Gardening

How has our landscape been shaped by the concept of Arcadia – the pastoral paradise nostalgically evoked in the classical poetry of Theocritus and Virgil? Landscape architect Allan Ruff traces the Arcadian tradition in the management of land and in its artistic depictions, from the ancient world, through Renaissance Italy, to modern England, America and the Netherlands. Ruff ends by considering how Arcadian ecology is now influencing sustainable urban design in the regeneration of sites such as London’s Olympic Park.

This 1990 study of André Le Nôtre (1643–1700), the creator of the French 'formal' garden, sets his work within the contexts of French traditions of land management, advances in cartography and engineering, and the social and architectural development of the château. Translated by Graham Larkin. Foreword by John Dixon Hunt.

Vigorous, fragrant and easy to plant and prune, the montana is the most popular of the Clematis family. Suitable for both amateur and expert gardeners, this illustrated guide explains the history of each variety, their strengths and weaknesses, and how to choose the right plant for a particular plot, and offers advice on cultivation and display.

Many fundamentals of the gardening lexicon – from topiary and water features to the lawnmower and Dr Ward’s ground-breaking prototype terrarium – were once novelties, the result of aesthetic or technological innovation. This miscellany, illustrated with black-and-white line drawings by Dave Hopkins, celebrates fifty horticultural inventions and trends and considers how they have shaped the way in which we engage with our gardens today.

Every garden has the potential to attract butterflies. This illustrated guide shows how to encourage these vital pollinators by providing them with the right plants to feed on and places to breed and hibernate. Chapters cover the butterfly lifecycle, common garden butterflies, and preferred habitats. A directory lists food plant species, while a final chapter offers tips on photographing butterflies.

Some of the finest gardens in the UK, among them Polesden Lacey, Hidcote, Sissinghurst and Stourhead, are cared for by the National Trust and its teams of expert gardeners. In this well-illustrated volume, those experts guide the inexperienced gardener through the whole process of planning, preparing, planting and maintaining a garden, whether large or small, employing the same techniques and the same principles of greener, forward-looking gardening that are used in the historic gardens of National Trust properties.

In this illustrated guide to organic fruit growing and maintenance, the horticulturalist Yvonne Cuthbertson offers advice on choosing the best produce to suit the plot (whether a garden, allotment, terrace or window box), clearly describes how to plant, propagate, prune, harvest and store it and provides a comprehensive directory of popular varieties that are suitable to grow in the UK.

From the creation of medieval physic gardens to the revival of allotments in the wake of the 2008 credit crunch, historian Twigs Way surveys the progress of Britain’s love affair with its gardens. Illustrated with photographs and reproductions of prints and advertisements from the collections of London’s Garden Museum, the book explores topics including gardening for children, women in the garden, wartime digging for victory and the gnome phenomenon of 1950s and 1960s suburbia.

The horticulturalist Ann Chapman explores the lives of 35 female figures after whom the heritage roses in her garden are named and looks at why the cultivators chose to honour them in such a way. An image of each woman accompanies her biography, as well as a full-page colour photograph of her rose by the acclaimed French naturalist photographer Paul Starosta.

Inspired by the earlier book of the same title by the American author Bill Adler, the gardening expert Anne Wareham shares her own practical tips on how to outsmart garden pests large and small as well as offering advice on dealing with the horticultural challenges posed by weeds and the weather.

The British have always been a nation of gardeners, and their distinctive creations have been admired and emulated across the globe. This book traces the history of British gardening over 450 years through the stories of 26 key figures, from early plant hunters such as the Tradescants, though the celebrated 18th-century landscape gardeners Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and Humphry Repton to 20th-century pioneers such as Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West. A 32-page section of colour plates showcases their achievements.

Wolfgang Oehme (1930–2011) spearheaded the ‘New American’ garden style that is defined by vast sweeps of herbaceous perennials and grasses. This volume, with photographs of his creations, documents his life in landscape architecture and includes a detailed glossary of the plants that featured in his projects in Germany and the United States.

With a foreword by village fair stalwart Alan Titchmarsh and advice from cookery teacher Thane Prince and gardening expert Matthew Biggs, this illustrated compendium offers a unique insight into the particularities of a great British tradition. It looks at the RHS guidelines on selecting and presenting produce and includes interviews with show veterans and tried-and-tested recipes for cakes, chutneys and jams.

The 18th-century English landscape garden, with its seemingly natural appearance, was a revolution in garden design and left a legacy that can still be seen in surviving gardens and parks today. Symes traces the origins and evolution of the landscape garden throughout the 18th century; discusses its place in contemporary politics, philosophy and culture; and surveys the variety of styles through the works of major designers, from William Kent and the ‘pictorial garden’ to Humphrey Repton and the Picturesque.

Alan Birkett’s practical guide to identifying 150 common species is illustrated with over 1,000 photographs of trees and their bark, leaves, buds, cones, flowers and fruit, showing seasonal changes and noting the time of year when the photograph was taken. In addition to the species descriptions, the guide includes ‘Keys’ to the different types of leaves, bark etc, and ends with a glossary of botanical terms and an index of common and Latin names.

England has a richly varied tradition of garden design, and the past ten to fifteen years have been no exception. The leading horticultural writer Tim Richardson has selected 25 gardens that exemplify this latest phase of creativity and innovation. Most are open to the public, and together they cover a wide range of styles, from the Prince of Wales’s traditional garden at Highgrove, through Arabella Lennox-Boyd’s ‘laboratory for design ideas’ at Gresgarth, Lancashire, to Christopher Bradley-Hole’s Modernist garden at Crockmore House in Oxfordshire.

This practical and easy-to-use guide describes more than 250 species with details of characteristics, range and habitats, botanical illustrations and photographs, notes on similar species and tips for field work. It is introduced by Tony Soper and includes general notes on plant families and a glossary of botanical terms. A plastic jacket makes it suitable for use in the great outdoors.

The British passion for gardens stretches back hundreds of years and has produced an array of horticultural masterpieces from landscaped parks to hidden gems. This practical guidebook, organized by county, describes gardens open to the public and provides maps, directions and contact details. Beautiful photographs show some of these wonderful gardens, including the Lost Gardens of Heligan, Stourhead, Hatfield House, Beth Chatto Gardens, Castle Howard and Drummond Castle Gardens.

This beginner's guide for mature gardeners offers advice on clothing, tools, soil preparation, containers and planting techniques. It explains the health benefits of growing and maintaining flowers, fruit and vegetables, and provides a user-friendly plant directory and glossary.

Aimed at the time-poor gardener who wants to achieve maximum yield with minimum effort, this book explains how to grow apples, pears, plums, cherries, soft fruit and nuts in even the smallest space. Illustrated with photographs of the author’s own garden, it offers practical, easy-to-follow advice on planning and design, what to grow, planting, pruning, mulches, compost, watering, weeding and dealing with pests and diseases.

Drawing on the expertise of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this practical guide selects the best plants for a variety of purposes in and around the home. The varieties are arranged in order of character – structural or edible, for example – and Katherine Price selects those compatible with domestic spaces, from window boxes to bedrooms and bathrooms, and outlines the care that each requires.

In this volume, garden photographer Andrea Jones offers four approaches to garden design: ‘Connect’ provides ideas for paths, lawns and bridges linking spaces together; ‘Divide’ examines how hedges, walls, screens and borders can create rooms within a garden; ‘Space’ explores ways to fill a garden, whatever the size; and ‘Style’ covers every type of garden from formal to oriental. Including directories of designers, festivals, garden centres and public gardens, this is a comprehensive sourcebook for anyone seeking modern garden ideas.

Covering large swathes of the Earth, grasses have been vital to humans for millennia as a building material and source of nutrition. With their diversity of species, colour and size, today they are integral to year-round garden design. This book describes and illustrates many types of grasses, offering practical advice on purchase and care as well as ways to create much more striking effects than a simple well-mown lawn.

Helena Attlee's magnificently illustrated book traces the history of Italian gardens from the Middle Ages, through the classically inspired designs of the Renaissance to the eclectic creations of today.

The five-acre garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll at Upton Grey in Hampshire had fallen into neglect when Rosamund Wallinger and her husband bought the house in 1984. This volume records her meticulous recreation of this horticultural masterpiece, and the painstaking research that informed it. Illustrated with Jekyll’s original plans and photographs of the restored plantings throughout the year, the book showcases the skill that made her one of Britain’s most influential horticultural designers.

As Chris Packham writes in his foreword, gardening need not be a battle for dominance over nature. Val Bourne recounts her own conversion to natural gardening and explains how, by choosing the right plants and allowing natural predators to deal with pests, rather than reaching for chemicals, we can create gardens that are both beautiful and animal friendly. The final chapter suggests 100 plants for an eco-friendly garden that supports and complements its unseen wildlife.

BBC Radio 4's long-running Gardeners’ Question Time is much respected by horticulturalists for its mixture of hands-on practical advice and up-to-date information on gardening matters. With contributions from four of the presenters, this volume distils their wisdom on twelve basic topics including planning a garden, soil, weed control, lawns, planting and combatting pests; and it is illustrated with both how-to-do-it photographs of the gardeners at work and inspirational pictures of what you might achieve.

Award-winning designer Stephen Woodhams views the garden as an extension of the home, to be enjoyed all year round. In this guide, he offers expert advice on finding inspiration, planning, balancing designs, creating a theme or focal point, and planting.

Covering an extraordinary diversity of gardens across the world – classical Chinese aesthetics in Suzhou, cactus terraces in Lanzarote, a Persian oasis in Iran and Gertrude Jekyll’s Arts and Crafts garden at Upton Grey Manor in Hampshire – this is a survey to inspire gardeners and designers. The book looks at 100 exceptional gardens, describing, illustrating and explaining in detail the key elements of each one from a design perspective.

First published in 1770, Thomas Whately’s comprehensive study of the English landscape garden became the standard text on the subject both in Britain and abroad. This first modern edition is accompanied by an introduction and commentary, alongside contemporary illustrations of the gardens and places discussed. It makes available to the modern reader a crucial primary source on what is often regarded as this country’s greatest original contribution to the arts.

Taking the wide range of National Trust garden styles as its inspiration, this illustrated design sourcebook demonstrates how even a small outdoor space can benefit from the details that are found in much larger gardens. There are planting ideas for all seasons, covering colour co-ordination, flower, vegetable, herb and container gardens, and imaginative suggestions for using steps, seats, paths, paving and topiary, with plenty of valuable advice from the Trust’s head gardeners.

This journey through the history of the English garden features twelve of the most important, original and beautiful parks in the country. Garden design changed radically during the 18th century, when French symmetry was replaced by a new landscaped naturalism, and gardeners at Chiswick House, Castle Howard, Studley, Rousham, Stowe, Petworth and elsewhere redefined our ideas of beauty. The erudite narrative is accompanied by contemporary illustrations. No jacket.

In over 30 years, Sir Roy Strong and his wife Julia Trevelyan Oman created a stunning historical garden at their home, The Laskett in Herefordshire. After his wife's death in 2003, Sir Roy decided to remodel the garden, which had become overgrown and closed in on itself. In a book to inspire fellow gardeners, he records the remaking of The Laskett garden in his own words, accompanied by the before-and-after and action photographs of Clive Boursnell.

Since the end of the Second World War, the cartoon gardener Mr Digwell has been dispensing horticultural advice to Daily Mirror readers, and he remains as popular as ever. This collection offers a comprehensive, month-by-month guide to a gardener’s tasks, from winter pruning through spring seed sowing and planting out to autumn lawn care. Clear, simple strip cartoons present up-to-date information on growing flowers, shrubs and vegetables in a reassuringly traditional manner.

Originally an Alpine perennial with medicinal uses, auricula flowers were so colourful and fragrant that people began cultivating the plant purely for pleasure. Easy to propagate and maintain, over the centuries increasing numbers of varieties were produced, 200 of which are listed here with many accompanying photographs. Including advice on exhibiting, dealing with pests and diseases and a fascinating history of the plant, this is a useful reference for casual readers and enthusiasts alike.

Along with a compost carousel – showing what you can and can’t compost – a ‘worms and ladders’ game, compost bingo and a worm identification chart, this guide includes all the practical information you need to start composting at home, as well as three sheets of colourful stickers, a press-out Worm Lovers’ Society card and interesting facts (and jokes) about soil and worms. Age 7+

From an article published in 1900 on Gregor Mendel’s work on peas by William Bateson, the man who coined the term ‘genetics’, to Toby Musgrave on growing heritage fruit and vegetables in 2012, this anthology brings together the best and most important writing from The Garden, the journal of the Royal Horticultural Society. The selections are in chapters ranging from seasons and the weather to the RHS itself, and are interspersed with vibrant illustrations by Jenny Bowers.

The Daily Telegraph has long been popular reading among gardeners, and its pages have featured some of the nation's finest horticultural writers. Compiled by the newspaper's gardening columnist, this lively and varied anthology includes articles by Fred Whitsey, Rosemary Verey and Bunny Guinness, along with the more esoteric musings of Bill Deedes, Germaine Greer and Roy Strong. The subjects range from Vita Sackville West's garden at Sissinghurst to how to grow prize-winning pumpkins. Book club edition.

There is an enormous variety of sun-loving plants, with endless potential for stunning planting schemes. Graham Clarke shows how to select sun-loving varieties and plant with confidence, whatever your experience and abilities.

Behind the high walls of the Vatican, beautifully kept gardens offer the Pope a tranquil refuge, fragrant with sweet herbs and cooled by shade trees and fountains. Linda Kooluris Dobbs's photographs give us access to these normally hidden lawns and avenues, grottoes and parterres, with their fine statuary and fountains, and their imposing backdrop – the buildings of the Vatican and the dome of St Peter's. Kildare Dobbs's introductory essay accompanies this collection of over 140 photographs.

Although famed for its parks, it is the wide range of private gardens that makes London one of the most verdant cities in the world. This well-illustrated volume introduces 30 of its most interesting examples, from the grand and traditional grounds of Clarence House to the allotment tended by Chelsea Flower Show winner Cleve West. They include garden squares, rooftop retreats and even floating gardens created on barges moored in Bermondsey.

For thousands of years, people around the world have adopted belief systems that give a key role to the natural world and the trees, fruits and flowers found there. This book explores this complex subject, pointing to similarities and differences, and showing how belief systems often transfer their ideas to the real world, such as the Pure Land gardens of Buddhist Japan. It is richly illustrated with a mix of historical images and photography of contemporary gardens.

For around 40 years, up to the 1980s, Mr Digwell dispensed his vegetable-growing wisdom via a cartoon strip in the Daily Mirror. Now his straightforward, illustrated instruction and advice on growing your own, which was invaluable during post-war austerity, is as relevant as ever. Based on the original strips, but updated for today’s gardeners, the book has advice on growing vegetables, fruit and herbs; combatting pests; growing in a greenhouse; and storing, preserving and cooking your produce.

This comprehensive guide by Australia’s bestselling author of gardening books has been updated to include 300 new roses. In total, 1,500 species are photographed and listed, with anecdotal descriptions. Species are divided into four sections, with additional information on cultivation and breeders.

Presenting works ranging from Leonard Knyff’s panoramic View of Hampton Court (c.1703) to Fabergé’s enamelled and jewelled flowers (c.1900), this volume draws on the Royal Collection to trace the changing design and function of gardens through the art they have inspired. After a short chapter on early Islamic gardens, the history traces royal and aristocratic garden style from medieval sacred gardens to the 19th-century ‘horticultural garden’, with a final chapter on ceramics and ornament. Foreword by Sir Roy Strong.

During the successful Dig for Victory campaign, which aimed to make wartime Britain self-sufficient, gardeners everywhere dug up their lawns to grow not only fruit and vegetables, but flowers too, inspiring ‘faith, hope, cheerfulness and courage’. From composting to harvesting, this playful history of the campaign features all aspects of wartime gardening, and is vividly illustrated by original pamphlets, recoloured photographs and instructional cartoons.

Part of the Reader's Digest Garden Basics series of straightforward, illustrated guides, this handy, ring-bound book is in two main parts: a seasonal guide to keeping the garden healthy and a directory of over 200 pests and diseases arranged by symptom, with special features on roses, slugs and snails, winter pruning and lawn care. The introductory section includes information on beneficial creatures and using organic treatments.

Throughout history, monarchs around the world have created magnificent gardens both for relaxation and to advertise their wealth and power. Illustrated with 150 colour photographs, this book explores 20 of the finest, including Louis XIV’s Versailles, Frederick the Great’s Sanssouci, the royal palaces of Fez and Edo Castle in Tokyo. Each entry charts the history of the garden, profiles its creators, describes its style, planning and principles, and includes interviews with the present owners.

Providing practical advice and information for would-be mole catchers, this illustrated handbook includes a history of the trade, descriptions of trap types, useful tips, answers to frequently asked questions, and guidance on the most humane modern methods of capture.

This extensively illustrated guide includes a short history of roses, their origin and symbolism, followed by descriptions of more than 60 varieties, from traditional favourites to modern blooms, and offers easy-to-follow advice on cultivation, pruning and care.

From formal topiary at Levens Hall, Cumbria, to the seemingly natural flower meadows of Piet Oudolf’s Millennium Garden at Pensthorpe Waterfowl Park in Norfolk, Ursula Buchan presents a thematic survey of English domestic gardens, illustrated with over 300 photographs by Andrew Lawson.

After reflecting on the reasons why people visit gardens and especially why gardeners visit other people’s plots, Louisa Jones looks at ten types of garden, including historic gardens, cottage and kitchen gardens, plantsmen’s collections, outdoor art and Mediterranean, Japanese-inspired and minimalist gardens. She discusses the key elements of each type and how the visitor should approach them; then invites ten experts to choose their favourite gardens from around the world.

Charting the setting up of a community allotment in the Devon village of Cornworthy, the first-hand accounts in this book describe their initial planning and preparation, before progressing through the seasons. There is a wealth of practical advice given, on establishing a plot, choice of crops, rotation and how to deal with pests.

This beginners guide to indoor planting features 20 projects to add low-maintenance greenery to your home, including terrariums, kokedama (moss balls), succulents and bonsai. Instructions are also given for making a variety of containers in which to display them.

To understand what constitutes ‘rococo’ in a garden, Michael Symes surveys 18th-century English gardens, including Painswick, Stowe, Hampton Court House and Frampton Court, and discusses features such as rocks and shells, Gothic ornamentation and chinoiserie, that are characteristic of the style.

Combining specially commissioned drawings and a short history of each maze, this book allows the reader to trace a route through 60 of the world’s most beguiling life-size puzzles. Both real and imagined, they range from the Nazca Lines of Peru and Roman mosaics in Portugal and Pompeii to the Winchester labyrinth, supposedly constructed by a melancholy schoolboy, and the walls of yew around which an axe-wielding Jack Nicholson lumbers in Kubrick’s The Shining.

Matthew Biggs profiles the lives and achievements of 35 botanists whose work in fields such as plant collecting, plant-based medicine, genetics or hybridization has significantly increased our understanding of plants. Richly illustrated with horticultural drawings, portraits and photographs, and noting how each botanist can inspire today’s gardeners, the book is arranged chronologically from the ‘Father of Pharmacology’, Pedanius Dioscorides (fl. 50 CE), through figures including Linnaeus, Joseph Banks and Gregor Mendel, to Patrick Blanc, the pioneer of vertical gardening.

Drawing on diaries and sketchbooks kept by visitors over three centuries, this book presents the histories of the 16 finest parks and gardens in Wales. An examination of travel conditions in the age of the stagecoach precedes a survey of changing horticultural fashions from the Renaissance to the end of the Romantic era. More than 200 period paintings, drawings and engravings are shown with photographs of the gardens today.

Written for the reluctant gardener, this is a guide to what not to do in the garden. Rather than letting your plot revert to wilderness, Wareham (the gardener of Veddw House, near Tintern) encourages finding easier ways to do the jobs you dislike and suggests effective alternatives. The book is arranged by season, from what not to do in spring (grow roses – if you don’t grow them they won’t need pruning), to winter (washing empty pots – madness).

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