The mostly edible garden of Babylonstoren in the Drakenstein Valley of the Cape Winelands has become a must-see for all visitors to the region. Not simply because it is beautiful, but because it offers a mesmerising range of experiences to both the day tripper and hotel guest, encompassing history, insight into the workings of a productive farm and food garden, and how the land can be cultivated along diversifi ed yet integrated principles.

As co-author Franchesca Watson says, ‘The way Babylonstoren expresses itself visually is inordinately charming. Every material is simple and intrinsic, nothing is smart or clever or tacky, everything is understandable and fi lled with sincerity; it is a generous place.’

This visually stunning coffee-table book covers every aspect of the 3.5-hectare garden: its design, Cape Dutch history, plants, cultivation methods and the people behind it all.

Create the garden of your dreams with ideas and advice from a leading light in the gardening world, Melanie Walker.

Whether you have a tiny urban courtyard or a roomy rural plot, Garden Style will inspire gardeners from every corner of South Africa to make the most of their garden and entertainment area.

Garden Style describes in detail how to achieve any of 19 distinct garden styles: from sweeping woodland and grassland gardens, through moon, rock and rose gardens, to compact courtyard and cottage gardens. It also covers the fundamentals of gardening, such as understanding garden habitats, basic design elements and water-wise gardening.

Each chapter includes sections on planning and planting, with a list of key plants suited to each style, plus lots of helpful tips and features on different aspects of gardening – and, of course, ample spectacular photos to inspire you.

Kirstenbosch is a name that resonates round the world as the home of a uniquely rich flora in a setting of unsurpassed beauty, and in 2013 Kirstenbosch celebrates its 100th anniversary. This centenary publication tells the story of its establishment, its setbacks and triumphs, its benefactors and heros. It outlines the Garden's scientific eminence – as the repository of knowledge on our prized flora – and details the many attractions that make it a favourite destination for Capetonians and visitors alike.

With a finely crafted text by acclaimed ecologist Brian Huntley, and lavishly illustrated with photographs and artworks that tell the history and reflect the beauty of the Garden, this will be a sought-after volume – a quality memento for visitors to Kirstenbosch and a keepsake for the many thousands of locals who flock there annually. Beautifully presented in a colourful dustjacket, this book will be a tasteful, all-occasions gift, and one to cherish.

Foolproof mosaic projects for your garden, including planters, furniture, and ornaments

One of the most long-lasting and hard-wearing artforms, mosaic pieces are perfect to make the most of your outdoor room. Suitable for a tiny terrace or a large garden, the projects in Garden Mosaics show you how to decorate your outdoor space in the most charming, individual, and enduring way.

The extensive techniques section shows you how to choose and use the right tiles for your environment. The range of tiles on the market today is better than ever; and the book makes the most of the wealth of new materials available such as spangled tiles or inexpensive but authentic gold-leaf tiles. As you progress, you can develop your own creativity with tips on tile- and colourmatching that allow you to adapt the projects to make pieces completely unique to you and your garden.

All suitable for beginners, the 25 projects in the book range from simple decorative pieces, such as the enchanting, simple child’s footprints and butterfly stones to practical and sturdy weatherproof pieces, including a trompe l’oeil chequered mosaic tabletop and delightful planters that will add colour to your garden especially in winter. Some projects, such as the night light, can be finished in under two hours.

In hierdie boek wys twee kenners jou hoe om dit reg te kry, met honderde voorbeelde uit tuine van regoor die land. Dit wys jou dat 'n tuin basies 'n kombinasie is van kleur, vorm, tekstuur en groeiwyses - in wese 'n kombinasie van kombinasies. Leer hoe om plante te kombineer wat mekaar aanvul en hul eie harmonie skep en hoe om plante en elemente te kombineer vir enersheid, of vir andersheid. Deur uitgesoekte plante en elemente saam te gebruik, skep jy 'n prentjie wat mooier, treffender en meer skouspelagtig is as wat elk van die gekombineerde elemente individueel sou kon doen. Die skeppende omvang van kombinasiemoontlikhede kan nie gekwantifiseer word nie - as jy jou 'n kombinasie kan voorstel, kan jy dit skep. In Kreatiewe kombinasies word in vier kategoriee na kombinasies gekyk: kleur, vorm en groeiwyse, tekstuur en die tuin en plante se spesifieke omgewing. Daar is meer as 230 foto's om jou te bekoor en inspireer en al die nodige inligting om slim en vindingryk met kombinasies te werk. Vergroot jou tuin se trefkrag deur die beste moontlike gebruik van die kombinasies daarin.

Flatervrye mosaïek projekte soos plantbakke, meubels en ornamente vir jou tuin

• Van eenvoudige projekte soos sierpanele tot ’n sprankelende waterverfraaiing en ’n mosaïektafelblad

• Uitvoerige bespreking van tegnieke, volledige aanwysings, patrone en wenke om ’n professionele afwerking te verseker

Mosaïek is ’n een van die duursaamste kuns vorme in die wêreld, wat dit perfek maak om die ruimte buite jou huis te versier. Die projekte in Mosaïek vir jou tuin is geskik vir alles, van ’n klein terras tot ’n groot tuin en wys jou hoe om jou buitenshuise ruimte op die mees bekoorlike, unieke en blywende manier te versier.

Die uitgebreide tegniek-afdeling toon hoe om die regte teëls vir jou omgewing te kies, asook hoe om dit te gebruik. Die groot verskeidenheid teëls wat vandag in die handel beskikbaar is, is beter as ooit tevore en hierdie boek benut dié skatkis nuwe materiaal, onder andere versierde teëls, of selfs goedkoop (dog outentieke) bladgoudteëls ten volle. Namate jy vorder, kan jy jou kreatiwiteit ontwikkel met wenke vir bypassende teël- en kleurskemas wat jou in staat stel om die projekte effektief aan te pak en kunswerke te skep wat heeltemal eie is aan jou en jou tuin.

Al 25 projekte is geskik vir beginners en strek van eenvoudige dekoratiewe stukke, soos die betowerende kindervoetspore en skoenlapperklippe, tot praktiese en stewige weerbestande stukke soos die geruite trompe l’oeil-tafelblad en bekoorlike plantbakke wat veral in die vaal wintermaande sal bydra tot die kleur in jou tuin. Sommige projekte, soos die kershouer, kan binne twee uur voltooi word.

From the sculpted topiary at Hidcote Manor to spectacular summer container planting at Powis Castle and stylish contemporary border planting at Packwood House, the gardens of the National Trust are a fantastic source of inspiration for gardeners of all standards. In this book, keen gardener and design historian Jacq Barber shows how different elements in the National Trust's gardens can be applied to your garden - whether it is large space, courtyard or just a balcony. National Trust Head Gardeners give unique insights and tips throughout, showing you how to apply their expertise to reinterpret your garden while still retaining your own individual creative style. With chapters on how to introduce design elements of structure and texture, what to plant in each season to bring colour to your garden throughout the year, how to use various water features and imaginative plant combinations for pots and containers, along with advice on delicious edible planting and creating wild flower gardens. This practical guide is a sumptuously illustrated, inspirational source of creative ideas that can be adopted and adapted to suit all gardens, no matter what their size, shape or budget.

Genevieve Trimble's remarkable story of Afton Villa began with a tragedy. In 1963, fire ravaged the forty-room Victorian Gothic plantation home on the historic estate, bringing to ashes over 170 years of history. Over the next decade, its once-regal serpentine entryway and carefully laid out gardens gradually deteriorated, as vines strangled the rows of azaleas that once welcomed guests. A place of enchantment crumbled toward extinction. The irreversible loss of Afton Villa's once pristine nineteenth-century gardens and carefully built stately home did, however, inspire Trimble to seize the opportunity to protect the derelict property from oblivion and she and her husband purchased the estate in 1972. This ambitious move initiated a forty-year regeneration of one of the most treasured and legendary gardens in Louisiana. Afton Villa documents Trimble's decades-long restoration project while providing a history of the original owners and paying tribute to the other people who contributed to its rebirth. Focusing on preservation, Trimble reveals how the garden's original footprint survived as well as how she thoughtfully introduced new flora into the terraced landscape, including the foundation ruins of the house, under the guidance of landscape architect Neil G. Odenwald. With steep learning curves and devastating setbacks, including hurricane destruction, each milestone in the recovery of Afton Villa marked a triumph of collaborative will over adversity. Hundreds of visitors every year journey to St. Francisville to enjoy the result of Trimble's arduous and rewarding efforts. The moss-draped oaks welcome them to a rolling vista of daffodils, cherry trees, and a boxwood parterre as well as hundreds of other features in this thirty-five-acre garden. With a vivid narrative and beautiful images, Afton Villa: The Birth and Rebirth of a Nineteenth-Century Louisiana Garden captures the story of this remarkable restoration.

An A-to-Z compendium of more than 200 garden elements, styles, features, and ornaments for gardeners around the globe Following the bestselling The Gardener's Garden, garden expert and historian Toby Musgrave explores the creative art of garden-making through more than 200 elements and features. This is the ultimate reference guide, with entries ranging from Allee and Bower to Formal, Native Planting, and Xeriscape - each illustrated with examples drawn from historic and contemporary gardens around the world. Whether tending an English cottage garden or a Japanese Zen landscape, gardeners and garden lovers everywhere will be inspired as never before.

Often described as 'the most beautiful garden in England', Hidcote is a jewel in England's horticultural history. The garden's creator, Lawrence Johnston, was inspired by many of the Arts and Crafts design ideas at the turn of the 20th century. From 1907 this intriguing American-born plant hunter transformed ten acres of Gloucestershire hillside into one of the world's most influential gardens, a complex mixture of hedged 'rooms' and vistas, lavish planting and simpler, informal areas. Today it is one of the most popular gardens in the country, with over 130,000 people visiting every year. The book covers the history of this stunning garden, including its fascinating creator who fused planting ideas from various parts of the world while making Hidcote. In addition, Anna Pavord's text illuminates the garden as it is today with a wonderful literary and visual tour around the garden in spring, summer and autumn. Substsntially revised with new photography in 2013. Often described as 'the most beautiful garden in England', Hidcote is a jewel in England's horticultural history. The garden's creator, Lawrence Johnston, was inspired by many of the Arts and Crafts design ideas at the turn of the 20th century. Revised with new photography added in 2013.

Gardening is every bit as creative as painting flowers in watercolour. And it is in bringing together various elements that a lot of the creativity lies.

This book gives you expert guidance to achieve this, with loads of examples from gardens all over the country. It shows you that a garden is in essence a combination of shapes, textures, colours and growth forms – the ultimate combination of combinations. Learn how to combine plants that are mutually supportive and create their own harmony or combine plants and elements for sameness, or for contrast. By bringing together selected plants and garden elements you create a more beautiful, more arresting and more powerful visual presentation than what could be done by using any of the combined elements individually. The creative scope and different permutations made possible by combinations cannot be quantified – what you can imagine, you can combine.

This book looks at combinations in four categories: colour, shape and form, texture, and the specific environment of the garden and its plants. More than 230 magnificent photographs will charm and inspire you and the information will show you how to use combinations skilfully and wisely. Maximise the appeal of your garden by making the most of its combinations.

Covering basic planting and design principles that make the most of outdoor surroundings, this guide helps gardeners establish a unique nocturnal garden. Including chapters on night-scented and night-blooming plants, gentle mood lighting, water features, enclosures, and the use of color and sound to attract wildlife, this is the perfect starting place for gardeners attracted to the ethereal nature of a moonlit landscape, whether they are working with a backyard terrace or a large plot of land. Case studies of formal gardens and detailed horticultural descriptions of night-friendly plant species and varieties--divided into Star Plants, Supporting Cast, and Backstage Beauties--round out the tools needed to transform a private space into a moonlit paradise. Given that the sun only shines half the day, shouldn't there be a guide for what happens, or could happen, in your garden after sunset? There are many reasons to consider a twilight garden. You may live in a warm climate where evenings are more comfortable than midday. You may work long hours, or enjoy eating dinner and entertaining outdoors. Or perhaps you're attracted to the ethereal nature of a moonlit landscape. Whatever the reason, you need a guide to make the most of your outdoor surroundings. "The Twilight Garden" covers basic planting and design principles needed to establish a unique nocturnal garden. It includes chapters on night-scented and night-blooming plants, gentle mood lighting, water features, enclosures, and the use of color and sound to attract wildlife. Gardening expert Lia Leendertz shows that it is possible to create a nighttime paradise whether you have a small backyard terrace or a large plot of land. She includes case studies of formal gardens and detailed horticultural descriptions of night-friendly plant species and varieties, divided into Star Plants, Supporting Cast, and Backstage Beauties. Following her lead, you'll be able to transform your own private space into a moonlit paradise.

In a compact garden, vertical and overhead spaces take on a different role. Trellises, pergolas, hanging baskets, window boxes, as well as all manner of tubs and containers, create opportunities that are often overlooked in more expansive gardens.

Small Gardens offers ideas for space-saving designs as well as suggestions for suitable plant combinations for patios, terraces, courtyards and other small areas. This book will show you how to transform almost any small space into a garden of delight.

All kinds of garden plants – shrubs, climbers, roses, hedges and trees – need pruning to improve their shape and condition, and to encourage more flowers and fruits.

Whether you are starting a new garden, maintaining established plants or renovating a neglected garden, this essential guide to pruning will come to your assistance time and again.

A useful guide for anyone who has moved into a new house and needs to create a garden that will meet their needs for decades to come.

Garden Design and Planning shows you how to convert a bare patch or an existing layout into the garden of your dreams. Lavishly illustrated with photographs and drawings, it guides the reader through every stage of the process, from the initial planning to the finishing touches, offering practical advice on a variety of projects that are well within the reach of the average gardener or DIY enthusiast

Growing plants in containers is a quick and easy way to enhance gardens, courtyards, patios and terraces, balconies, windows and entrances. This detailed and authoritative book sets out the best container plant combinations and gives you all the step-by-step directions you need for planting, creating and maintaining beautiful container-based displays.

The Landscape Garden: the quiet but startling national revolution that overthrew the parterres, avenues and canals of formal European-style gardens littering Britain in the eighteenth century. Thousands of landscape gardens were created for the wealthy, often looking so natural that we hardly recognise them as the hand of man. Steered by brilliant designers and visionary owners, the fashion for landscape gardens took hold across the country. Using water, grass and trees, designers softened lines and created seemingly natural planted park landscapes. Landscape gardens were on a huge scale, and all the work was done by hand. By the 1750s this had developed into the landscape park and garden epitomised by 'Capability' Brown, the most famous of the eighteenth-century garden designers. In this book by garden historian Sarah Rutherford, discover Britain's greatest contribution to the visual arts worldwide. This book is part of the Britain's Heritage series, which provides definitive introductions to the riches of Britain's past, and is the perfect way to get acquainted with landscape gardens in all their variety.

These beautiful additions to any land provide homes for some of our most important indigenous wildlife: plants, insects, fish, amphibians, birds and even mammals. A limpid pool edged with rushes, the humming of damselflies, the croaks of frogs and the swooping flight of swallows will be a microsite of the best of the countryside. Pond expert Chris McClaren introduces the reader to the world of ponds: how to create one, how to maintain one and how to introduce wildlife to this idyllic pool and help it thrive. All your questions are answered here. What plants are indigenous and will have positive environmental impact? What cover to include around the pond so that it links to a suitable 'wildlife corridor'? What fish are sustainable in a pond of a small size? How can I make sure the pond is safe? What will the pond be like through the seasons? To help create and conserve our wildlife and to discover the delights of creating a micro-ecosystem - take time to create a pond.

Step inside the world's most famous garden and understand the strength of its attraction since is was bought and transformed by writer Vita Sackville West and diplomat Harold Nicholson in the 1930s. This unforgettable garden of rooms is influential today for its design, its exuberant planting, and its effect on visitors as a complete garden experience. Author Tim Richardson explores its power and its magic, explaining the nuances of its evolution and shows how we can all enjoy it today.

As the world heats up and we become more and more conscious of our place in the natural scheme, the appeal of the native plants of the Southwest becomes ever more compelling for gardeners. In addition to providing year-round beauty with relatively little maintenance, landscaping with native plants contributes to the repair of the natural ecosystem and brings us closer to our environment--and the array of native plant material available to the Southwestern gardener is diverse and spectacular, providing seemingly endless opportunities for creative and attractive landscapes.In Landscaping with Native Plants of the Southwest, George Oxford Miller provides the definitive guide to choosing the best of the best among the native plants of Arizona and New Mexico. Covering wildflowers, shrubs, trees, vines, groundcovers, and cacti, this comprehensive, richly illustrated book selects the species whose ornamental qualities, growth habit, adaptability, maintenance needs, and beauty add up to the highest landscape value. The illustrations, maps, and charts provide guidelines for species selection and planting, ongoing maintenance, landscape design, and water and energy conservation. In-depth plant profiles describe the habitat requirements for more than 350 native plant species, subspecies, and varieties, with lush photographs illustrating how each plant looks and responds to landscape conditions.As the interest in native-plant landscaping and xeriscaping continues to grow, this book will find a place on the shelf of every gardener and landscaper in the region--or of anybody interested in recreating the beauty of the Southwest in a hot, dry corner of the yard.

Leer hoe om standbeelde, beeldhouwerk, vaste strukture, waterverfraaiings, fokusplante en veel meer te gebruik om jou tuin pragtig af te rond. Manjifieke foto's van tuine regdeur die land, wat spesiaal vir die boek geneem is, se uitgebreide byskrifte verduidelik hoe jy die geillustreerde effek in jou eie tuin kan verkry. Daar is hope wenke en aanbevelings, dus is die boek nie net 'n visuele inspirasie nie, maar het dit ook 'n skatkis van beproefde, praktiese raad. Die inhoud sluit die volgende in: Paadjies en plaveisel; houers; kleur en die effek wat dit gee; randjies en afwerking; standbeelde en beelhouwerk; oorspronklike idees; ligte en beligting; plante as fokuspunte.

Learn how to make and use nourishing compost for your garden with this handy little guidebook from an experienced National Trust head gardener. It's packed with useful tips for successful composting, from deciding what to put in your kitchen compost caddy to how to use the final product in your garden. The author discusses the various composting set-ups you can choose, from simple plastic cone-shaped 'Dalek' bins to ingenious hand-rotated barrels and elaborate solar-powered hot composting systems, and gives full instructions to make a professional-looking three-bay compost heap from old pallets. Also covered are unusual and innovative techniques such as keyhole gardening and lasagne planting, and there's a guide to wormeries and, for the very adventurous, snaileries. He also reveals the many uses to which compost can be put in your garden, and not just to grow plants in - as a top dressing to keep your lawn looking fresh and green, as mulch for your flower beds, or, in liquid form, as a powerfully nutritious plant feed. And there's a handy guide to which bits of kitchen waste you can put into your compost, and which you really shouldn't. Finally, if you've always wanted an exceptionally environmentally friendly composting toilet, instructions are here. Beautifully illustrated throughout, this practical guide contains all the advice you'll ever need to get your compost going and use it to help your garden thrive.

Gardeners, with all good fortune and flora, are endowed with love for a hobby that has profound potential for positive change. The beautifully illustrated "Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East" approaches landscape design from an ecological perspective, encouraging professional horticulturalists and backyard enthusiasts alike to intensify their use of indigenous or native plants. These plants, ones that grow naturally in the same place in which they evolved, form the basis of the food web. Wildlife simply cannot continue to survive without them-nor can we.

Why indigenous plants, you may ask? What makes them so special to butterflies and bees and boys and girls? For Carolyn Summers, the answer is as natural as an ephemeral spring wildflower or berries of the gray dogwood, "As I studied indigenous plants, a strange thing happened. The plants grew on me. I began to love the plants themselves for their own unique qualities, quite apart from their usefulness in providing food and shelter for wildlife."

Emphasizing the importance of indigenous plant gardening and landscape design, Summers provides guidelines for skilled sowers and budding bloomers.

She highlights . . .

"The best ways to use exotic and nonindigenous plants responsibly

"Easy-to-follow strategies for hosting wildlife in fields, forests, and gardens

"Designs for traditional gardens using native trees, shrubs, groundcovers as substitutes for exotic plants

"Examples of flourishing plant communities from freshwater streams to open meadows

"How to control plant reproduction, choose cultivars, open-pollinated indigenous plants, and different types of hybrids, and practice "safe sex in the garden"

From Maine to Kentucky and up and down the East Coast, "Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East" lays the "gardenwork" for protecting natural areas through the thoughtful planting of indigenous plants. Finally we can bask in the knowledge that it is possible to have loads of fun at the same time we are growing a better world.