Forum home Garden design
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Good Book

Looking for a good all in one garden design and planting book. Covering the design and build of a garden then cover plants/shrubs/trees ideas

Posts

  • WonkyWombleWonkyWomble Posts: 4,538

    Hello Yvonne, I'm not sure if its too basic but I found Alan Titchmarshs "how to be a gardener" a useful all round book. There is a TV series that went with it also which is probably on YouTube. image

  • LG_LG_ Posts: 4,353

    I really rate The Ultimate Garden Designer by Tim Newbury. There are a couple of other titles by him that cover similar ground.

    'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
    - Cicero
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,064

    I'd start with Alan Titchmarsh too.   You can buy the DVDs for both series on Amazon and borrow the books from the library.  He starts with how plants grow and what they need to grow well then goes on to how to use plants and design a garden.   

    Another good set of books would be Geoff Hamilton's Paradise Gardens and ornamental Kitchen Gardens, also with DVDs available form Amazon.  You can sometimes find the books in charity shops or borrow them from the library.

    You'll learn loads from this pair and can then branch out to more specialised books by people like Beth Chatto and Christopher Lloyd for plants or people like Dan Pearson for design,   

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,012

    A book covering all aspects will by it's nature be less in-depth than those which specialise in one or two areas.  A 'generalist' book such as those mentioned is certainly a good starting point.

  • Garden noobGarden noob Posts: 260

    +1 for Tim Newbury's Ultimate Garden Designer. I picked up a copy in a charity shop at the weekend, mainly for the garden design angle (as opposed to detailed information about shrubs etc).

    Other books annoy me because they either assume everyone has half acre gardens or unlimited budgets to generate high spec designs. This book feels much more realistic; it feels like it can genuinely help me make the most of my modest 50' garden.

    Here's an example of one of the designs, complete with the planting scheme:

    image

Sign In or Register to comment.