Whether you care for a rambling country garden or a modest town plot ' Gardening Secrets' offers a variety of seasonal hints & practical tips to help you make the most of your outside space. For those who are inspired by the year-round beauty of the Trust's gardens here is a chance to learn from the experts & benefit from their years of experience. There is advice on pruning planting & propagation for anyone who wants to maintain & get the best from their garden
- see spectacular results all year round by planting for winter interest or designing your summer flowerbeds. If you want to be greener in your own garden there is advice on everything from compost making & chemical-free weed control to building hedges for habitats & companion planting. Whether you have a large lawn to maintain a conservatory a garden by the sea an allotment for fruit & vegetables or a small urban plot for planting containers this little book contains sound accessible advice from the experts. The best gardening advice & secrets from the National Trust head gardeners.
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Plastic materials have transformed gardening with plastic gnomes plastic hose plastic cans plastic tubs plastic pots & now plastic protection in the form of low cost cloches frames mulches fleece nets windbreaks & polytunnels. In Gardening Under Plastic Bernard Salt gives information on the practical use of polytunnels & other hardware methods of cultivation for flowers fruit vegetables & other crops & potential problems from pests & diseases that may strike under these particular circumstances. ...

Children find gardening fun & fascinating
- its wonderful to witness the pride & amazement they feel when they produce their own
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Gardening with Shape Line & Texture" bridges the gap between garden design books & plant reference encyclopedias. Leading landscaper Linden Hawthorne looks at plants from a designers perspective (where color is often a secondary consideration) & emphasizes the important roles of plant shape. Part One reviews fine art principles & shows how they can be successfully applied to plant compositions by grouping plants into three heights: ground to knee knee to navel & navel to crown. She identifies different plant shapes
- buns mounds tiers fountains uprights
- & shows how the use of them contributes to the success of the finished design. Part Two is a plant sourcebook with plants listed alphabetically within their key plant shape categories. This innovative plant reference delivers plant information in a form that neatly dovetails with the garden design process & will inspire gardeners to look beyond color & begin to appreciate the whole plant."

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From Flora Roman goddess of plants to today's gardeners at Kew women have always gardened. Women gardeners have grown vegetables for their kitchens & herbs for their medicine cupboards. They have been footnotes in the horticultural annals for specimens collected abroad. They taught young women about gardening twenty-five years before women's horticultural schools officially existed. & their influence on the style of our gardens frequently unacknowledged survives to the present day. From these triumphs to the battles fought against male-dominated institutions from the horticultural pioneers to the bringers of change in society's attitudes this book is a celebration of the best of the species -- gardening women. ...

An intriguing & richly illustrated analysis of the symbolic imagery found in gardens throughout history this work features dedicated mailing to targeted art & gardening related media & organisations. This superbly illustrated volume presents readers with an intelligent & engaging analysis of the constituent elements of gardens
- both real & imagined
- that uncovers their often-hidden symbolic meanings. It uses over 380 paintings to provide a continuous visual record of the myriad & ephemeral form of the garden with salient details being drawn to the readers attention for closer examination. The first half of Gardens in Art" examines the main types of garden throughout history from the humble medieval enclosure for devotions through the magnificent gardens celebrating the power of popes & kings to the great public parks of the 19th century. The second half focuses on the decorative elements
- including topiaries statues grottoes & labyrinths
- & discusses how they provide clues to their importance in particular cultures."



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Cornish gardens have it all: dramatic natural settings in coast or combe a wet & mild climate yielding exotic & extravagant plant growth an indefinable quality of foreignness. Antony has a magnificent early eighteenth-century house in an equally fine natural setting Glendurgan is the repository of a plant-collecting dynasty who have lived there since the 1820s while the beautifully restored Heligan retains all the charm of its Victorian heyday. Caerhays boasts an unrivalled collection of camellias rhododendrons & magnolias. Contemporary gardens like the vertiginous jungle encasing Lamorran House Barbara Hepworths sculpture garden & the ambitious landscape taking shape at Tremenheere not to mention the world-famous Eden Project are proof positive that Cornish gardens continue to be both generic & unique. Above all as backdrop to these spectacular places there is the sea. ...

The Gardens of Delight brochure promises the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful gardens in the Lake Como area of Italy. For Lucy the chance to go to Italy offers more than just gardens. Lake Como is where her father lives & the last time she saw him was when she was just a teenager. Recently married Helen & her wealthy husband have just moved into the Old Rectory. With her husband spending so much time away from home Helen throws herself into caring for the garden. But Helen needs help
- & friends
- & so decides to take the plunge & join the local Garden Club. Conrad isn't the least bit interested in gardening. Widowed for five years his life revolves around work & humouring Mac his elderly uncle who lives with him & who has expressed a desire to go on the Gardens of Delight tour. Reluctantly Conrad agrees to accompany him. ' Anything for a peaceful life ' he concedes. But a peaceful life is the last thing any of them are in for...

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In England gardening & garden-visiting are national obsessions. More than 80 years ago the National Gardens Scheme (NGS) was founded with the aim of raising money for charity by opening gardens of quality & interest to the public. In the first year some 600 gardens were opened. Today over 3700 gardens
- many of them privately owned & opened for just a few days each year
- are listed in The Yellow Book the annual guide published by the NGS. The Gardens of England gives you the opportunity to enjoy 50 of the country's greatest garden gems from the comfort of your armchair. Each of the five chapters is written by a different leading gardens expert & surveys 10 gardens opened as part of the NGS during a particular period. George Plumptre head of the NGS provides an engaging introduction on garden-visiting & 12 well-known gardeners offer a personal account of their favourite NGS garden. Featuring established & new gardens of all styles this is a book that no lover of the English garden should be without.

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The magnificent parks & gardens owned by English Heritage are far less well-known than its evocative medieval abbeys or Victorian mansions. Yet these remarkable places offer a wide-ranging variety of gardening pleasures. Some have stunning designs while others are important for their history or their plants. A surprising number are brand new & a few of the best are tiny. All have marvellously atmospheric surroundings. From the formality of Wrest Park & Chiswick House to the rolling parkland slopes around Kenwood House; from Queen Victorias garden at Osborne complete with charming vegetable plots for the royal children to the exotic Quarry Garden at Belsay Hall & the modern restraint of the Contemporary Heritage Scheme here are gardens from every corner of England & almost every century. These essays tell the story of how each was created & of the sometimes eccentric families who owned them. The decay their trees fountains & statues so often fell into is described
- & the way they have been restored & survive to delight us today.
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