Stephanie Recommends

As their slogan reads – ‘Notcutts have been helping gardeners since 1897’.  They were nurserymen for over fifty years before they opened one of the first garden centres in the 1950s and today they continue to advise gardeners and source quality British-grown plants. One way and another, there is a pretty impressive level of expertise within the company, which is now owned by the 4^th generation of the family. I’ve used the Notcutts Book of Plants (now in its 17^th edition) as an invaluable source of reference all of my gardening life  and visited several of their garden centres over the years, always leaving with a fine plant or two. So, as a company that is good at reinventing itself, it’s good to see that they have come bang up to date and you can now shop online from their extensive collection of garden tools and plants, as well as delving into their Garden Library where they share their knowledge and expertise.

The all-encompassing title gives some idea of the content of this entertaining and informative new online gardening magazine. It has been created by an independent group that includes some of the finest garden photographers and writers, together with a miscellany of other talented people who contribute to the mix in many and various ways. Needless to say, the photography is always eye-catching and sometimes downright gorgeous and the variety of topics covered makes it a great read. So, whether you want to know how Cleve West creates his show gardens, have a yen to grow some peas, marvel at the magnificence of magnolias, or make a beetroot cake, you will find all of these and much more contained within its digital pages. The pace changes nicely from practical to inspirational, with many stopping off points in between. Initially I found myself leafing through it quickly to admire all the images, but I soon realised that this wasn’t the digital equivalent of fast food – what I really needed to do was sit down and digest it page by page. Which I did – and very satisfying it was too. Garden * Life * Love is available online from www.gardenlifelove.com at £3.80 per issue or £12 for an annual subscription.