Learn to Love … Escaping into a Great Garden Book

July 25, 2024

My book shelves are jammed full of garden books. Books about garden history, garden design, and garden designers. Books about plant science, plant ecosystems, and plant propagation. More books about trees, shrubs, prairie plants, meadows, woodland gardens, damp gardens, etc. These books are bullies. They gang up and push out books from other genres – move over mysteries, good-bye science fiction series, thrillers be gone.

Despite the imminent lack of space, the collection continues to grow. I stake out used bookstores. I delight in finding “out-of-print” classics like- Education of a Gardener (Russell Page, 1994 edition, Harvill), Colour Schemes for the Flower Garden (Gertrude Jekyll, 1983 edition, Ayer Co.) The Damp Garden (Beth Chatto, 1982 edition, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd.). Sometimes, if I am lucky, I find signatures, quotations or inscriptions on the inside pages of these worn books. For example, I recently picked up The Cultivation of Rhododendrons in a used book store on Salt Spring Island. It was signed by the Scottish author Peter A. Cox. Inside the cover was written, “A most enjoyable holiday and visit! Merry Christmas and a successful New Year ‘94” signed by Anne and Hector. After a bit of online sleuthing, I traced the book's journey from Scotland to Salt Spring Island. It was given as a Christmas gift to a member of the Salt Spring Rhododendron Society - who no doubt cherished it. The owner is now deceased. Eventually, like all orphaned books, it was boxed up and, thankfully, dropped off at a used book store. I adopted the book, brought it home and placed it on the shelf. Right next to one of my favourite books - Woodland Gardening by Kenneth Cox. Yes, Peter Cox's son.

And of course, there is always the latest “must-have” book. I blame the book review section of Gardens Illustrated for fuelling this addiction. Take for example, this recent review of the book Shrouded in Light (Kevin Williams and Michael Guidi, Filbert Press, 2024). Noel Kingsbury writes, “…maybe once a decade, a genuinely revolutionary garden book comes along. This is one.” Resistance is futile. Now, when I try and squeeze a new book onto the shelf, another book falls out. The floor in the study is not an option – there is already an obstacle course to my desk. It’s time to say good-bye to a few books.  Deciding “who goes” and “who stays” is surprisingly easy. There is a hard-core group, that I read over and over again, for information and inspiration. So, browse the list below and consider adding one of these gems to your library, that is, if you have the room.

Garden Design. Advice from THE Experts.

·      Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury, Planting: A New Perspective, (Timber Press, 2016). This is THE book for trustworthy guidance about; the best plants for long term plant performance, how plants grow and spread, and how to group and combine plants.  Valuable tables outline plant attributes such as plant longevity - after all, who wants to base a design around plants that will disappear in a couple of years?

·      Kelly D. Norris, New Naturalism. Designing and Planting a Resilient, Ecologically Vibrant Home Garden, (Cool Springs Press, 2021). Designing gardens that are beautiful and support biodiversity. Matching plants to places.

·      Roy Diblik, The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden, (Timber Press, 2014). The essentials on what plants work in a design and why. Save your money and invest in his list of top plant performers. Check out his YouTube channel.

Plant Science. The more you read about sustainable garden design... the more you realize that the plants themselves, the soil they grow in, and the whole plant ecosystem are fundamental topics to read about.

·      Scott Zona, A Gardener's Guide to Botany: The Biology Behind the Plants You Love, How They Grow, and What They Need, (Cool Springs Press, 2023).  Entertaining, with concise chapters, each covering a different aspect about what a plant needs to survive: water, light, nutrients, defense, reproduction and seed dispersal.

·      DK. The Science of Plants: Inside Their Secret World, (DK, June 2022). Four hundred and forty pages of interesting facts and absolutely amazing photos.

·      Robert Pavlis, Soil Science for Gardeners, (New Society Publishers, 2020). Every gardener needs to understand soil and this book is not only comprehensive, but easy to read, and only 200 pages. If you are writing any of the RHS exams this is a must read. The study books I used for my RHS Level 2 exam were; Level 2 Principles of Horticulture by Charles Adams, Mike Early, Jane Brook and Katherine Bamford (Routledge, 2015) and A Handbook for Horticultural Students by Peter Dawson (Peter Dawson, 2015). But, the other Plant Science books listed above were fun to read!

The Works of Influential Garden Designers.

 Get out your magnifying glass and scrutinize these garden design plans.

·      Image from: James Corner, Noel Kingsbury, and Cassian Schmidt, Piet Oudolf At Work (Phaidon Press, 2023).

·      Tim Richardson, Tom Stuart-Smith: Drawn from the Land, (Thames and Hudson, 2021).

·      Dan Pearson, Midori Shintani, Tokachi Millenium Forest: Pioneering a New Way of Gardening with Nature, (Thames and Hudson, 2021).

The Story BEHIND the Garden.

·      Daniel J. Hinkley, Windcliff, A Story of People, Plants and Gardens, (Timber Press, 2020). One of the world’s leading plant collectors reflects on the creation of his coastal garden. Learn more here: https://danieljhinkley.com

·      Jimi Blake and Noel Kingsbury. A Beautiful Obsession: Jimi Blake’s World of Plants at Hunting Brook Gardens, (Filbert Press,2019).  A deep dive into plant collector Jimi Blake’s unique planting philosophy. Learn more here: https://www.huntingbrookgardens.com

·      James Golden, The View from Federal Twist. A New Way of Thinking About Gardens, Nature and Ourselves, (Filbert press, 2020). Great book and even better website. Learn more here: https://federaltwist.com/

Sublime Plant Combinations. Really, Why Re-invent the Wheel?

·      Jo Thompson and the Royal Horticultural Society, The Gardener’s Palette: Creating Colour Harmony in the Garden, (Timber Press, July 2022). A master of colour combinations.

·      Lucy Bellamy, Grow 5: Simple Seasonal Ideas for Small Outdoor Spaces with Just Five Plants, (Mitchell Beazley, 2022). Less is more. Reduce your plant palette to a few key but striking plants.

·      Anna Pavord, The Seasonal Gardener: Creative Planting Combinations, (Phaidon Press, 2022). Follow the seasons with these inspirational plant combinations.

Of course, you can always borrow these books from the library, but then you would have to return them...