year, because there is less need to weed, sow and water. I use this time to dream about the

December is a time for reflection in the garden. What worked for wildlife in 2023 and what didn’t? How could you do more? Looking at the bones of the garden now, is there space for more plants? Are your fences bare? Are there enough berries and hips?

VISIT GardenersWorld.com/what-to-do-now for more advice on the best crops to sow and plant this month, and how to do it With excellent flavour and firm texture the fruits of ‘Autumn Bliss’ are ideal for eating fresh from the plant or freezing for ano

PLUS Keeping poinsettias happy ◼ Harvesting parsnips ◼ Sowing onions ◼ Planting hellebores ◼ Sprucing up bamboo PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; JASON INGRAM ■

Provide some long-lived interest to complement the brighter stems and flowers of other plants by adding a few evergreen ferns to winter pots. Polystichum, blechnum, asplenium and dryopteris are all available as evergreen species in garden centres aro

Pick out the old rosettes of sempervivums that have died off after flowering. They will have blackened and feel papery so are easily picked off. The remaining healthy rosettes will send out more offsets into the gaps next season before they flower, s

Position any shrubs with scented winter flowers near to a path or entrance, where the fragrance can be enjoyed before spring arrives. Christmas box (sarcococca) is a good candidate for a spot like this, as are wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) and s

Prune overgrown apple trees now that they are dormant. If major reduction is needed, do it in stages over two or three years to avoid the tree trying to compensate by putting on a mass of twiggy regrowth next season. If the canopy spread needs to be

As they start the process of budding up, place forced bulbs into their final position to enjoy the festive display and make maximum advantage of scented flowers. A table in a well-lit dining area is a good choice. Choose a cool, bright spot and avoid

Make natural seasonal decorations for free by gathering your own greenery from the garden. Cut some showstopping berries and evergreen foliage to use in arrangements, door wreaths and for swags on the banister. Evergreen shoots of myrtle with black b

Start onions from seed now – it’s cheaper than using sets (small bulbs) and there’s a wider choice of varieties, but you’ll need space to keep them indoors until spring. Sowing is also a good option if your soil is prone to waterlogging in winter, wh

With the nights long and the days short right now it might feel like the propagation season has long since passed – but that’s not the case for hardwood cuttings. Species such as cornus, buddleia and sambucus can be taken as cuttings from late autumn

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December is a month of light and darkness. Traditionally, it is a time for festivals of light and celebrations that involve singing, dancing and fire to combat the dark, short days. These festivals coincide with the winter solstice toward the end of

What better way to frame your porch or doorway this festive season than with a pair of elegant holly trees? With a slight blush tinge to the classic holly leaves and rich red berries, you’ll enjoy year-round interest thanks to their evergreen nature.

For abundant fruiting, apple trees nearly always need to grow with a pollination partner. Although you may already have a suitable tree in your garden, if planting a new one, the safest option is to plant two different but compatible varieties at the

Give a Christmas gift of year-round joy with one of our magazine subscriptions, unwrapping endless inspiration and entertainment with every issue. ‘A great gift for friends that are tricky to buy for. It’s good value for money and of course, wonderfu

Adam takes the helm this January at Premium, the subscriber-only area of GardenersWorld.com: 1 Take an exclusive video tour of Adam’s garden 2 Subscriber Q&A: will Adam answer your gardening query? 3 Adam shares his highlights of the month 4 Go behin

Dreams. We all need them. Not those bonkers ones that we have while we are asleep. The ones we can’t make head or tail of. No, I mean the pipe dreams we have when pottering in the garden. About how a statue of a Roman goddess would turn that dreary c