The magical and satisfying secret gardens of Somerset share the limelight with Glastonbury, cricket, cider and Cheddar cheese. From East Lambrook to The Newt, Hauser and Wirth to Hestercombe and the up and coming Yeo Valley, this book goes through the keyhole to discover Somerset's jewel gardens and garden makers.

A comprehensive visitor's guide to some 130 gardens in Devon. Illustrated with colour photographs, it includes a general introduction to the geology, climate and garden history of Devon; a list of nurseries and garden centres in the county, and a calendar of opening times. It is suitable for garden-lovers, whether visitors to the county or locals.

From Tresco to Lindisfarne, Anglesey to Sark, travel around the British Isles and discover the most beautiful and extreme island gardens on this visually stunning tour. The British Isles consist of more than 6,000 islands scattered around the main islands of Britain and Ireland. More than 100 of these British off-shore islands are inhabited – and where there are people, there are gardens. Lighthouse gardens, gulf-stream-soaked, tropical gardens, windswept remote gardens with giant and ancient yew trees, and gardens surrounding castles and monasteries of historical significance. Encounter a huge variety of habitats and gardening conditions, from coastal machair to woodlands, mountains, dunes and meadows, and explore a wide range of aspects, from shady dells, to sunny banks, deep-soiled productive gardens to rocky, alpine slopes. While they can differ dramatically with regards to aesthetics, what all island gardens share is the special light, magical atmosphere and indefinable magic that a proximity to water can bring. Here, Jackie Bennett reveals the challenges their gardeners face, the designs required in such extremes, and the skills their gardeners have mastered to survive and thrive, accompanied by stunning photography by garden and drone photographer Richard Hanson.

From the Booker Prize winner and national bestselling author, reflections on gardening, art, literature, and life Penelope Lively takes up her key themes of time and memory, and her lifelong passions for art, literature, and gardening in this philosophical and poetic memoir. From the courtyards of her childhood home in Cairo to a family cottage in Somerset, to her own gardens in Oxford and London, Lively conducts an expert tour, taking us from Eden to Sissinghurst and into her own backyard, traversing the lives of writers like Virginia Woolf and Philip Larkin while imparting her own sly and spare wisdom. "Her body of work proves that certain themes never go out of fashion," writes the New York Times Book Review, as true of this beautiful volume as of the rest of the Lively canon. Now in her eighty-fourth year, Lively muses, "To garden is to elide past, present, and future; it is a defiance of time."

A range of kitchen designs, from classical to modern, with lists of suitable plants for kitchen gardens.

'This book will inspire and delight … the stories of these gardens so compellingly captured by George Plumptre make the reader stop and tarry awhile, marvelling at the energy, the vision and the passion of the people who created gardens such as Hidcote, Sissinghurst and Great Dixter.' (The English Garden) 'A feast of horticulture and Englishness.' (House & Garden) 'Tells the tale of the English Country House Gardens over the past 500 years expertly and informatively.' (Countryside Magazine) 'Sure to become a classic.' (Garden Design Journal) Gardening Book of the Year 2014 (Daily Telegraph) Revised and updated edition. There is something special about the English country house garden: from its quiet verdant lawns to its high yew hedges, this is a style much-desired and copied around the world. The English country house is most often conceived as a private, intimate place, a getaway from working life. A pergola, a sundial, a croquet lawn, a herbaceous border of soft planting; here is a space to wander and relax, to share secrets, and above all to enjoy afternoon tea. But even the most peaceful of gardens also take passion and hard work to create. This new book takes a fresh look at the English country house garden, starting with the owners and the stories behind the making of the gardens. Glorious photographs capture the gardens at their finest moments through the seasons, and a sparkling and erudite text presents twenty-five gardens - some grand, some personal, some celebrated, some never-before-photographed - to explore why this garden style has been so very enduring and influential. From the Victorian grandeur of Tyntesfield and Cragside, to the Arts & Crafts simplicity of Rodmarton Manor and Charleston; from Scampston, in the same family since the 17th century, to new gardens by Dan Pearson and Tom Stuart-Smith; and with favourites such as Hidcote and Great Dixter alongside new discoveries, this book will be a delicious treat for garden-lovers.

Richard Taylor, author of the best-selling How to Read a Church, joins forces with garden historian Andrew Eburne to produce the ultimate guide to historic and modern gardens. Gardens are amongst the fastest-growing visitor attractions today - in the UK alone 15 million people will visit a garden this year. How to Read an English Garden is the essential book for every garden lover. It provides an account of the different elements of gardens of all ages and explains their meaning and their history: here, you'll find the answer to such questions as: when were tulips introduced into our gardens, and what was 'tulip-mania'? What is a knot-garden, and what was the origin of its design? Who was 'Capability' Brown, and how did he get his name? Why are mazes such a common feature in English garden design? In addition, the book explains how lawns, flowerbeds, trees and ponds came to be a feature not just of grand houses but of gardens everywhere. Among the many subjects covered are: garden design, plant introductions and collectors, kitchen gardens, water gardens, and garden styles from around the world: English, American, Chinese and Moorish to name just a few. Clearly laid out and beautifully illustrated, How to Read an English Garden brings historic and modern gardens to life: a book to accompany garden visitors everywhere, or to be enjoyed and dipped into at home.