Clare Foster
After several years working in publishing, Clare Foster felt like a change of direction and took on the role of sub-editor at Gardens Illustrated. She stayed here for nine years, rising through the ranks to the role of editor. Clare joined House & Garden as garden editor in 2005: ‘I have the best job in the world: I visit gorgeous gardens, meet lovely people and then write about them.’ Her first book, 'The Flower Garden: how to grow flowers from seed', was published in 2019 by Laurence King. Read more by Clare at her website budtoseed.co.uk or follow her on Instagram at @clarefostergardens.
Country Gardens
25 beautiful British gardens to visit for every season
Clare Foster recommends beautiful, off the beaten track gardens to explore all over the UK and Ireland, from Scotland to Cornwall
How to start a kitchen garden: what to do in April
In a new series, our garden editor Clare Foster lays out a month by month guide to getting a kitchen garden off the ground. In this fourth instalment, keeping weeds at bay is just one of the jobs on the list
This flower is one of the best-kept secrets of early spring
Clare Foster meets John Massey of Ashwood Nurseries, who has travelled the globe to admire hepaticas in the wild and now has one of the most extensive collections of these dainty plants in the UK
Gardening Calendar
What to plant in April (and other garden tasks for the month)
Our garden editor Clare Foster on what to do in your garden in April - the essential garden jobs for this month
Gardens
63 patio, decking and terrace ideas for gardens small and large
Decking, patio and terrace design ideas for gardens gardens small and large, from traditional brick paving to modern tiles and wooden decking from House & Garden
A sustainable Spanish garden perfectly situated in its hillside landscape
On the slopes of the Tiétar Valley in central Spain, designer Álvaro Sampedro’s own garden is a beautiful embodiment of his sustainable approach, with hardy Mediterranean planting and sinuous paths mirroring the landscape beyond
A Spanish garden in perfect harmony with its surroundings
This former farm near Toledo in Spain is a testament to landscape designer Fernando Martos’ belief that a garden should work in perfect harmony with its surroundings
Gardens
Small garden ideas from the House & Garden archive
Maximise a small outdoor space, whatever your budget or style
Gardening Calendar
What to do in the garden in March
Our garden editor Clare Foster on what to do in your garden in March - the essential garden jobs for this month
The evolution of Sarah Raven's gardens in East Sussex
Alongside developing her hugely successful eponymous business, Sarah Raven still finds time for writing and teaching. But it is in the evolution of the gardens of Perch Hill, her family home in East Sussex, that her passion for horticulture is most clearly expressed
David Pagan Butler is on a mission to get us building natural swimming ponds
David Pagan Butler is a man with a mission – to share his experience of creating a low-impact swimming pond. And, as he explains to Clare Foster, having somewhere to swim year-round is only part of the story
How to start a kitchen garden: what to do in March
In a new series, our garden editor Clare Foster lays out a month by month guide to getting a kitchen garden off the ground. In this third instalment, follow her as she starts the seed sowing process
Country Gardens
A Cotswold garden brimful of unusual and uplifting spring flowers
Blossom-covered boughs and spring bulbs provide welcome colour at this time of year in the Cotswold garden of Clare Pike, who runs flower business Rich Pickings with Kate Gordon Lennox
Roots Allotments are changing the gardening landscape in the UK
Clare Foster meets the far-sighted founders of Roots Allotments, who concluded that others shared their interest in sustainable growing and frustration with the long waiting lists for council-run plots
The garden trends to know for 2024
Clare Foster tests the pulse of the garden design world to see what’s trending this year and finds that designers and their clients are tuning in to an increasingly wild aesthetic
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Learn the practical skills that will help you save the planet with Earthed
Clare Foster talks to Christabel and Ruby Reed, sisters and co-founders of Earthed, a charity and digital platform that is building a growing community of people who want to take positive action against environmental decline
Gardening Calendar
What to plant in February (and other garden tasks for the month)
Our garden editor Clare Foster on what to do in your garden in February - the essential garden jobs for this month
How to start a kitchen garden: what to do in February
In a new series, our garden editor Clare Foster lays out a month by month guide to getting a kitchen garden off the ground. In this first instalment, follow her as she prepares the soil and contemplates the seeds to sow
Country Gardens
Take a walk in Italian writer Umberto Pasti's Moroccan hillside garden
Twenty years in the making, Italian writer Umberto Pasti's Moroccan hillside garden combines spectacular views with a carefully cultivated mass of indigenous plants he has saved from extinction
The theatrical allure of the historic gardens at Mapperton in winter
In this extract from their book Winter Gardens, Clare Foster and the photographer Andrew Montgomery explore the gardens at Mapperton in Dorset, where the interplay of architecture and formal topiary is brought into relief by colder weather