Gardens (descriptions, history etc) Books

Book SynopsisThe 18th-century phenomenon of the English Landscape Garden was so widespread that even today, when so much has been built over or otherwise changed, one is never far from an example throughout England. Although seemingly natural, the English Landscape Garden was generally the result of considerable contrivance, effort and design skill, the result of `the art that conceals art’. It might involve digging lakes, raising or levelling hills, and planting trees, sometimes in vast numbers. Nature was arranged and shown to best advantage. The English landscape garden took many forms, and the variety of manifestations was and remains remarkable. A great number survive, if sometimes in modified form, and can be visited and appreciated. The book is structured so as to give the background to, and motivation for, creating the landscape garden; to summarise the chronology of its development; to chart the most significant writers and theorists; and to consider the range of the many forms it took. The story of the landscape garden is complex, multi-layered and constantly changing in emphasis for such an apparently simple and straightforward construct. This book will help to uncover some of the richness that lies behind a meaningful part of the environment. The book can be regarded as a companion to the volume already published by Historic England, The English Landscape Garden in Europe.Trade ReviewReviews'An authority on the 18th-century garden, the author clearly sees both trees and woods—and, indeed, the whole purview of how and why English gardens assumed such a central role in the Enlightenment—making his latest work an excellent introduction to the subject.’ Tiffany Daneff, Country Life'Symes does an excellent job of synthesizing a large body of research and allowing the reader to distinguish the wood from the trees: the detail is there, but the bigger picture is to the fore. [...] Symes’s book provides an excellent and engaging overview of its subject: one that will satisfy many readers and encourage others to find out more.' Jon Stobart, Agricultural History ReviewTable of Contents1. The 18th century and the landscape garden 2. The evolution of the landscape garden 3. Theorists and writers 4. Extensive, rural or forest gardening 5. The `artinatural’ garden 6. Garden iconography 7. William Kent and the pictorial garden 8. The poetic or literary garden 9. The mid-century circuit garden 10. Plantings 11. The ferme ornée 12. The terrace walk 13. `Capability’ Brown and the Brownians 14. The Picturesque and Sublime 15. Repton and a new direction 16. Legacy

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Book SynopsisA showcase of Britain's most extraordinary gardens and landscapes from the twentieth century to present day. 100 20th-Century Gardens and Landscapes highlights the evolution of gardens and landscapes over the past century, tracing how these distinctive creations complemented buildings of their period. Entries in this book are grouped in chronological periods, documenting changing styles and techniques in a visual timeline. The examples chosen take the story from the Arts and Crafts garden and the garden city, through the landscapes created for mid-century housing and the new towns, to the low-maintenance gardens of the 1980s and contemporary trends for community and wildlife gardens. Designed landscapes were often integral to the conception of twentieth-century developments; the inclusion of a handful of particularly successful landscapes for memorial gardens, offices, industry, transport and parks demonstrate a changing attitude to public green space during the century and its increasing importance as private gardens have become ever smaller. Designers and architects such as Piet Oudolf, Charles Jencks, Frederick Gibberd, Geoffrey Jellicoe, Vita Sackville-West and Gertrude Jekyll are all featured, alongside more detailed essays on the history of gardens, planting styles, the importance of modern landscapes, and the career of Geoffrey Jellicoe. The text is written by architectural, landscape and garden historians including Elain Harwood, Barbara Simms and Alan Powers. Beautifully illustrated throughout with photography, illustrations and garden plans, this book is ideal for gardeners and landscape lovers alike.Trade Review'Refreshingly wide in scope … intelligent and thought-provoking' -- The Times'This enjoyable and colourful guided tour through landscapes from the Arts and Crafts via the Barbican to Derek Jarman’s Dungeness cottage might make an enticing gazetteer for a summer spent closer to home than usual.' * Financial Times *'A catalogue of private and public gardens that well illustrates how garden design and landscape architecture emerged together during that century.' -- George Plumptre * Daily Telegraph *'A shorthand way to appreciate the way garden designers, town planners, landscape architects and others help shape the world around us. And that is certainly worth celebrating.' * The Garden *'Casts a much needed light on why it is so important now to discuss, protect and preserve these spaces' * Rakesprogress magazine *'An absorbing history of a much-loved but much overlooked part of our lives' * Reclaim Magazine *

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Book SynopsisExplore the mystery of what makes us love gardening, via history, science, art and philosophy. Whether you seek sanctuary in your potting shed, find paradise amongst your patio plants or enjoy the simple solace of your hands in the soil, there is beauty, peace and happiness to be found for every gardener in this thoughtful and entertaining collection. Both a hymn to gardening and a call to action, this down-to-earth guide is worth a hundred 'how-tos'. Wander the gardens of Giverny with Monet to create your own 'beautiful masterpiece' or, like George Orwell, reap the joy to be found in the work of a vegetable plot. Discover the soothing symmetry in the spiral of sunflower seeds, or, like William Morris, provide a wild abundance for the natural visitors to your garden. Drawing inspiration from gardening greats – from the ancient Greek and French philosophers Epicurus and Voltaire, via the wisdom of Margery Fish and Gertrude Jekyll, to Monty Don and modern-day guerrilla gardeners – this beautifully illustrated compilation is a thoughtful gift for any gardener.Trade Review‘Unusual and compelling … Highly recommended’ The Field ‘[Claire] deftly unpicks complex concepts that will leave you thinking long after the book is closed; the mark of a consummate writer. This is a book for every bedside table’ The English Garden 'A lovely read to enjoy whilst sitting on your patio this spring’ Wildflower ‘This is a lovely little book’ Blackberry Garden Blog ‘Soothing and eloquent … a labour of love, as alluring to look at, with colourful illustrations packing the pages, as it is to read.’ Barney Bardsley, Yorkshire Magazine ‘Thoughtful’ Gardens Illustrated

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Book Synopsis A glorious celebration, this landmark book is an explorationof the greatest gardens, parks and landscapes in Britain, with stunning photography accompanied by insightful text from leading garden historians and conservators. It is lovingly curated by The Gardens Trust, a prominent UK conservation charity dedicated to preserving, studying and spotlighting historic gardens. Arranged chronologically, it covers around 60 individual gardens, specially selected to give a broad historical overview of British garden design from the Early Modern Period up until the Millennium. Each chapter also includes an intruiging essay, exploring the wider changes in social context, taste and style in each period. Entries include: Elizabethan splendour at Kenilworth Castle. Spectacular landscapes by Capability Brown at Alnwick Castle and Chatsworth. Birkenhead Park, the Victorian inspiration for New York's Central Park. The classic cottage garden created by Margery Fish at East Lambrook, Somerset. Ian Hamilton Finlay's modern Scottish masterpiece, Little Sparta. Go on a voyage of garden discovery with this beautiful book, and learn more about the gardens and landscapes that are a much-loved part of our shared national story.

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Book SynopsisThis book presents a chronological review of garden design which both simplifies the big picture and supplies a rationale, with examples, of the merits and demerits of each design period while reflecting on the social conditions which generated each one. It gathers together design ideas and their implementation over the last 500 years, presented in historical order and simplified to allow easy digestion by the reader, particularly if meeting the subject for the first time. As such the book demystifies history and identifies the relative importance of new approaches in design, particularly where they are seen to be progressive. Essential examples from each design period or style are included, based upon their contribution to the progress of design and relating to their value, particularly in the teaching of garden and landscape design principles. Thus the reader will be able to quickly grasp the essence of historical design styles, discover where they can go to see them for themselves and to appreciate how relevant they are to present day theories of design.By concentrating on Britain's own heritage the book offers a sound understanding of influences and thereby helps to inform design practice. Since the principles of design are universal, it will be of relevance in many countries throughout the world. The book is illustrated with photographs, diagrams and plans, creating a readily-accessible and informative volume.Trade Review'Anyone looking around a park, a garden or an estate landscape, wondering how and why it came to be like it is, needs this book. ...such impressive detail and knowledge. ... There's a sense of being in the hands of a very competent no-nonsense teacher with his eye on the ball. It's so clear, informative and concise. ...this book is added value. It makes you think as well as look. An education, in fact.' Gloucestershire Gardens & Landscape Trust Newsletter 'Gordon Haynes identifies principal designers during the period, extant examples, and the principal components, before going on to discuss in detail the history and design, contextualising the features which define the stage using pictures and photographs where possible to illustrate his points.' ProLandscaper 'I am very impressed with this very comprehensive and ordered publication concentrating on our British landscape history. I particularly like the way it covers the specific architecture and landscape features of the period and relevant historical landscape, in a way that none of the other texts we currently have on our reading lists really cover. ...it also fills in many gaps with the less known therefore providing us with a detailed and comprehensive resource and account of our landscape history.' Senior Lecturer, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK '...a beautiful book that is ideal for touring the rich history of the British garden and landscape architecture... The book is of course also suitable as teaching material about history, with an extensive bibliography for further study. ...a pleasant book...' Blauwe Kamer '...will open eyes and minds and encourage designers and students alike to look deeper into the subject of garden history. ...it will give them an insight into garden history, this being extremely important'. Garden Design Journal '...Gordon Haynes... seeks to acquaint the reader with the relationship between good landscapes and examples drawn from history. ...this book is the ideal companion for travelers to Britain who enjoy touring famous country houses'. Chicago Botanic Garden '...an account (and an extraordinarily wide-ranging one) of garden styles in Britain from 1500 to the present day, but it is also a pithy critique of attempts, particularly in recent years, to categorise and conserve the best parks and gardens that survive from the parst. ... It is written with great good humour and in a relaxed, non-academic style. Although primarily appealing to readers who are relatively new to garden history or conservation, even the most jaded of experts will surely enjoy this fresh approach'. Historic Gardens Review 'It is refreshing to find a book on the history of landscape and garden design which focuses on British gardens. ... I enjoyed this romp through garden history, which clearly explains the differences between the various garden design periods without going into too much detail or theory. ...anyone with a curiosity or love of garden design in the UK would find this an admirable reference aid.' Dorset Garden Trust Newsletter

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Book SynopsisOxford Botanic Garden has occupied its central Oxford site next to the river Cherwell continuously since its foundation in 1621 and is the UK’s oldest botanic garden. The birthplace of botanical science in the UK, it has been a leading centre for research since the 1600s. Today, the garden holds a collection of over 5,000 different types of plant, some of which exist nowhere else and are of international conservation importance. This guide explores Oxford Botanic Garden’s many historic and innovative features, from the walled garden to the waterlily pool, the glasshouses, the rock garden, the water garden and ‘Lyra’s bench’. It also gives a detailed explanation of the medicinal and taxonomic beds and special plant collections. Lavishly illustrated with photographs taken throughout the seasons, this book not only provides a fascinating historical overview but also offers a practical guide to the Oxford Botanic Garden and its work today. Featuring a map of the entire site and a historical timeline, it is guaranteed to enhance any visit, and is also a beautiful souvenir to take home.

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Book SynopsisA book that debunks the popular myth that William Wordsworth was, first and foremost, a poet of daffodils, Wordsworth's Gardens and Flowers: The Spirit of Paradise provides a vivid account of Wordsworth as a gardening poet who not only wrote about gardens and flowers but also designed - and physically worked in - his gardens. Wordsworth's Gardens and Flowers: The Spirit of Paradise is a book of two halves. The first section focuses on the gardens that Wordsworth made at Grasmere and Rydal in the English Lake District, and also in Leicestershire, at Coleorton. The gardens are explored via his poetry and prose and the journals of his sister, Dorothy Wordsworth. In the second half of the book, the reader learns more of Wordsworth's use of flowers in his poetry, exploring the vital importance of British flowers and other 'unassuming things' to his work, as well as their wider cultural, religious and political meaning. Throughout, the engaging, accessible text is woven around illustrations that bring Wordsworth's gardens and flowers to life, including rare botanical prints, many reproduced here for the first time in several decades. Contents: Part One: The Gardens and their Maker Part Two: Flowers and the Poetry A Note on the Botanical Plates List of Illustrations AcknowledgementsTrade Review‘Well researched and beautifully designed.’ -- Peter Parker, Hortus MagazineTable of ContentsContents: Part One: The Gardens and their Maker Part Two: Flowers and the Poetry A Note on the Botanical Plates List of Illustrations Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisThis seminal study, from one of Britain's most eminent landscape historians, takes a chronological tour through British parks and gardens since Roman times. Each chapter introduces the characteristic features of parks and gardens in each period and explores the social and economic context for their construction. Chris Taylor then provides a detailed explanation of specific sites and draws on 100 aerial photographs to illustrate a new and different perspective of Britain's cherished parks and gardens. * Written by Britain's best known landscape historian * An ideal guide for visitors to Britain's wonderful spectrum of parks and gardensTrade ReviewThe author is a pioneer in the study of gardens through archaeology and this book will be animportant contribution to the subject. -- Keith Goodway This will undoubtedly provide an important contribution to the study of garden history and to landscape history as a whole ... This is hardly surprising as Christopher Taylor is the foremost practitioner of garden archaeology in the UK. -- H. G. Welfare I have no doubt this will be an excellent book ... new, refreshing andthought-provoking. -- Professor Mick Aston, University of Bristol It is always a pleasure to read a book by Christopher Taylor and this does not disappoint ... a volume packed with information, and with a torrent of new ideas and insights. The author is a pioneer in the study of gardens through archaeology and this book will be animportant contribution to the subject. This will undoubtedly provide an important contribution to the study of garden history and to landscape history as a whole ... This is hardly surprising as Christopher Taylor is the foremost practitioner of garden archaeology in the UK. I have no doubt this will be an excellent book ... new, refreshing andthought-provoking. It is always a pleasure to read a book by Christopher Taylor and this does not disappoint ... a volume packed with information, and with a torrent of new ideas and insights.

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Book SynopsisThe perfect companion to Merrell's bestselling Dream Homes and More Dream Homes, Dream Gardens is a stylish sourcebook of 100 modern and contemporary gardens from around the world. Now available in paperback for the first time, this critically acclaimed volume presents an array of wonderful locations and garden-design ideas, from small, sophisticated, minimalist city gardens to large, richly planted gardens in breathtaking rural locations. Each garden is beautifully photographed to show all its key features and essential details, while concise descriptions explore the aims and achievements of some of today's most influential garden designers. With full captions identifying the plants depicted, Dream Gardens is a valuable source of information and inspiration.Trade ReviewOne of these rare garden books that is as useful as it is beautiful - SUNDAY TELEGRAPH A stylish sourcebook of 100 modern and contemporary gardens from around the world, and an ideal read for avid gardening fans - THE PASS

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Book SynopsisKiftsgate Court, perched on the northern edge of the Cotswolds Hills in Gloucestershire, is a garden composed of many different scenes. Some elements - the bluebell wood, the clipped hedging and the rose border, with its famously huge Kiftsgate rose - are traditionally English, but there are also areas of Italianate planting and terracing, and others where a mixture of perennials, roses and rare and exotic shrubs thrive side by side. Equally remarkable is the fine balance between continuity and gentle evolution that the visitor finds at Kiftsgate. This is largely because the garden has belonged to the same family since its creation 100 years ago. Three women have tended Kiftsgate, each one its driving force for a third of a century, and each building on the legacy of the previous generation. In 1919 Heather Muir and her husband, Jack, bought the house, which stands on a relatively narrow plateau from which a bank plunges 100 feet. Heather gave Kiftsgate its structure, laying out the semi-formal gardens by the house, planting the tapestry hedge and rose garden, and terracing the banks. In 1954 Heather was succeeded by her daughter, Diany Binny, who extended and developed her mother's planting, made more borders and paths, and refashioned the White Sunk Garden. Since the late 1980s Diany's daughter, Anne Chambers, has been at the helm, further modernizing the garden and its planting, creating new areas of interest, and opening more often to the public. As Robin Lane Fox, who has written the foreword, comments: `There is nowhere else in Britain that has such a family tradition of planting and dedication ... It is intimate but many-sided, evolving but with roots in a remarkable past.' This beautiful new book - the first dedicated to Kiftsgate - is structured in two main parts. For the first, `The History', Vanessa Berridge has had exclusive access to the Kiftsgate archive, which contains not only family photographs but also letters from their gardening friends, helping us to understand why and how Heather, Diany and Anne have gardened. Among the circle of friends and acquaintances who feature are Lawrence Johnston of Hidcote Manor (Kiftsgate's neighbour); Vita Sackville-West, the creator of Sissinghurst Castle Garden; and the horticulturalist Graham Stuart Thomas, gardens adviser to the National Trust. The second part of the book takes the reader on an extended tour of the garden, illustrated by the glorious photography of Sabina Ruber. The tour concludes with notes on Kiftsgate's signature plants and Anne Chambers's personal reflections on this, one of the great gardens of England.Table of ContentsForeword by Robin Lane Fox Introduction The History: Early Kiftsgate Heather Muir: An Eye for Colour Diany Binny: A Practical Plantswoman Anne Chambers: The Modernizing Spirit The Garden: Arrival at Kiftsgate and Bluebell Wood House and Side Lawn Four Squares Wide Border White Sunk Garden Bridge Border Rose Border Fern Border and Wild Flower Corner Water Garden Yellow Border North Border The Banks Lower Garden Orchard, Mound and Tulip Avenue Timeline The 'Kiftsgate' Rose Kiftsgate's Signature Plants Afterword by Anne Chambers Select Bibliography Acknowledgements Index

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Book SynopsisBorde Hill Garden is set in historic parkland in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in West Sussex. The Elizabethan mansion was purchased in the 1890s by Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke (known as Stephie), who set about creating the garden and woodland using plants from several continents brought back to England by the great plant hunters of the early 1900s. Well over a century and three generations later, Borde Hill remains in the ownership of the Stephenson Clarke family, and today is renowned for its collection of rare shrubs and trees. This beautiful new book - the first dedicated to Borde Hill - is structured in two main parts. For the first, 'The History', Vanessa Berridge has had exclusive access to the Borde Hill archive, which contains not only family photographs but also a wealth of written sources, such as letters between Stephie and nurserymen, directors of botanical gardens, other landowners, and plant hunters. Giving unique insight into the horticultural world and social history of the interwar years, this correspondence reveals acts of courage by such famed plant explorers as George Forrest and Ernest Wilson and the professional level of accomplishment of Stephie and his gardening acquaintances. The second part of the book takes the reader on an extended tour of the garden, illustrated by the glorious photography of John Glover. Borde Hill is laid out as a series of intimate outdoor 'rooms', including the Old Rhododendron Garden, the Rose Garden and the terraced Italian Garden. With its variety further encompassing wide lawns that flow out into the countryside, many plant species not found elsewhere in Britain and one of the country's largest collections of privately owned rare trees, it is no wonder that Borde Hill lays claim to offering visitors the world in one garden. Concluding with information on Borde Hill's historic plants, its many RHS Awards of Merit and its 70 champion trees, this authoritative, engaging book is a fitting celebration of one of Britain's great heritage gardens.Table of ContentsForeword by Stephen Lacey Map Introduction: The World in One Garden The History The Garden Historic Borde Hill Plants RHS Awards for Borde Hill Plants Borde Hill's Champion Trees Timeline Family Tree Select Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis"I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I cannot wait to visit Upton Grey to see the garden for myself." Garden Design Journal Gertrude Jekyll was perhaps the most important British garden designer of the 20th century. She famously argued that gardening ought to be considered a Fine Art, highlighting that it becomes a point of honour to be always striving for the best. This volume examines Jekyll's work at Manor House, Upton Grey in Hampshire, offering an insight into her eclectic, imaginative, and inspiring art. Designed between 1908 and 1909, and once maintained by as many as nine gardeners, the garden fell into disrepair by the second half of the twentieth century, before a full and accurate restoration was carried out in the early 1980s.  Gertrude Jekyll: Her Art Restored at Upton Grey presents a visual record of the garden's plants and layout, with original plans and photographs, as well as beautiful images of the garden taken since its restoration. There is also a fascinating chapter about Miss Jekyll's discovery, admiration and use of Mediterranean plants. The book succeeds in illustrating exactly why Jekyll was so admired in her lifetime and why she continues to inspire and influence gardeners today. Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: The Garden from 1902 to the Start of its Restoration in 1984 Chapter 2: The Rose Garden Chapter 3: The Dry-Stone Walls Chapter 4: The Main Herbaceous Borders Chapter 5: The Pergola, the Rose Arbour and Surrounding Garden Chapter 6: Miss Gertrude Jekyll's Mediterranean travels and plant discoveries and their use at Upton Grey Chapter 7: The Wild Garden Chapter 8: The Art Completed Also available: The English Garden Through the Twentieth Century ISBN: 9781870673297Table of ContentsContents: Introduction Chapter 1: The Garden from 1902 to the Start of its Restoration in 1984 Chapter 2: The Rose Garden Chapter 3: The Dry-Stone Walls Chapter 4: The Main Herbaceous Borders Chapter 5: The Pergola, the Rose Arbour and Surrounding Garden Chapter 6: Miss Gertrude Jekyll's Mediterranean travels and plant discoveries and their use at Upton Grey Chapter 7: The Wild Garden Chapter 8: The Art Completed

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Book Synopsis"'Walpole's achievement has to be saluted all the more when it is realized that single-handedly he determined (or distorted) the writing of landscape architecture history to this day' John Dixon Hunt in Greater Perfection: the practice of garden theory" By a mile, this is the most brilliant and most influential essay ever written on English garden history. For two centuries it mapped the whole landscape of the subject. However, the author was partial in the highest degree. Horace Walpole believed in progress, in modernisation, and the superiority of everything English to almost everything that had gone before. He had a special dislike of Baroque gardens, as exemplified by Versailles, which for him symbolised absolutism, tyranny, and the oppression of nature.Trade Review"Walpole's achievement has to be saluted all the more when it is realized that single-handedly he determined (or distorted) the writing of landscape architecture history to this day' John Dixon Hunt in Greater Perfection: the practice of garden theory"

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Book SynopsisIllustrated with lush reproductions of Grant and Nixie''s art and photographs of their amazing garden, The Romance Continues is a love story, an art-appreciation adventure and a garden tour, all wrapped up in one gorgeous volume. Nationally known artists Grant Leier and Nixie Barton are also husband and wife, parents and the creators of an astonishing and whimsical garden on Vancouver Island. Their paintings differ greatly, though both artists make extensive use of rich, luminous and vibrant colours, and both are widely admired and collected. Over their long careers, Grant and Nixie have experimented with subjects and styles, and observing the growth and change in their work is fascinating. When they moved to a rural, seven-acre property, they turned their love of colour and sense of fun onto the land, and the rambling, witty garden they created is a visual spectacle that draws thousands of delighted visitors every year.

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Book SynopsisA year in the life of a garden. From the stillness of winter, unfurling through spring and summer to the contentment of autumn, this imaginative interpretation of a specific space - a twelve-acre garden within an urban university campus - exposes a secret oasis, full of surprises. This book presents the personal vision of the Artist in Residence at the Harris Garden in the University of Reading. Jenny Halstead captures the seasonal changes, portrays the stages of its renovation, and celebrates its enthusiastic workforce, especially the many volunteers. Accompanied by a history of the garden and an account of its restoration, these paintings and sketches memorialise a place in time.

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Book SynopsisExplore the riches of London's historic gardens as well as the city's most exciting contemporary gardens and meet the people who tend them. Uncover a world of intrepid guerrilla gardeners and vibrant community initiatives, of soothing therapeutic gardens, and roof gardens that thrive high above street level. There's coverage of London's world-famous RHS flower shows too, as well as its ever-popular Open Garden Squares Weekend, and a hand-picked selection of remarkable private gardens that open for the National Gardens Scheme.Trade Review"What a great book. Having gardened in London all my life it feels as if it’s been written just for me. I thought I knew all the best gardening places but there are quite a few I hadn’t discovered till now and will have to check out.” Joe Swift, garden designer

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Book SynopsisGuides you to some of the best and most varied gardens that are regularly open to the public in Sussex. This book covers the gardens in a wide geographical, historical and stylistic spread and, where appropriate, sets them within their architectural context; many associated with the county's leading historical, artistic and literary figures.

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Book SynopsisLooks at the gardeners behind public parks and spaces and those whose small private paradises are so entraling, catch some of Angus White's boundless enthusiasm for his architectural plants and even peer over the county fence to look at Derek Jarman's wonderful painterly garden in Dungeness.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive account of the history, accession, care and maintainance of RBGE's living plant collection across our four Gardens.

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Book SynopsisRousham in Oxfordshire was one of the first landscape gardens created in England and is, still, one of the most influential. Designed by William Kent in the late 1730s for the Cottrell-Dormer family (who are its owners today) it has become a place of pilgrimage for landscape architects and garden designers worldwide as well as garden lovers. Its magical glades and sculptural set-pieces have long intrigued Francis Hamel, who has lived and worked there for 25 years. Since the beginning of 2020 he has composed an extraordinary collection of paintings that capture the gardens and their magic. With essays by Tom Stuart-Smith, Joanna Kavenna and Christopher Woodward, the reader is led down its mysterious pathways; from tree-shaded walks peopled with statues of Pan, Venus and other immortals to sun-dappled meadows carpeted with wild flowers. It is just as Kent left it– a secret garden that is open to all.

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Book SynopsisWithout Nancy Tennant, Humphrey Waterfield's exquisite horticultural creations might never have existed. The two of them were life-long partners and together created 'the most beautiful small garden in England' at Hill Pasture in Essex and collaborated on the restoration of the gardens at Le Clos du Peyronnet, Menton, France. It was Nancy who kept Hill Pasture going during the Second World War, and this garden and subsequently Le Clos became their earthly paradise, publicly acclaimed works of art and a consolation for the loss and trauma of their pasts. The gardens were a smokescreen for their deepest feelings, but one day, the smoke would begin to clear and the truth of who and how they really loved would be plain to see. It wasn't what it appeared to be, at all. This challenging love story of paradise lost, found and lost again is set against the backdrop of the 20th century, the traumas of two world wars, polarised British politics, the changing position of women in society, and the transformative power of nature's beauty on the human heart.

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Book SynopsisGarden history is more than the study of individuals such as 'Capability Brown' who created estates for a wealthy élite. A new approach, which includes insights from geology and archaeology, the perspectives of social class and gender, the history of art and architecture, science, technology and literature, is changing our perspective so that we can see gardens and gardening within wider social, economic, political and cultural contexts. Landscapes were created, formed and interpreted by town dwellers, women and lesser-known gardeners and designers as well as the 'great men' of the past. Based on papers given at a conference at the University of Birmingham, and written by distinguished scholars who are also writing for a wide audience, these essays highlight the wealth of recent research into landscape and green spaces in the West Midlands. The book ranges from the Picturesque movement in Herefordshire to William Shenstone's unique ferme ornée at The Leasowes, near Halesowen and the aspirational gardens and allotments of the Quaker ironmasters at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire. Other contributions celebrate women's entrepreneurial activity in the nursery trade, chart the uncovering and restoration of a hidden eighteenth-century landscape at Hagley in Worcestershire and explore the lost Vauxhall pleasure gardens in Birmingham, which were established as a commercial venture in the eighteenth century. An examination of Victorian public parks reveals how their aesthetics were shaped by architecture made from the products of manufacturing industry while a study of three modest suburban estates considers how local industrialists shaped the environment of south Birmingham. The relationships between health, medicine and green spaces are explored through an analysis of the role of 'therapeutic landscapes' in late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century Worcestershire. Enhanced with maps, plans and black-and-white and colour illustrations, this is a volume of important scholarship that places the West Midlands at the heart of landscape history.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Gardens and green spaces in the West Midlands since 1700 Malcolm Dick and Elaine Mitchell 1 A landscape of `ravishing varieties’: the origins of picturesque landscaping in Stuart and Georgian Herefordshire David Whitehead 2 Exploring a landscape garden: William Shenstone at The Leasowes John Hemingway 3 Coalbrookdale: more than an eighteenth-century industrial landscape Harriet Devlin MBE 4 Duddeston’s `shady walks and arbours’: the provincial pleasure garden in the eighteenth century Elaine Mitchell 5 Enterprising women: shaping the business of gardening in the Midlands, 1780–1830 Dianne Barre 6 Manufactured landscapes: Victorian public parks and the industrial imagination Katy Layton-Jones 7 `Almost in the country’: Richard Cadbury, Joseph Chamberlain and the landscaping of south Birmingham Maureen Perrie 8 Care in the countryside: the theory and practice of therapeutic landscapes in the early twentieth century Clare Hickman 9 Finding my place: rediscovering Hagley Park Joe Hawkins

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Book Synopsis2018 marks the bicentenary of the death of Humphry Repton, one of the most important and prolific of English landscape designers. Repton made a particularly significant contribution to the landscape of Hertfordshire, working at no less than eighteen places in the county, ranging in size from great mansions like Cashiobury and Panshanger to more modest 'villas' owned by wealthy businessmen and industrialists, such as Woodhill in Essendon. This book - the fruits of many years of research by members of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust Research Group - describes in detail all of these commissions, assessing in each case the extent to which Repton's ideas were actually implemented and how much survives of them on the ground today. Particular attention is given to those places for which Repton prepared one of his famous 'Red Books', such as Tewin Water, Lamer House, New Barnes and Wall Hall. But sites where Repton's contribution is less well documented are also discussed, including Organ Hall and Hilfield House in Aldenham, Cashiobury Park and The Grove in Watford, Brookmans Park, Bedwell Park, Wyddial Hall, and Marchmont House in Hemel Hempstead. In all cases, the book presents complete transcriptions of all the key documents relating to Repton's activities, including the full text of seven Red Books. The introductory essay by Tom Williamson sets Repton's activities in Hertfordshire within the wider context of his career, and also shows how his work in the county can cast important new light on his style, and on its economic, aesthetic and ideological implications. Profusely illustrated in colour with reproductions of all the Red Book watercolours, together with extracts from contemporary estate maps, sketches and other material, this scholarly yet readable volume will be of considerable interest to garden historians, landscape historians, and all those interested in Hertfordshire's rich historic heritage.Table of ContentsRepton in Hertfordshire: an introduction The Major Sites: Ashridge House, Little Gaddesden Haileybury College, Great Amwell Lamer House, Wheathampstead New Barnes, St Peter and St Stephen (St Albans) Panshanger, Hertford St Andrew Tewin Water, Tewin and Digswell Wall Hall, St Stephen (St Albans) and Aldenham Woodhill, Essendon The Minor Sites: Bedwell Park, Essendon and Little Berkhampstead Brookmans Park, South Mimms Cashiobury Park, Watford Digswell, Digswell The Grove, Watford Hilfield, Aldenham Little Court, Buntingford (Layston) Marchmont House, Hemel Hempstead Offley Place, Great Offley Organ Hall, Aldenham Wyddial Hall, Wyddial

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Book SynopsisAfter publishing Scent Magic, an acclaimed memoir of plants, gardens and scent, Isabel Bannerman couldn’t leave the subject alone. ‘I came across the star-nosed mole, an adorable and preposterous creature with a highly specialized sensory-motor organ, while writing about the riches of the soil kingdom … and, somewhat mole-like … as I was trying to write about the impossibility of writing effectively about smell, I began to nose around for great writers’ solutions to this problem. How and how much have writers considered the lilies of the field and how they smell. I began grazing on literature and gathering in my stores of quotes.’ In reviews of Scent Magic, Isabel was lauded for ‘putting into words what so much escapes language. With a wonderful range of reference and allusion, it's nothing less than poetry... (Evening Standard)’. And in this anthology, with her beautifully written linking passages bringing carefully chosen quotations together with her dramatic, powerful and mysterious plant images, she evokes the scented garden through poetry and prose spanning millennia, from Ovid to Proust, Milton to George Eliot, and Emily Dickinson to Alice Oswald.Trade Review"Looking for a present for a bookish garden-lover? The Star-Nosed Mole evokes the joys of a scented garden through exquisite poetry, prose and pictures." * Country Living *"It's the author's own nose for telling detail that brings alive what might at first appear a straightforward anthology, but turns out to be anything but...This is, in the author's own words, a 'commonplace book of smelly thoughts' that will set the reader on a tantalising path of exploration...led by the capricious mind of one of our best garden makers." * Country Life *"Superbly illustrated by Isabel’s own stunning unique botanical photographs which are a sheer joy...a wonderful collection to help the reader re-connect with scent and smell. This is a book to cheer you up on the wet, cold days, a book to pop open and discover a beautifully written passage or poem and I loved it." * Reckless Gardener *"A wonderful book to keep at the bedside through the seasons." -- The English Garden"Scent Magic was a triumph and this latest publication a further em of horticultural literature, an exquisite collection of quotations from great writers organised by month, each introduced with a passage from the author and all beautifully illustrated by her unique plant photographs." -- Paddy Tobin * An Irish Gardener *"I particularly enjoyed Shafer ben Utman al-Mushafi’s erotic poem, ‘Quince’, but there are many well-chosen gems from more than two millennia, from Sappho to Alice Oswald." -- Ursula Buchan * Spectator Best Gardening Books of 2021 *"Magical and dreamy. Its beautifully written passages link evocative quotations with striking plant images, stimulating the smells of the garden and childhood memories, the months and seasons, through poetry and prose spanning millennia. Designed to be dipped into when the mood takes you." * Plant Life *"In this charismatic anthology, Bannerman curates her selected texts seasonally and we journey through the garden year in the company of great writers, across millennia and culture. Like smell itself, the book is simultaneously broad yet intimate...An evocative reminder to follow your nose and enjoy the seasonal scents of the moment, right where you are." * Gardens Illustrated *"Enjoyment of gardens and plants is a many-splendoured thing. Our response to both is multifaceted, as layers of meaning and memory are laid down with every fresh encounter with nature. Scent is a key component, and this wondrous book — a mystical amalgam of poetry and prose, combined with the author’s extraordinary photographs — brings this essential sensory element of the joy of gardening to the fore." -- Rachel de Thame * Sunday Times Gardening Books of the Year *"A fascinating anthology of writings that evoke the scent of plants. Beautifully illustrated with her own photography." * This England *"An amiable (and keenly priced) anthology of verse and prose on the beguiling topic of scent in the garden and field." * Sunday Telegraph Gardening Books of the Year *"The title refers to those virtually blind, velvet-skinned hunters with huge spade claws and such sensitive schnozzes that they can even smell underwater. Bannerman, who has form as a garden designer, writer and photographer, sniffs her way through the scented sayings of her favourite writers, from Betjeman and Baudelaire to Tolstoy and Tennyson, and intersperses them with her own photographs of plants. An infant pussy willow, a lily that has lost its leaves, a rotting, dusty lemon. You can almost smell them off the pages." * collagerie.com *

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Book SynopsisXa Tollemache started her gardening life when she moved into Helmingham Hall in Suffolk in 1975, as a young wife and mother. She spent the next twenty years learning and consequently developing and improving the gardens. It was Helmingham, she always insists, that taught her how to garden - to such effect that in 1996 she was in a position to start her garden design practice. Xa Tollemache describes this book, her first, as 'a story book, the tale of the love story between me and the garden at Helmingham'. It is also a record of her career as a garden designer, exemplified by eleven other gardens, large and small, on which she has worked her design magic: her first Chelsea Flower Show garden ("I was described as 'just an amateur', which was true - but I did get a Gold Medal!"); and gardens in Dunbeath, Caithness; Castle Hill, Devon; Cholmondley, Cheshire; Bighton, Hampshire; Wilton, Wiltshire; Aldeburgh, Suffolk; Bell House, Suffolk; Stone House, Suffolk; RHS Hyde Hall, Essex - and the garden at her new home, Framsden Hall in Suffolk. Trade Review"Xa Tollemache is an innately sensitive garden designer...She reads the scene so beautifully well, embracing the qualities of history, landscape, architecture and people, within her work." -- Fergus Garrett"We can learn much from her spirit and attitude to garden making and above all, that the garden is 'well-placed' to fit the character of the house." * Society of Garden Designers *"Through the book’s pages you feel that you are having a cup of coffee with Xa while she tells you about the trials, tribulations and joys of taking on a project such as Helmingham and brings you into her world of the outdoors, fresh air and the country...she is not afraid to admit when she was wrong or lacked knowledge and how she came to learn by her mistakes. The writing style is fluent and interesting and you soon start picking up all sorts of ideas yourself without really realising it." * Reckless Gardener *"What makes the book are the stories about how projects came about . . . where many garden books simply present everything as a completed success story, Lady Tollemache explains in clear and helpful detail how that point was reached." * Country Life *"We can learn much from her spirit and attitude to garden making and, above all, that the garden is 'well placed' to fit the character of the house." * Garden Design Journal *"Beautifully photographed...an escapist book to enjoy by the fireplace while dreaming of a summer trip to England." -- Shannon Young * NorthWest Perennial Alliance (US) *

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Book SynopsisWhat do the celebrated actors, the bestselling novelist, the Nepalese Sherpa and the famous model have in common? Like millions of us, they love their gardens – and with good reason, too. Gardening is an art form through which we can all express ourselves. In the words of that grande dame of gardeners Penelope Hobhouse, ‘Gardening makes people happy.’ And, as gardening editor of The Sunday Times, Caroline Donald has been allowed beyond the gate of many a private paradise to share this passion. Included in The Generous Gardener are the stories, in words and pictures, of more than forty private gardens, including those belonging to Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton, Jilly Cooper, William Christie, Harrison Birtwistle, Kelly Brook, Natasha Spender, Catherine FitzGerald and Dominic West, Julian and Isabel Bannerman, Penelope Hobhouse, Bob Flowerdew, Roy Lancaster, Luciano Giubbilei, and Dan Pearson.Trade Review"An absorbing and entertaining book...It is a great opportunity to meet some fascinating people and peek into their gardening world. Best of all, you can make a list of even more gardens open to the public so that you can visit them next year to share their joys." -- Matthew Biggs * The Garden *"Gardens are about plants, but they are equally about people. I make no apology for including this title by the gardening editor of this newspaper, as she invites us into the private gardens of the great and the good. And which of us does not enjoy peering over the neighbour's wall?" -- Rachel de Thame * Sunday Times Gardening Books of the Year *"As much about people as it is about flowers...If you can't get to see a place for inspiration, reading about it is the next best thing." -- Mary Keen * Daily Telegraph Gardening Books of the Year *“Her words give a real insight into not only the spaces but the people who created them.” -- Alan Titchmarsh * Waitrose Weekend *"These very personal encounters, each rendered in little more than a thousand words, like miniature paintings, tell us so much…Enjoying my journey through her book I felt at the end that I'd been to a grand garden party, catching up with a few old pals and making several new friends. And I learnt a lot, too - about plants as well as human behaviour in its eternally-confusing diversity." -- David Wheeler * Hortus *"A perfect source of ideas." * The Times *"A perfect antidote to a dull, wet and dreary autumnal day. It’s a pick up and browse gem to lift the spirits and reinforce what we all know – that gardening is good for you!" * Reckless Gardener *"A fascinating read." * House and Garden *“The book reminds us how tenuous a garden’s existence is . . . but this sense of just how ephemeral they are only makes them seem more special.” * Gardens Illustrated *

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Book SynopsisCherished Plan celebrates RBGE at Benmore and the Desire to commemorate Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour.

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Book SynopsisA compelling story about the decline and rebirth of a 100 year old garden. This is a compelling story about the decline and rebirth of a 100 year old garden. Until recently, the Blue Garden, an icon of Gilded Age splendour in Newport, Rhode Island, was known only from hand-tinted slides dating from 1917. Originally designed in collaboration with the garden's original owner by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr, and the Olmsted firm - founded by his father, the great landscape architect responsible for Central Park, New York City - it has now been brought back to life. Landscape historian Arleyn A. Levee tells a fascinating and carefully researched narrative about the garden's origins, development, heyday, decay and ultimate renaissance. The Blue Garden skillfully interweaves the garden's design and social history, and stories of its founders and the Olmsted firm, with historical photos, original drawings and sketches, and images of the restored garden from 2015. This is a timeless and inspiring account of the devoted patrons, skilled artisans and great designers behind the creation and revival of a masterpiece, made possible by the vision of a devoted patron, and the relevance of historic preservation of gardens in the 21st century. AUTHOR: ARLEYN A. LEVEE is a historian and preservation consultant specializing in research concerning the Olmsted firm. She received a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College, Master of Arts in Teaching from Harvard University, and a Certificate from the Radcliffe Seminars Program in Landscape Design. 73 colour and 120 b/w illustrations

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Book SynopsisThis is an entirely new kind of garden book, rather than a homage to contemporary gardens, a survey of historic gardens or a "how-to" manual. Through a careful mix of rich visual imagery and memoir, author Ronald Lee Fleming brings to life the garden he has created at Bellevue House, Newport, and explains his many sources, many of which hold deeply personal memories.

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Book Synopsis A fully updated and revised edition of a gardening classic. From the cooling fountains of the Alhambra to the imposing palace grounds of Chinese emperors and the clean lines of the formal French parterre, this inspiring history charts the fascinating evolution of gardening over thousands of years, bringing to life the world’s most beautiful and magnificent gardens. Acclaimed garden designer and plantswoman Penelope Hobhouse draws on her extensive experience and shows you how an appreciation of style and techniques from all over the world helps us to understand how modern gardens have developed. Unrivalled in its coverage and written with the author’s characteristic clarity and authority, this exceptional book is guaranteed to appeal to gardening enthusiasts or all ages and levels of expertise. Chapters include:The Origins of Gardening; Gardens of Ancient Greece and Rome; The Gardens of Islam; The Medieval Gardens of Christendom; The Renaissance Vision in Italy; The Flowering of the European Garden; Plants on the Move; The English Landscape Garden; The Eclectic 19th Century; The Americas; Gardens of China; The Japanese Garden;From Naturalism to Modernism; Visions of the FutureTrade Review'A book for which the word 'magisterial' might almost have been coined... an authoritative tour d'horizon of garden styles across the world' * The Spectator *'A book valued not just for the written information but as a pictographic library too' -- Chris Beardshaw * Candide Gardening App. *'Much to absorb and enjoy' * Country Life *'What Penelope [Hobhouse] so successfully achieves is casting the visions of today over the layers of the past, contextualising them in a way that diminishes neither the new nor the old…Comprehensive work' * House & Garden *'Deservedly claims its position on the bookshelf' * The English Garden *

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Book SynopsisOrchards are one of the oldest and most beautiful types of garden. Forget large commercial orchards and, instead, think of sitting in the gentle shade of a graceful tree and eating a perfect piece of fruit. You do not need a lot of space to achieve this; you don't even need much skill. Just a desire for really good fruit and a love of beautiful gardens and trees. Whether you fantasise about having a whole orchard, just a cherry tree in a pot, or even the perfect apple pie, Orchard provides all the information, inspiration and encouragement you need. From versatile apples, popular pears, beautiful cherries and cultivated plums to rare quinces, ancient medlars and wise mulberries, Orchard caters for the fruit farmer, amateur cook and natural historian. As well as sharing essential cultivation advice and delicious recipes, this comprehensive guide also explores the rich traditions of fruit growing alongside the charming histories of your favourite fruits. Whether you have a tiny balcony or a huge field, it’s never been easier to grow and cook orchard fruits.Trade Review'This lyrical work [presents] a wealth of material and exactly the right mixture of historical detail, culinary direction and advice on growing the fruit trees themselves.' * The English Garden *'Whether you fantasise about having a whole orchard, a cherry tree in a pot, or the perfect apple pie, this guide provides all the information and inspiration you need.' * The Bookseller *

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Book SynopsisThis beautifully illustrated book presents a history of our relationship with nature, beginning with the civilisations of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, when gardens served as 'the dwelling place of the gods'. Tracing this history through subsequent epochs, the author shows how human awareness of the divine presence in nature was gradually eclipsed. As nature came to be viewed primarily as a physical resource to be controlled and exploited by us, this was reflected in the ordered, rational designs imposed on such gardens as Versailles. More recently, gardening has come to be seen less as an instrument of control than as an art in its own right, enhancing nature's inherent beauty. Jeremy Naydler suggests that the future of gardening lies not simply in its being regarded as an art but as a sacred art, which once again honours and works with the spiritual dimension intrinsic to nature.Trade Review'The main thrust of this profound and inspiring volume is to remind us that gardens are essentially sacred spaces in which we may work together with Nature in order that we may help her - and ourselves in the process - express more fully the divine presence hidden within the heart of her outward beauty.' (Resurgence)Table of ContentsAcknowledgments - Introduction: A Tension Unresolved - Chapter 1: The Garden in Antiquity - Chapter 2: The Garden in the Middle Ages - Chapter 3: From the Renaissance to the Eighteenth Century - Chapter 4: The Gardener as Artist - Chapter 5: Gardening as a Sacred Art - Illustration Sources - Bibliography - Notes - Index

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Book SynopsisThe Times Best Gardening Books of 2022 Ornamental plants are the cornerstone of our gardens and we are spoiled for choice with literally tens of thousands of hardy beauties from which to select. But we take them absolutely for granted, not for a moment realising that every plant has a fascinating tale to tell. Wild Edens sets the record straight. With global coverage, each of the nine richly illustrated chapters explores a plant biodiversity hotspot. The reader is transported on a visually stunning and fascinating voyage of discovery which reveals our garden favourites - as well as some species that should be more widely cultivated - in their natural habitats, from daffodils from Andalusia and tulips from the Tien Shan, to monkey puzzles from Chile and rhododendrons from the Himalayas, lilies from Japan and proteas from South Africa.Because the authors have been to the hotspots, each chapter opens with their personal reflections on the landscape and spirit of place, and closes with their selection of prime locations. In between, the informative yet approachable text tells of the plants' 'forgotten stories'. Of the landscapes which are their home, the adventures of how and when they were discovered and by whom, the reasons why they were collected, their impact on garden fashions and trends, etc. Wild Edens brings another dimension of interest and understanding to plants and gardens, as well as being a premium armchair traveller's guide to the natural world of garden plants.

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Book Synopsis‘In this wide ranging and comprehensive survey of the designed landscapes of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, James Bartos argues convincingly that ornamental wildernesses should be viewed as distinctive design features which, when linked across an extensive terrain, took on the character of the whole landscape. As a result of this striking analysis, our understanding of the celebrated layouts at Wrest Park, Chiswick and Stowe, and many more besides, must be revised. Contrary to the received wisdom that wildernesses led inexorably to the more informal parkscapes associated with William Kent and Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, it was only when they were dismantled in the mid-eighteenth century to provide more loosely controlled, open glades and greensward that the English Landscape Style emerged. This ground-breaking study ranges in its literary compass from classical authors through contemporary writers on gardens and gardening to modern critical authorities, while its visual focus on design manuals and individual gardens and landscapes is presented through a wealth of engraved prints, maps and present day photographs. Bartos considers the making, planting and maintenance of wildernesses, their continental precedents, thematic resonances – Classical, Biblical, Druidic, Patriotic – and the eventual development of these often numinous spaces into mature gardens followed by their inevitable demise. The book has all the attributes of a true wilderness – surprise, variety and, above all, delight – is engagingly written and a tour de force of meticulous scholarship.’ Professor Timothy Mowl FSA The Ornamental Wilderness in the English Garden reinterprets the English formal garden of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries through the perspective of a typical feature of those gardens, the ornamental grove, called a wilderness. In its mature form, the wilderness constituted most of the garden, shady and private, a place for retreat as well as social activity, with a seeming naturalness achieved through artifice, where cultural incident and nature were equally appreciated.Trade Review‘James Bartos, a proper garden historian, leads us along these sanded [wilderness] paths. He has done his homework and discusses various types of wilderness, accompanied by the plans and bird’s eye views that make the study of past gardens such a pleasure … there remain places where we can still experience them, now armed with fresh understanding thanks to this excellent book.’ Steven Desmond, Country Life “A poignant read that details how the concept of wilderness helped shape the formal English garden during the 17th and 18th centuries." Gardens Illustrated ‘For inspiration on wilderness layout, read The Ornamental Wilderness in the English Garden by James Bartos, a scholarly work crammed with maps, plans and bird’s-eye views of historical wildernesses.’ Tilly Ware, Country Life “This handsome and well-illustrated volume offers a detailed appraisal of the ornamental wilderness in England, principally from c.1680 to 1750. This is the first book-length treatment of the wilderness as an important garden feature and presents a highly readable and detailed account of their evolution and eventual decline. … This is a rich and engaging study, which has much to offer garden, landscape and environmental historians as well as the general reader.” Sarah Spooner, Garden History

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Book SynopsisThis volume aims to restore the reputation of Thomas White, who in his time was as well respected as his fellow landscape designers Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and Humphry Repton. By the end of his career, he had produced designs for at least 32 sites across northern England and over 60 in Scotland. These include nationally important designed landscapes in Yorkshire such as Harewood House, Sledmere Hall, Burton Constable Hall, Newby Hall, Mulgrave Castle as well as Raby Castle in Durham, Belle Isle in Cumbria and Brocklesby Hall in Lincolnshire. He has a vital role in the story of how northern English designed landscapes evolved in the 18th century.The book focuses on White's known commissions in England and sheds further light on the work of other designers such as Brown and Repton, who worked on many of the same sites. White set up as an independent designer in 1765, having worked for Brown from 1759, and his style developed over the next thirty years. Never merely a 'follower of Brown', as he is often erroneously described, his designs for plantations in particular were much admired and influenced the later, more informal styles of the picturesque movement.The improvement plans he produced for his clients demonstrate his surveying and artistic skills. These plans were working documents but at the same time works of art in their own right. Over 60 of his beautifully-executed coloured plans survive, which is a testament to the value his clients placed on them. This book makes available for the first time over 90% of the known plans and surveys by White for England. Also included are plans by White's contemporaries, together with later maps, estate surveys and contemporary illustrations to understand which parts of improvement plans were implemented.Trade ReviewThis is an introduction to White’s work built on exhaustive research ... There is much insight here on White and on the way in which landscape designers were commissioned and operated that is rare in writing on this period … Despite his successful and prolific career White has not been the primary subject of attention until now. In this book Turnbull and Wickham have filled the gap and provided researchers with a thorough survey of his work and career. * Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Lands *Over 60 of his beautifully executed coloured plans survive, which is a testament to the value his clients placed on them. This book makes available for the first time over 90% of the known plans and surveys by White for England. * Yorkshire Gardens Trust *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of figures Abbreviations Chapter 1 Thomas White in context Chapter 2 Early career and working with Brown Chapter 3 First commissions: 1765–8 Chapter 4 Established landscape designer: 1769–80 Chapter 5 Later career: 1781–1803 Chapter 6 Getting the commission Chapter 7 His landscape designs Chapter 8 Working methods Chapter 9 Arboricultural activities Chapter 10 Thomas White in Scotland by Christopher Dingwall Chapter 11 White’s sites in England 11.1 Armley 11.2 Belle Isle 11.3 Blyborough 11.4 Brocklesby 11.5 Burton Constable 11.6 Busby 11.7 Campsall 11.8 Carlton 11.9 Colwick 11.10 Copgrove 11.11 Fryston 11.12 Goldsborough 11.13 Grimston Garth 11.14 Grove 11.15 Harewood 11.16 Hawksworth 11.17 Holme 11.18 Houghton 11.19 Kirkleatham 11.20 Lumley 11.21 Mulgrave 11.22 Newby 11.23 Norton 11.24 Owston 11.25 Raby 11.26 Scarisbrick 11.27 Sedbury 11.28 Skelton Castle 11.29 Sledmere 11.30 Welton 11.31 Workington 11.32 Others – Kilnwick and Stapleton Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisBased on a decade of archaeological investigation and historical research, this book tells the story of the Copes of Hanwell Castle in north Oxfordshire and the creation of a garden with links to the development of scientific thinking in Oxford in the late seventeenth century. New research using Robert Plot’s Natural History of Oxfordshire as a starting point has uncovered details of a remarkable family and their rise and tragic downfall, their social circle, that included some great names in the development of early scientific thinking, and their garden that in effect became a place dedicated to the wonders of technology.The complex tale weaves together the activities of a royalist agent, Richard Allestree, a prodigious musician, Thomas Baltzar, John Claridge, a Hanwell Shepherd with a penchant for weather forecasting, and Sir Anthony Cope who in an atmosphere of secrecy and distrust began to gather together a community that eventually was named by Plot as The New Atlantis, a reference to a book published earlier in the century by Sir Francis Bacon in which he suggests a model for a Utopian science-focused society.The book also chronicles the programme of archaeological excavation that has uncovered several unusual garden features and, most significantly of all, describes in detail the unique collection of seventeenth-century terracotta garden urns, an assemblage that is unparalleled in post-medieval archaeology. This collection was destroyed in a single episode of vandalism around 1675 and has been preserved in deeply buried deposits of mud and silt. Their analysis and reconstruction is opening new insights into the decorative schemes of seventeenth-century gardens. There is coverage of other gardens of the period and their surviving features as well as an examination of early science and how gardens impacted on its development in many ways.Table of ContentsPreface: Robert Plot and Sir Anthony Cope 1. Introduction The Study of Gardens in Theory and Practice Hanwell: Geology, Geography, Archaeology and History 2. The Sixteenth Century William Cope and the Building of Hanwell House The Origins of Early Modern Water Gardens Water Gardens in the Sixteenth Century 3. The Seventeenth Century Continental Engineers and their Influence The Copes in Ascendancy Walter Cope’s Water Maze Francis Bacon, Gardening and The New Atlantis Thomas Bushell and the Enstone Marvels Other Early Seventeenth-Century Water Gardens 4. At Hanwell House The Archaeology of the Gardens 1600-1660 Sir Anthony Cope, the Fourth Baronet Sir Anthony Cope in his Social Setting Hanwell, Cope and Plot Sir Anthony’s Companions The Archaeology of the Gardens 1660-1675 Reconstructing the House of Diversion The Hanwell Pots and Other Finds 5. The End of it All The Aftermath, the Family and Estate after 1675 The Archaeology of the Gardens from 1675 to the Present Day 6. Oxford, Science and Gardening Oxford, Hanwell and Early Scientific Thinking Gardens and Science The Tangley Mystery and Hanwell as the New Atlantis Conclusions

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Book SynopsisVoted ‘The Nation’s Favourite Garden’ in 2019 by garden visitors in conjunction with English Garden magazine and the National Gardens Scheme, featured in the 2022 Channel 5 series on ‘Great British Gardens’, and described by Country Life as a ‘Symphony of colour where flamingos mix with flowers’, the garden at Coton Manor, in Northamptonshire, is a dream and a joy – and the passion of owner and hands-on gardener Susie Pasley-Tyler. In this book, Susie Pasley-Tyler charts how her love of gardening was born at Coton and imparts what she has learned over the past thirty years of developing its many and varied sites, the discoveries that have come to her, the mistakes she has made (and how they were repaired), and above all the sheer delight to be gained from gardening. Andrew Lawson, pre-eminent garden photographer and colour guru, says, ‘Susie Pasley-Tyler’s passion for her garden is infectious. Perhaps there should be a health warning that this book will make you want to follow her example, and think again about your own garden.’ Experienced and novice gardeners alike will be encouraged and enlightened by Susie Pasley-Tyler’s account of being at the helm of one of the finest gardens in England.Trade Review"A detailed conducted tour of the 10-acre garden, with all the wisdom modestly imparted by an enthusiastic, sympathetic and phenomenally observant garden owner. Hats off to Pimpernel Press, one of the few publishers that still take gardening seriously, for the quality of the design and colour reproduction. Altogether, this book is a gem, and one I suspect I shall plunder for ideas until it falls apart." -- Ursula Buchan * The Field *"Susie writes with enthusiasm in a flowing and relaxed style, and has taken glorious photographs throughout the year. Above all, what comes across is her delight in the garden, the enjoyment of working with plants, and things that make her smile." -- Susie White * Garden Design Journal *"Full of invaluable advice...The colour pictures are excellent and I have already taken pages of notes, forcing me to revisit my own garden’s planting. Books by long-term owners of good private gardens raise our sights. They are a genre in which English gardeners excel. Anyone with a terrace, big pots or a new or old garden, especially in the country, will find new guidance in Gardening with Colour at Coton Manor." -- Robin Lane-Fox * Financial Times *"[The book] is like having an experienced friend on hand to show you exactly which plants to grow, and how and where to use them." * English Garden *

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Book Synopsis "Catherine Horwood's book is a triumph, beautifully crafted by an author who has thoroughly researched and understood her subject. From start to finish, this publication gives us a real understanding of Beth's life. There is so much here to keep the reader gripped." - Gardens Illustrated Beth Chatto: A life with plants tells the story of the most influential British plantswoman of the past hundred years. Beth Chatto was the inspiration behind the ‘right plant, right place’ ethos that lies at the heart of modern gardening. She also wrote some of the best-loved gardening books of the twentieth century, among them The Dry Garden, The Damp Garden, and Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden. Some years before her death in May 2018, aged ninety-four, Beth authorized Catherine Horwood to write her biography, with exclusive access to her archive. Beth Chatto: A life with plants also includes extracts from Beth’s notebooks and diaries, never previously published, bringing Beth’s own distinctive and much-loved voice into the book. Most of the photographs, from Beth’s personal archives, have also never been seen in print before. For Beth’s legions of fans, Beth Chatto: A life with plants is the personal story behind her beliefs and the struggles and determination that brought her success. Trade Review"A fascinating portrait of one of the true gardening greats from her early childhood in rural Essex to her groundbreaking work as a nursery owner, award-winning author and multiple gold-medal-winner exhibitor at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show." * Irish Times Gardening Books of the Year *"Full of tales of Chelsea shows, of travels with Christopher Lloyd and of Cedric Morris's artists' colony at Benton End in Suffolk. Fascinating stuff." * The Times *"Not a gardening book per se but a book about a gardener who created a garden of distinction on a dry, windswept site, earning her a reputation as an international influencer. The book brings its subject back to life, enabling those previously unfamiliar with Chatto's work and influence to understand the context in which her ideas were formulated and excelled." * Irish News Best Gardening Books of the Year *"Beth loved autumn, and for me, Beth Chatto: A Life with Plants shines most in this season of transition, as her later years are chronicled...[It] tells a complete and intimate portrait of Chatto's professional and personal life." * Leaflet - Massachussets Horticultural Society *"Beth Chatto...died last year having handed over her gardening notebooks to Catherine Horwood. Perhaps more pertinently for Horwood, and for non-gardeners whose eyes glaze over at the mention of horticultural triumphs, Chatto also entrusted Horwood with her private diaries. As Horwood's detailed and rigorous Beth Chatto shows, plantspeople have passions beyond their garden beds." * Sunday Times Gardening Books of the Year *"Beth Chatto, who died last year, was singularly forward-thinking and knowledgeable, and her gardens and nursery near Elmstead Market in Essex have been a continual draw to enthusiasts for half a century. Catherine Horwood’s authorised biography, based on diaries, notes and conversations, is a faithful, workmanlike account of a truly remarkable plantswoman and artistic gardener." -- Ursula Buchan * Spectator *"Catherine Horwood's book is a triumph, beautifully crafted by an author who has thoroughly researched and understood her subject. From start to finish, this publication gives us a real understanding of Beth's life. There is so much here to keep the reader gripped." -- Fergus Garrett * Gardens Illustrated *"The life story of this elegant plant guru contains enough drive and determination to inspire any modern woman...To meet, Beth was an inscrutable coiled spring of a person, beautifully composed, a brilliant lecturer and writer and, of course, a terrific grower...This book shows what a remarkable woman she was." -- Mary Keen * Country Life *"A compelling and revealing read, enhanced by Catherine's talents for research and tellling a good story." * The English Garden *"Brilliant, charming and beautiful, she was a horticultural pioneer whose impact continues to this day. Her gardening genius made her the darling of pop stars, aristocrats and royalty — yet as this sympathetically written biography reveals, her apparently gilded life was far more turbulent than anyone could have suspected." * Daily Mail *"Catherine Horwood more than does justice to this iconic gardening legend...a delightful memoir of a remarkable woman. Beautifully illustrated and superbly written...a fitting tribute to one of horticulture's most iconic women." * Reckless Gardener *"This fascinating, beautifully-written biography paints a fond and intimate portrait of one of the true greats of the gardening world." * Irish Times *"Impeccably researched." * House & Garden *

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