In 1903, after a fire completely destroyed her family home in Norfolk, UK, the 27- year-old Constance helped her mother redesign their house and recreate the garden. It was an experience from which she never looked back, going on to become an internationally recognised garden expert and connoisseur. A rich woman herself, she was attracted to the most spectacular and extravagant gardens in the world. From Shalimar Bagh, Lahore, to Nishat Bagh, Srinagar, to La Granja near Madrid, Constance earned her reputation studying Mughal and Moorish gardens as well as those in Great Britain, France, Italy and northern Europe. Between 1910 and 1955 she wrote about them, painted and photographed them and lectured on them. She produced two successful illustrated books, and numerous articles for magazines, including Country Life, Vogue, The Burlington Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, and The Times. When she died in 1966, she left paintings, photographs, diaries, press cuttings and scrapbooks to her grandchildren. It is upon this fascinating and hitherto unseen archive of memorabilia that Constance Villiers Stuart: In Pursuit of Paradise is based.

In 'The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden', Roy Diblik shares his unique approach to growing perennials so that readers can reap the benefits of a beautiful garden with minimal maintenance. He lays out fifty self-sustaining perennial communities on a grid, which can be implemented in a variety of sites and different scales. Each segment only requires up to 25 minutes of maintenance every 2 weeks. The 'Know-Maintenance' approach develops gardeners' knowledge of how their plants will interact and gives them a greater understanding of their site and soil. This will allow them to create a spectacular planting display using the huge range of colours and forms offered by perennials.

Landscapes of material are also landscapes of meaning: praxis is itself symbolic, and all landscapes are symbolic in practice. Ideology and Landscape in Historical Perspective draws together fifteen historical geographers to examine landscapes as messages to be decoded, as signs to be deciphered. The range of examples is wide in terms of period, from the medieval to the modern, and of place, embracing the USA, Canada, Palestine, Israel, South Africa, India, Singapore, France and Germany. Each essay addresses a specific problem, but collectively they are principally concerned with the ideologies of religion and of politics, of Church and state, and their historical impress upon landscapes. The book is introduced by an essay which explores the dialectical understanding of landscapes, and landscapes as expressions of the connection of an ideology to a quest for order, to an assertion of authority and to a project of totalization. The issues raised by landscapes and their meanings - issues of individual and collective action, of objective knowing, of materialist and idealist explanation - are fundamental not only to historical geography but to any humanistic study, and render the geographical study of landscapes of interest to scholars in many disciplines.

When it comes to gardens, bigger isn't always better. A larger space requires more plants, more furniture, more maintenance, and more time. A smallerspace takes less time to design, install, and care for and makes it easierfor gardeners to take advantage of every square foot of space. The Less Is More Garden shows you how to take advantage of a small yard. Designer Susan Morrison offers dozens of savvy tips on how to personalize a space to match a specific lifestyle, draws on her years of experience to recommend smart plants that will provide seasonal interest, and suggests hardscape materials that match many different aesthetics. Throughout, tips are supplemented by inspiring photographs that show a variety of successful designs from around the country. Use the tips found in The Less Is More Garden to turn your standard lot into a unique space that is lovely, family friendly, and low maintenance.

Guided by a rediscovered spirit of self-sufficiency, a renewed sense of thrift, and a deepened commitment to the natural environment, legions of people are finding satisfaction in vegetable gardening. As gardeners spend more time in their gardens, they look for ways to make their gardens more productive, their garden chores easier, and their outdoor spaces more enjoyable. Now, with just a little time and a handful of tools, gardeners can create handsome, handcrafted items for their gardens at a fraction of the cost of buying retail. "The Vegetable Gardeners Book of Building Projects" presents 39 ideas for simple projects from cold frames to compost bins, from planters to picnic tables, and from trellises to tool storage. Each project was hand-selected by Storey's editors to be functional, attractive, and easy to complete. Each includes step-by-step instructions, detailed illustrations, complete materials and lumber lists, no-nonsense tips, and a four-color photograph of the finished product in its natural setting. Projects are as practical as they are simple; many are ideal for the beginning woodworker, and most can be completed in a matter of hours. Whether a gardener needs a support for his beans and peas or looks forward to relaxing in a lawn chair or garden swing when the work is done, these plans are the perfect starting point.

This book presents a chronological review of garden design which both simplifies the big picture and supplies a rationale, with examples, of the merits and demerits of each design period while reflecting on the social conditions which generated each one. It gathers together design ideas and their implementation over the last 500 years, presented in historical order and simplified to allow easy digestion by the reader, particularly if meeting the subject for the first time. As such the book demystifies history and identifies the relative importance of new approaches in design, particularly where they are seen to be progressive. Essential examples from each design period or style are included, based upon their contribution to the progress of design and relating to their value, particularly in the teaching of garden and landscape design principles. Thus the reader will be able to quickly grasp the essence of historical design styles, discover where they can go to see them for themselves and to appreciate how relevant they are to present day theories of design.By concentrating on Britain's own heritage the book offers a sound understanding of influences and thereby helps to inform design practice. Since the principles of design are universal, it will be of relevance in many countries throughout the world. The book is illustrated with photographs, diagrams and plans, creating a readily-accessible and informative volume.

'Designer Matt Keightley's first book is a thing of beauty and a valuable source of design inspiration - a stylish guide to a stylish garden.' - Gardens Illustrated Do you want your outdoor space to look as stylish and as well designed as your home? RHS Design Outdoors will give you the ideas and know-how you need to make that happen. Award-winning designer Matt Keightley has curated a collection of 35 gardens, created either by him or by other leading contemporary designers, that will provide the inspiration to transform your outdoor space. Gardeners features include award-winning designers Jo Thompson, Tom Stuart Smith, Tony Woods, Charlotte Rowe and Andrew Wilson. For each case study there is a detailed plan, information on the plants and materials used and a wealth of gorgeous photography by leading garden photographer Marianne Majerus. The designs are organized into five categories: Showstoppers at Home - high-design concepts that are nonetheless achievable; Family-friendly - gardens that incorporate play areas and socialising; Minimalist - spaces with larger areas of hard landscaping and bold, restrained planting; Plants First - gardens where more than half of the outdoor space is planted; and Other Spaces - roof terraces, basement areas and front gardens. This wide array of garden styles means that there is inspiration for all types of garden, and for all types of gardener.

Any backyard has the potential to refresh and inspire if you know what to do. Jan Johnsen's new book, Gardentopia: Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces, will delight all garden lovers with over 130 lushly illustrated landscape design and planting suggestions. Ms. Johnsen is an admired designer and popular speaker whose hands-on approach to "co-creating with nature" will have you saying, "I can do that!' This info-packed, sumptuous book offers individual tips for enhancing any size landscape using 'real world' solutions. The suggestions are grouped into five categories that include Garden Design and Artful Accents, Walls, Patios, and Steps and Plants and Planting, among others. Whether you are an experienced gardener or a landscaping novice, Gardentopia will inspire you with tips such as 'Soften a Corner", "Paint it Black", and "Hide and Reveal".

Much has been written about London's terraced houses with their simple dignity, their economical use of space, and their sense of comfort and human scale. Yet the small gardens that lie before or behind the houses in this great city have until now been overlooked. In this groundbreaking account of the development of the private garden in London, eminent garden historian Todd Longstaffe-Gowan provides a delightful remedy to the oversight. Recognizing the contribution of modest domestic gardens to the texture of eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century London, Longstaffe-Gowan explores in full detail the small gardens, their owners, and their significance to the development of the metropolis. Some two hundred illustrations enhance this rich and fascinating discussion.

Town gardening was conventionally maligned as a trifling pursuit conducted within inhospitable and infertile enclosures. This view changed during the eighteenth century as middle class Londoners found in gardening activities an outlet for personal enjoyment and expression. This book describes how gardening affected the lives of many, becoming part of the ritual of the daily round and gratifying material aspirations.

Landscapes of material are also landscapes of meaning: praxis is itself symbolic, and all landscapes are symbolic in practice. Ideology and Landscape in Historical Perspective draws together fifteen historical geographers to examine landscapes as messages to be decoded, as signs to be deciphered. The range of examples is wide in terms of period, from the medieval to the modern, and of place, embracing the USA, Canada, Palestine, Israel, South Africa, India, Singapore, France and Germany. Each essay addresses a specific problem, but collectively they are principally concerned with the ideologies of religion and of politics, of Church and state, and their historical impress upon landscapes. The book is introduced by an essay which explores the dialectical understanding of landscapes, and landscapes as expressions of the connection of an ideology to a quest for order, to an assertion of authority and to a project of totalization. The issues raised by landscapes and their meanings - issues of individual and collective action, of objective knowing, of materialist and idealist explanation - are fundamental not only to historical geography but to any humanistic study, and render the geographical study of landscapes of interest to scholars in many disciplines.

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, it seemed to many that England was being transformed by various kinds of 'improvements' in agriculture and industry, in gardening and the ornamentation of landscape. Such changes were understood to reflect matters of the greatest importance in the moral, social and political arrangements of the country. In the area of landscape design, to clear a wood, or plant one, to build a folly or a cottage, to design in the formal style or the picturesque, was to express a political orientation of one kind or another. To choose to employ Capability Brown, Humphry Repton or one of their lesser-known competitors, was to make a statement regarding the history of England, its constitutional organisation and the relationships that ought to exist between its citizens. Although many landowners may have been oblivious to this, there was a large body of critical opinion, poetry, theology and social discourse that offered to inform and correct them. In this illuminating and stimulating book, Nigel Everett reviews the entire debate, from about 1760 to 1820, emphasising in particular the attempts of various writers to defend a 'traditional' or tory view of the landscape against the aggressive, privatising tendency of improvement. Challenging the narrow implications of the existing schools of landscape historians - the 'establishment' historians, concerned primarily with currents of 'taste', who ignore the wider issues involved, and the commentators on the Left who have tended to see landscape politics as the politics of class - Everett reveals the history of English landscape as a political struggle between, on the one hand, the mechanical, universal andimpersonal - whig - point of view and, on the other, the natural, Christian, particular and organic point of view. Everett depicts a lively, intelligent debate regarding the development of English society, as active among cultivated clergymen and landowners as among the theoreticians. Furthermore, analysing the languages of tory political thought, Everett engages in a dialogue between the present and the past, identifying in the detached, artificial and utilitarian attitudes of the whig 'improvers' the philosophical and historical origins of a dominant set of values of the late twentieth century - most recently expressed in the Conservative Party - in which the interests of private enterprise and commercial utility preponderate over any other conception of the public good. This important and passionate book makes an essential and original contribution to the study of eighteenth-century cultural history in Britain.

The Iconography of Landscape draws together fourteen scholars from diverse disciplines to explore the status of landscape as a cultural image. By applying the art-historical method of iconography--interpreting levels of meaning in human artifacts--to landscapes on paper or canvas, in literary form or on the ground, its contributors show how landscape is an important mode of human signification, informed by, and itself informing social, cultural and political issues. The range of examples is wide in terms of medium, period and place. It covers poetry and promotional literature, architectural design and urban ceremonial maps and paintings; the historical periods discussed range from sixteenth-century Italy to twentieth-century Canada. The book is introduced by the editors' discussion of the meanings of landscape and of the iconographic method in the context of contemporary theoretical and methodological debate on culture and society.

This stunningly designed and illustrated book details the gardens that won Adam an astonishing seven gold medals at Chelsea Flower Show from his first self-financed garden 2007 to his Show Gardens for major sponsors such as Homebase. Recognised as the designers' designer Adam Frost combines a mixture of great design and brilliant planting. In this book he tells the story of the creation of each garden and reveals tips and information to allow readers to create their own great spaces. As a member of the regular presenting team on Gardeners' World, Adam is incredibly popular and draws large crowds wherever he appears.

Following on from the author's previous book, Construction Detailing for Landscape and Garden Design: Surfaces, Steps and Margins, this book, Construction Detailing for Landscape and Garden Design: Urban Water Features, provides clear instruction for the construction of small to medium scale water features. With over 130 black and white CAD designs, Hensey provides guidance on a range of different water features such as drainage, water bowls and containers, walls and edges, structures and crossings, and rills, channels and cascades. This book offers technical references and a general knowledge of the basic principles, materials and techniques needed when engineering with water. This practical guide would be beneficial for garden designers and landscape architects seeking accessible and relatable materials for designing water features.

To understand the development of private gardens, one must accept that there is no classroom that can explain how approaching such a project is accomplished. It is a long journey that is ignited in those who begin to pursue a passion for garden design. Beginning with, first, the study of plants and the wonder of all their characteristics, this knowledge then needs to be combined with a solid understanding of the mathematics of geometry and the use of scale and the relationship of proportions. Landscape designers must progress on to developing a style that fits a designer's personality while, at the same time, expanding the vision for each landscape. Garden design seems simple, but actually it is very complicated work. This book covers nearly 40 beautiful private gardens from all over the world, including traditional European gardens, American gardens, Japanese gardens and a number of gardens from Southeast Asia, with a wealth of high-res photos, floor plans, sketches and plant details to show the beautiful view of gardens. This will undoubtedly provide design tips for designers who want to stand out in the field of private garden design.

". . . you can't do without it. As a reference book it is unsurpassed." - The Guardian "Absolutely essential" - BBC Good Homes Find the perfect plants for your garden with this inspiring encyclopedia for all gardening enthusiasts! Achieve that beautiful garden oasis you've always dreamt of, and find endless inspiration and guidance for your garden to thrive with this gardening guide! This fully comprehensive yet easy-to-use informative planting guide is what every gardener needs on their bookshelf. Here's what you'll find inside: - A photographic catalogue of 4000 plants and flowers grouped by type, size, then colour, allowing readers to browse and find the best plants for their garden - A detailed "Plant Dictionary" describes more than 8000 species and varieties and their ideal growing conditions - In the Introduction, a "Plant Selector" section lists ideal plants for particular growing conditions, such as coastal areas, shady spots, and different soil types - Fully updated text from garden plant specialists, with more than 1380 new plants added, including the latest and most popular cultivars Discover perennials, bulbs, shrubs, and trees, succulents, and ornamental shrubs, all showcased in beautiful, full-colour photography to help elevate your garden to the next level. Use the extensive plant dictionary to look up more than 8000 plant varieties and the best growing conditions. Written by a team of more than 15 top horticultural specialists under the guidance of internationally renowned plantsman and botanist Christopher Brickell, this gardening encyclopedia appeals to all levels of gardeners and continually inspires with achievable garden ideas. This informative yet inspirational book about gardening will appeal to beginners or more experienced gardeners interested in the latest cultivars and horticultural advice.

For everyone from beginners to masters, the one essential book to growing, grooming, and caring for your bonsai tree.
Bonsai is the ancient craft of carefully regulating the growth and shape of trees in order to produce miniature versions of mature trees. Dating back over one thousand years to ancient Japan, bonsai trees are some of the most beautiful and meticulously looked-after plants in the world, and in recent years bonsai have exploded in popularity in the Western world.
"Bonsai," written by world-renowned bonsai expert Peter Chan, is the essential compendium for anyone interested in trying out bonsai for the first time or adding more bonsai to their existing collections, detailing everything you need to know about buying and maintaining a magnificent bonsai tree, including:
- How to pick the right bonsai for you
- Tools and supplies to ensure your bonsai prospers
- How to shape your bonsai into different styles
- How different pots affect the growth of your bonsai
- And much more
With hundreds of color photographs and easy-to-read directions and explanations on a variety of subjects, "Bonsai" is the only book you'll ever need to successfully start and maintain your own beautiful bonsai tree collection.

**Winner of the American Horticultural Society Book Award** Japanese gardens are rooted in two traditions: an ancient one in which patches of graveled forest or pebbled beach were dedicated to nature spirits, and a tradition from China and Korea that included elements such as ponds, streams, waterfalls, rock compositions, and a variety of vegetation. This book traces the development and blending of these two traditions, while also providing insight into modern Japanese gardening trends. The Art of the Japanese Garden is a comprehensive collection of the most notable gardens in Japan--including graveled courtyards, early aristocratic villas, palace gardens, esoteric and paradise gardens, Zen gardens, warrior gardens, tea gardens, and stroll gardens. With an impressive amount of new content, including more than 30 images, this updated edition offers inspiring ideas for your own trip to Japan. If you're just dreaming of traveling to Japan, there is also a section on Japanese gardens in other countries--get a taste of Japanese culture and tradition closer to home. Japanese gardening has reached new heights of sophistication, and serves as garden design and landscaping inspiration all over the world. The Art of the Japanese Garden introduces readers to the history, culture, and design behind these large-scale works of art.

This is the first book to study in detail the making of the rural English landscape in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For decades historians have debated the nature, timing and even the existence of the 'agricultural revolution'. This book approaches the debate from a new direction: that of landscape archaeology. It argues that there was not one 'agricultural revolution' but many. The enclosure of open fields and the reclamation of heath and downland - spearheaded by aristocratic improvers and large capitalist farmers - mesmerised contemporaries. But most enclosures had little to do with the improvement of arable farming, large landowners played a minor role and the really revolutionary changes took place elsewhere, in parts of England which were not characterised by large estates, and were the work of tenant farmers rather than landowners.

Here is your essential guide to successful native-plant gardening in Wisconsin. Gardeners use native plants for many reasons. Native plants often require less maintenance, and they are better able to survive and grow in our state's difficult soil and weather conditions. But equally appealing is the joy of connecting with our state's natural heritage--and the satisfaction of creating a true sense of place rather than just another cookie-cutter landscape. "Landscaping with Native Plants of Wisconsin" is the first book designed to help you identify and effectively use our state's native plants and native-plant communities in a typical home landscape. You'll find the basic gardening information you need to successfully grow native plants. You'll learn what level of native-plant landscaping is right for you and get expert advice on the process of designing a natural garden that fits your property, your lifestyle, and your family's needs. The book includes many plant lists. Some deal with common landscape problems and difficult sites, including deer-resistant plants, shade gardens, and water-wise gardens. Other lists tell you what native plants will work well in different garden styles, including water and rock gardens as well as plants to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. The Native Plant Profiles section is an encyclopedia with comprehensive descriptions of 500 Wisconsin native-plant species, varieties, and cultivars of flowers, trees, shrubs, vines, evergreens, grasses, ferns, and groundcovers--including information on planting, maintenance, and landscape uses for each plant. Lynn M. Steiner is a native of Wisconsin and one of the Midwest's best-known garden writers. Her enthusiasm fornative plants and gardening stems from a childhood curiosity about all things natural, as well as over 20 years of tending her own extensive home gardens. For 15 years, she was the editor of "Northern Gardener" magazine, which earned numerous awards for "Overall Excellence" under her direction.