Innehållsförteckning för August 2025 från BBC Gardeners' World

Plants enhance our lives in many ways whether it’s through their colour, scent, sound, fruit or simply the sense of wellbeing they bring. But one of the things I love most is how different types of plants can make us feel. Whether individually or en masse – and depending on its size, shape and habit – a plant can boost our mood, evoke awe or bring us peace. Trees can be humbling and new shoots pushing through bare soil joyous, but many plants also spark a memory or a sensation, and the best thing about gardening is that we get to choose what we grow and why. If we want to feel uplifted by a riotous cottage garden or transported back to a favourite holiday destination with a dense jungle…

“Today is the first of August… It is raining. I am tempted to write a poem”Sylvia Plath STAR OF THE MONTH Phlox ‘Little Laura’ Sometimes our gardens can feel a little washed out and exhausted in August – all that early-summer fizziness is beginning to take its toll on our plants. A bit like one feels around 3am at a party where you cannot leave until the sun comes up – to be clear, it has been many years since I attended such an occasion, but I still remember the experience! What you need is a fillip and that is something that phlox can supply. A late onrush of colour and, just as important, scent to accompany the dahlias and the annuals. Trouble free, good for pollinators. Divide in autumn…

Becky Searle is an ecologist and organic gardener focusing on how to work with nature to transform outside spaces. She is also author of the book Grow a New Garden. @sow_much_more NEXT MONTH… Jamie Walton shares the benefits of seed saving for your garden, nature and the community Planning to start a new garden from the beginning? Or maybe you’re thinking of working on a new area of an existing one? In either case, the secret to growing a beautiful and thriving garden is not in the seeds you sow, the layout you choose or the budget you have. Nor is it about how well you plan the journey through the garden or the interesting plants. None of that matters if you haven’t got one thing right: soil. The old…

Plant out spring cabbages Get spring cabbages into ground that’s been cleared of weeds but not dug over, as all brassicas grow best in firm ground. If you have acidic soil, liming early in winter also helps with this group of plants. Different varieties of spring cabbages need specific spacing, so check and expect that they’ll need at least 30cm between plants and 45-60cm between rows. You could harvest every other plant as immature greens. Plant them right up to the first set of true leaves, firm well and water them in. DON’T FORGET □ Tie in squashes and climbing beans □ Cut back potato tops hard if they show signs of blight □ Remove leafy crops that have gone to seed □ Plant sprouting broccoli in firm soil □…

The Douro, Porto & Salamanca From £2,749pp – 7 nights, 8 Days. Departs from 1 Nov 2026* Cruise one of Portugal’s best-kept secrets to explore sleepy villages and medieval towns unchanged for centuries, among the breathtaking rolling hills and terraced vineyard slopes of the fascinating Douro Valley. Experiences ◼ Four visits including Mateus Palace Gardens, Castelo Rodrigo, Lamego and a typical quinta with wine tasting ◼ Guided tour, lunch and a flamenco show in Salamanca ◼ Dinner at Quinta da Pacheca with a selection of wines ◼ Traditional Portuguese folk music show ◼ Guided tour of charming Porto and a visit to a port wine cellar Timetable ◼ DAY 1 Arrival in Porto ◼ DAY 2 Pinhao ◼ DAY 3 Castelo Rodrigo ◼ DAY 4 Salamanca ◼ DAY 5 Mateus Palace Gardens or…

Northern Italy lakes & gardens From £1,795pp* – 7 nights, 8 days. Departs 19 Oct 2025* Travel to Northern Italy’s lakeside paradise by Eurostar from London. Stay on beautiful Lake Orta. Visit charming Stresa on Lake Maggiore, known for its stunning villas and gardens, and Lake Como, with a trip to Villa Carlotta. You’ll also cross the border into Switzerland twice and visit cosmopolitan Milan. Your tour includes ◼ Return from London to Paris by Eurostar; return from Paris to Stresa by TGV ◼ Seven nights half-board at the four-star Hotel Giardinetto ◼ Three free days to relax or explore at your own pace ◼ Excursions to Lake Como and Lake Lugano ◼ A day trip to Milan ◼ An excursion around the shores of Lake Maggiore, including Stresa and…

In a jam Fill out this list of six fruits that can be used to make delicious jams and jellies. If completed correctly, the highlighted letters will spell out the name of a seventh fruit. Full of fowers Can you find these 10 cottage-garden favourites hidden in the grid? AQUILEGIA CAMPANULA DIANTHUS FOXGLOVE HOLLYHOCK LUPIN PEONY PHLOX RESEDA ROSE Late bloomers Unscramble the anagrams to spell out four plants that will brighten up gardens in August. Step by step By changing one letter each time to make a new word, can you transform TURF into LAWN in six steps or less? Boundary mix-up Here are four plants that make ideal hedges – but they’ve got a bit muddled. Can you match the correct genus and species to each picture? LIGUSTRUM…

BBC Gardeners' World magazine Established 1991 Here at GW, our goal is simple: to provide expert, trusted advice and inspiration to gardeners – whenever and wherever they need us. Through all of this, we’re rooted in a set of core values that are at the heart of all we do: ✔ Dependable advice We equip everyone to get the very best from their plants and gardens. Our in-house gardening experts are trained to the highest standard and always deliver dependable know-how, making GW the go-to place for practical advice. ✔ Top gardening names We work with the best gardening writers and content creators in the business, including Gardeners’ World TV presenters and other high-profile names. Our content is world-class, with quality, impartiality and accuracy at its core. ✔ Every space counts…

Whether you’ve got your eye on a tulip mix for your pots, been checking out foxgloves or maybe just looking for a great deal, BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine readers can save 20%* this month when shopping online with our partner Hayloft. Based in Worcestershire, Hayloft is an established nursery that offers a wide range of unique and rare bulbs, perennials, annuals and shrubs, delivered to your door – a great reason to grow something new today. EXPLORE THE RANGE AND ORDER AT: hayloft.co.uk Enter code GWA25 at checkout Please add £4.95 P&P to your order. Free for orders over £50 Terms & conditions *Offer excludes delivery and some products. Offer not valid with any other offer. Offer ends 31 August 2025. Please note your contract for supply of goods is…

Hands up everyone who’s familiar with the Royal Horticultural Society’s system of hardiness ratings? Thought not. But it’s simple, really. The RHS rates plants according to how hardy they are – how likely they are to survive winter in the UK. There are seven levels, from H1 to H7. So, what’s the difference? Plants rated as H1, the most tender tropicals, will only survive in greenhouses heated all year round. At the other end of the scale, plants rated H7 will sail through winters colder than ours unscathed. But fuchsias fall under two different ratings, so how does this help with them? Fuchsia varieties rated as H4 – “hardy in an average winter” – will survive an average winter outside anywhere except the coldest northern peaks and valleys. These are…

Cut zinnias for indoor displays Zinnias make vibrant, long-lasting cut flowers. The best time to pick is either early or late in the day, when it’s cool. Make the stems as long as possible and cut just above a leaf so more flowers will follow. Hold the stems at the base because the upper hollow stems bend easily. Pick off the lower leaves, then to lengthen their vase life, stand the bunch in a deep bucket of cold water in a cool dark room for a few hours or overnight. Trim the ends again before arranging the flowers in your vase. Tidy up lavender Trim lavender bushes now to encourage some neat regrowth in plenty of time for it to harden and withstand the ravages of winter. It does mean…

Gardens of the Year COMPETITION 2024 sponsored by Alpen “Great job for someone with no prior experience, and all done with scrap materials – very commendable”Irene Berry, GOTY 2023 finalist When you start on the journey of creating a garden, it can take years to find exactly what works in which spot. But when Abu and Leti Sidhanee moved to the conservation area of Sutton Garden Suburb, they set themselves an additional challenge – to create an immersive tropical jungle inspired by their family holidays to Mauritius and Trinidad. Some of the first plants they brought in were the fatsia, hardy bananas and palms that form the upper and middle layers of a rainforest-like canopy, helping to establish a microclimate for an ensuing understorey of lush foliage and exotic flowers.…

For me, having plants in containers scattered throughout the garden creates wonderful moments, whether the pots are full-on focal points or just a pause as you move through the garden. They’re a simple yet highly effective way to create different atmospheres and seasonal interest – and in some cases they can transport you to other parts of the world via exotic foliage, flowers or scents. Pots are also great for pushing planting boundaries, allowing you to grow some more unusual options. Over the years I’ve built up a collection of what I call my ‘holiday pots’, for two reasons. Firstly, they’re full of plants inspired by my travels abroad. Secondly, being plants that often come from warmer climates, some need to take their own winter break in the greenhouse, safe…

Offer ends 1 October 2025 2 EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE Call 03330 162123* and quote code GWNP25  Visit buysubscriptions.com/GWNP25 When you give your friends a gift subscription, they’ll enjoy the benefits of joining the BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine Subscriber Club: 1 FREE delivery to their door 2 Premium Access special subscriber-only content at GardenersWorld.com 3 Exclusive money-saving offers plus competitions, discounts and free seeds 4 GW Live events Enjoy discounted tickets and promotional offers This offer is only open to new UK customers subscribing to BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine by recurring payment. The closing date for this offer is 1 October 2025. Pay £24.50 every 6 issues, saving 42% on the usual shop price. You may cancel at any time and receive a full refund on any outstanding issues by…

LEADING THE WAY Content Director Kevin Smith Magazines Editor Kay Maguire Head of Content Adam Duxbury Head of Digital Catherine Mansley Head of Operations Gregor Shepherd CREATING QUALITY GARDENING CONTENT Horticultural Editor Emma Crawforth Digital Editor Blake Roberts Senior Content Creator Sonya Patel Ellis Picture Editor Sarah Edwards Audio/visual Editor Claire Vennis Strategic Projects Editor Oliver Parsons Social Media Lead Rachael Gibson Video Content Developer Jordan Kelly-Linden Editorial Assistant Sydney James GETTING THE DETAIL RIGHT Art Director Jo Cloke Art Editor Andrew Ellis Multimedia designer Emma Langschied Chief Sub Editor John Perkins Multimedia Sub Editor Shirley Accini PUBLISHING AND MARKETING Commercial Director Rachel Clare Brand Manager Emma Davis Commerce Manager Rita Baptiste Brand Marketing Executive Phoebe Elliott Commerce and Digital Marketing Executive Lois Elliott Brand Admin Assistant Sara Bhambra With…

During the filming of Monty Don’s British Gardens, across the 62 we visited, a certain type stood out. These were gardens that were essentially the stage or gallery for either artwork or elaborate ideas. Off the top of my head I would include Little Sparta, Crawick Multiverse and Plaz Metaxu as very obvious examples, with Chatsworth, Houghton Hall and Rousham including art as an essential element of the gardens and grounds. This tells us a lot about us British, and how we use and think about gardens. By far the dominant feature for the vast majority of gardeners are plants. I suspect for many gardeners this is an absurdly obvious tautology. Gardens, they say, are plants, and how you choose and use them defines the kind of garden and, indeed, gardening…

BOOK NOW LIMITED PLACES This is your chance to explore the breathtaking private gardens of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla, guided by expert hosts who’ll share the fascinating story of how these iconic gardens came to life. From wildflower meadows to perfectly pruned topiary, every corner reflects the King’s passion for nature and sustainability. After your tour, you’ll return for prosecco and canapés on the beautiful Orchard Room Terrace, followed by a delicious three-course dinner made with seasonal ingredients and paired with Highgrove’s organic wines. Alan will join you for an entertaining post-dinner talk and Q&A – a rare opportunity to hear his gardening tales and tips in an intimate setting. YOUR VISIT INCLUDES ✿ A 75-minute guided walk around the gardens starting at 3.15pm ✿ Prosecco and…

Trim overgrown apple trees If your apple tree has become overgrown, or you’ve inherited a neglected tree, now is the perfect time to give it a summer prune. By pruning in summer rather than winter, you remove some of the tree’s vigour, thereby making it concentrate its energy on producing fruit rather than more leafy growth. It also keeps the tree at a manageable size. Trained varieties such as espaliers, cordons or stepovers also need a summer trim to maintain their restricted shape. Cut back any new lateral shoots to three sets of leaves. For tip-bearing varieties, avoid pruning as much as possible. If you do need to reduce the overall size of the tree, do so over several years and try to keep as many shoot tips as possible.…

STEP BY STEP Repot echeveria Give an echeveria more space once you see that its rosette of leaves is wider than its pot. Choose a new pot that gives it room to grow further and produce new plantlets at the base. Use a 50:50 mix of John Innes no.2 compost and grit. If you put echeverias outside for the summer, get ready to bring them in next month. Holiday care for house plants Make sure your plants don’t dry out if you’re going away for more than a few days. Many can simply be watered where they are and left with no issue for several days. But leafy house plants such as ferns will fare much better grouped together in the bath. Then give the plants a gentle shower to…

Tropical plants have always fascinated me – I love their architectural leaves and vibrant colours. I have vivid memories of visiting the Palm House at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as a child and feeling like a tiny ant under the huge palm fronds. I would never have guessed that I would end up working in that very same Palm House as a Kew Diploma student. Although you may not think exotic plants will grow successfully in the UK, many subtropical and tender plants do well with the right care and placement. Here I would like to share some tips on choosing plants that give the effect of a tropical garden, the best locations to plant them in and how to care for them. You don’t need to have a…

I expected beaches, rum cocktails and a healthy dose of relaxation on the small Eastern Caribbean island of St Lucia – and yes, I found all of those things. But what I hadn’t anticipated was the island’s incredible botanical beauty. From the plane window, the island unfurled below – a lush patchwork of emerald forests, hidden coves and the twin spires of the famous Pitons (two spectacular UNESCO-listed mountains that are St Lucia’s most recognisable landmarks) rising steep and proud from the sea. My first excursion was to the Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens, just a short ride from the charming town of Soufrière. The gardens are part of the estate gifted by King Louis XIV in the 1700s and feel wonderfully curated without being overly manicured. Paths wind through towering…

I was amazed to learn that, on average, we spend 90 per cent of our lives indoors, which makes it crucial that our homes are healthy environments that support our wellbeing. A home can be so much more than walls and a roof; it can also be a place to feel inspired, restorative and peaceful. There are few settings better at making us feel calm than being near water. When we go on holiday, many of us are drawn to staying beside the sea because we associate water with relaxation. Fortunately, you don’t need to live beside the sea or even have a garden to experience the soothing effects of water at home. With a bit of creativity, you can have a water feature indoors that will help turn your home…

Q How can I bring lasting colour to a sunny front garden on London clay? Sam Brown, London A MATT B SAYS First, improve your clay soil by forking in plenty of homemade compost, so you can grow a wider range of plants. Suitable options include cheerful, ever-reliable geums, such as vivid orange ‘Totally Tangerine’, bright red ‘Mrs J. Bradshaw’ and deep yellow ‘Lady Stratheden’. Deadhead them to extend their flowering season. Roses also like clay. Try the shrub rose Bring Me Sunshine, whose apricot blooms get paler with age. Interplant with alliums, such as ‘Purple Sensation’, putting gravel in the planting hole to improve drainage. Hardy geraniums would thrive here too, including long-flowering violet-blue Rozanne, and heucheras are an ideal edging – try ‘Green Spice’, whose silvery-green leaves have bold…

Make way for autumn! ■ Style up the season with everlasting wreaths and garlands ■ Get your garden into shape with autumn problem-solving advice ■ Add continued interest with hot colours and bold planting WORTH  £23.95 103 FREE * allium bulbs for every reader These colourful and easy alliums will add sparkle to sunny beds and pots in late spring and summer: ❶ Allium moly x 51 ❷ A. sphaerocephalon x 43 ❸ A. ‘Purple Sensation’ x 3 ❹ A. caeruleum x 3 ❺ A. ‘Graceful Beauty’ x 3 *Just pay £5.95 postage PLUS ◼ Seed-saving tips ◼ Bulbs for borders ◼ September’s star plants ◼ 2 for 1 gardens ◼ More than 50 timely tasks…

Carrying the can is not normally something that causes rejoicing. It implies comeuppance as a result of some kind of transgression, an admission of guilt or oversight. But in the garden the term has a different meaning, especially at this time of year. I will come clean. I love watering. I know that when time is short and the sun is beating down you can feel a slave to that water carrier on the end of your arm, but there is something innately satisfying about catering to a plant’s needs and knowing that your ministrations are the difference between vibrant life and withering death. I know there is always the hosepipe to make life easier, and it is certainly gentler on the biceps. I wish it did not kink every…