The English Garden

I've been a subscriber for a few years, and always eagerly devour the issue from cover to cover. It sends me back to England every other month, and for the hour or two that it takes me to read it, I couldn't be happier. Sometimes I find wonderful gardening information that applies to my small, urban CA garden, but the beautifully written articles and glorious color photographs would keep me enthralled anyway. Don't be put off by the review posted that said there was no way to reach anyone about a missing subscription. First, given that it is only published every other month, and the delay in getting things back and forth over the Atlantic, it isn't too surprising that there could be a few month delay in beginning a new subscription. But there IS a phone number (...) and email address (...) for their US distributor, The British Connection, which also handles their sister publication, The English Home. I started with the gardening magazine and added the home one about a year later, and I love it just as much. I feel like I've given myself a very special treat whenever one arrives in the mail box, and I've never had a problem with either subscription. Give it a try, they are very special, unique publications! What a lovely gift!

This bimonthly magazine is a wish book for those of us who don't have two full-time gardeners on staff, or a few acres of woods to devote to bluebells, or the ruins of an ancient abbey to train roses against. My Regency ancestors were breaking their backs on hardscrabble New England farms, rather than building follies or planting mazes, or having their grounds landscaped by Capability Brown.

Oh, but what if....

I've subscribed to "The English Garden" for many years now, and I don't think I've ever gotten anything useful out of it, but the gardens photographed within its glossy pages are to dream for: acres of blooming rhododendrons; statuesque old sequoias that were planted when Victoria was queen; lavender hedges; outdoor rooms that have been replanted to a 17th century plan; a sundial pool; and of course, a bluebell wood.

There are plenty of suggestions for the serious gardener. For example, the current issue (July 2005) features the following:

* For year round colour, buy a couple of peacocks. Their screams will also scare away the burglars

* One gentleman favors beer for slugs, "Although I don't dare use it here - the gardeners would drink it!"

* Hazel twigs bent over beds and urns will deter the peacocks

* Add a touch of history to your garden with an Italian carved white marble seat. It can be picked up at Sotheby's Garden Statuary sale for a mere 25,000 - 40,000 pounds. (I absolutely lust for this bench, but alas my pension must be spent elsewhere)

* "Use perfumed plants in the conservatory because the warmth generated by the glass pumps fragrance through the house"

* Plant marigolds in your walled kitchen garden to keep "eelworm and whitefly at bay"

* Flank the path to the summerhouse with rhododendrons and white narcissi

* To break up a long path, use arches "lightly clothed with jasmine or clematis"

If some of the above tips are a bit too steep for your pocketbook, you can do like me and drool over the marvelous photographs of someone else's jasmine arch and Italian carved marble.

I subscribed in Sept 04 and still have not received any single issue (as of Jan 05). There is no phone number or email address, so the only way to contact them is by mail, only they don't respond. They took my money, and I never heard from them again.

Finally I had enough and subscribed to Garden Gate Magazine instead. They are prompt and efficient, and the magazine is great.

When I moved from my house with a small, elaborate and alas poorly-maintained garden in London to a house in the midwestern United States with a plot of land that would command millions were it in the centre of London, I had visions of majestic hedgerows and beds of flowers and vines and garden paths. Indeed, I have such (at a friend's house!). I have a few plots that are irregularly tended, but, over the course of the past decade, they have grown bit by bit each summer into more interesting plots. Part of what has given me inspiration is the idea of the ideal English Garden, perhaps the quintessential gardening goal.

To this end, 'The English Garden' has fueled my thoughts and my ambitions, plant-wise. I am particularly pleased with the latest issue, for they are beginning a series entitled How to create an English Garden, something that, while I have striven for aspects to match, has alluded me these past many years.

Articles in each issue are classified under the following categories: Glorious Gardens, a section that seeks out particular, interesting gardens around England, small and large, that conform to the English Garden ideal, as well as the occasional garden from abroad; Gardening Matters, in which the mechanics of gardening are explained, including design, planning, acquisition, seasonal transitions, and problems; Out and About, which looks for travel opportunities, gardening events worldwide, and product information; and Regulars, which includes letters, question and answer section (both very informative), book reviews, and a column entitled Kitchen Garden which talks about food-gardening as well as well as small, indoor garden plants. Regulars contributors include master gardeners David Manson, Rory Mower, Susan Chivers, and Helen Gunn.

The past few issues have included articles entitled In Town: An Artist's London Garden, which shows that the tradition of painting in one's garden didn't stop with Monet, and requires talent in both painting and gardening for most; Historical Perspectives: The Queen's Secret Walled Garden which has recently been opened to the public, and Opening Out: Restoration in the Wye Valley, a story on the resurrection of a garden in the west, near one of my favourite parts of Britain.

I always turn green with envy upon seeing the wonderful gardens, and it makes me wish I had a green thumb and much more time and energy to devote to cultivation of beauty. Alas, 'tis not to be in my life for the foreseeable future, but I do learn quite a bit by reading English Gardens, and it helps me maintain my sense of England.

The magazine is aptly titled and the pictures are beautiful. This will be one of those magazines that friends dropping by will pick up and browse through, gardeners will be inspired and probably, those blasted subscription cards will be put into use. It certainly is a quality production and the text that accompanies the stories is informative as well.