A letter from home

It’s that time of the year when the English garden comes into its own. When the patch of nature we have at home – however large or small – becomes part of our living space, an extra ‘room outdoors’. I love the sense of increased space. The feeling of throwing open the doors and allowing the outside in. The realisation that the garden is ours again to enjoy while the sun shines and encourages all we have planted to bloom. The reminder that our gardens are a vital and very usable part of our homes.

I don’t profess to being a gardener, but I love to potter, plant herbs and flowers, and gather ideas from other people’s far more polished schemes than my own. This issue is full of inspiration to allow you to do the same. Inside, you’ll find three beautiful country homes whose owners have paid as much attention to the gardens as to the incredible interiors.

We also bring you an abundance of ideas which can be scaled to suit domestic settings from some of England’s most renowned gardens and their head gardeners on page 100. And we glean insights from renowned gardening expert Sarah Raven on mastering the art of planting in pots to bring colour to outdoor spaces of all sizes on page 124.

Alongside ideas for prolonging that spring feeling with flower styling courses on page 118, we look to English gardens for decorating inspiration in our feature on incorporating botanical designs and hues in interiors. Colour palettes and prints inspired by nature are a mainstay of timeless, uplifting English schemes, and our curation of the latest fabrics, papers and paints is certain to bring the joy of nature’s bounty to your home year-round.