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.

Known as the guru of no-dig, Charles Dowding has updated his definitive book on salad-growing in this beautifully illustrated new edition: how to have tasty salad leaves all year round in a garden, balcony or windowsill; how to grow micro leaves and how to serve them in delicious recipes, all using organic or permaculture principles. Great for food lovers keen to eat tasty food with a low carbon footprint. This compendium of practical methods for growing a wide variety of salads throughout the year, will inspire you to grow your own, whether on a windowsill, in your garden or on the allotment. Here is all the information you need for productive, healthy and tasty salads. Learn the subtleties of salad seasons and virtues of different leaves throughout the year. And when your table is groaning with the abundance of your harvests, there are delicious and imaginative recipes by Stephanie Hafferty, exploiting the fantastic flavours, colour and vitality of home grown salad leaves.

A variety of practical gardening topics in handy small-format books that can be kept by one’s side while working in the garden.

The series was inspired by the author’s numerous visits and lecture tours to gardening clubs across the country. With South Africa’s variable climate and topography, each region presents its own set of unique challenges that make gardening a truly specialist hobby. But in spite of these problems, almost every South African town boasts exquisite gardens. This series aims to inspire and equip gardeners across the country with the knowledge and know-how to create a beautiful garden of their own.

In each book the secrets of successful gardening are summarised in ten key concepts.

Planned topics in the series include:

• Planning the garden
• Choosing plants for the garden
• Preparing the garden for planting
• Irrigation systems
• Composting and other types of nourishment
• Pests and diseases
• Water features and ponds
• Creating focal points in the garden
• Lighting for the garden
• Pruning
• Bulbs
• The winter garden
• And many more

A handy early guide to the formation and management of the kitchen garden and the cultivation of useful fruit and vegetables. This fascinating work is thoroughly recommended for inclusion on the bookshelf of all gardeners and contains much information that is still useful and practical today. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original artwork and text.

In this light-hearted book, poet and gardener James Fenton describes a hundred plants he would choose to grow from seed. 'It seemed a simple and interesting idea: what plants would you choose if starting a garden from scratch?' Includes chapters on flowers for colour, size, or exotic interest; herbs and meadow flowers; climbing vines and tropical species; the micro-meadow; raising plants from seed; and a wealth of personal tips and advice. As Fenton writes, 'the emphasis is on childish simplicity of approach, and economy of outlay.' Here is a happy, stylish, thought-provoking exercise in good principles, which exudes that rare thing: common-or-garden sense about gardens.

This book is the third volume of the definitive handbook for the gardener, comprising a wealth of green-fingered tips and techniques that cover absolutely everything necessary for creating and maintaining a fruitful garden. Although an antiquarian text, this handbook contains timeless information about the subject and continues to be a must-read for the keen amateur horticulturist today, complete with detailed drawings and diagrams to help you every step of the way on your journey to successful gardening. Sir William Watson (1858 1935) was an English poet, famous for the controversial political content of his work. This book was originally published in 1910 and is proudly republished now with a new introductory biography of the author."

Nature is humankind's greatest gift, and it must be appreciated and nurtured. In Gift from the Garden, Richard and Connie Jones celebrate their garden life. Through photographs and stories they convey to the reader their passion for gardening and the love and respect they have for the urban paradise they have created. These are their everlasting moments.

Gardens have never been as important as they are today. The breadth of styles and types is hugely varied. Everything goes, whether inspired by the past or looking towards the future, from traditional vegetable plots to vertical gardens and from nature-filled designs to sleek, modernist creations. Choosing what suits your space can be a daunting prospect and everyone, even the professionals, needs help to realize opportunities and create outdoor spaces in tune with their personal needs and dreams. A garden is what we make it: there is no right or wrong way and each is unique. Richly illustrated by the photos of award-winning photographer Marianne Majerus and with illuminating text by landscape architect Heidi Howcroft, this book shows what is possible for every type of garden, from challenging small spaces to expansive plots. Design tools are explained, planting styles explored, and inspiration is drawn from a wide variety of locations and climates to appeal to garden owners and designers everywhere. The book is not only a companion to Garden Design: A Book of Ideas but is also a valuable style catalogue and sourcebook in its own right, encouraging and inspiring readers to discover their own garden style - be it contemporary or traditional, cottage-style or urban minimalist.

Agrarian Landscapes in Transition researches human interaction with the earth. With hundreds of acres of agricultural land going out of production every day, the introduction, spread, and abandonment of agriculture represents the most pervasive alteration of the Earth's environment for several thousand years. What happens when humans impose their spatial and temporal signatures on ecological regimes, and how does this manipulation affect the earth and nature's desire for equilibrium?
Studies were conducted at six Long Term Ecological Research sites within the US, including New England, the Appalachian Mountains, Colorado, Michigan, Kansas, and Arizona. While each site has its own unique agricultural history, patterns emerge that help make sense of how our actions have affected the earth, and how the earth pushes back. The book addresses how human activities influence the spatial and temporal structures of agrarian landscapes, and how this varies over time and across biogeographic regions. It also looks at the ecological and environmental consequences of the resulting structural changes, the human responses to these changes, and how these responses drive further changes in agrarian landscapes.
The time frames studied include the ecology of the earth before human interaction, pre-European human interaction during the rise and fall of agricultural land use, and finally the biological and cultural response to the abandonment of farming, due to complete abandonment or a land-use change such as urbanization.

This book is the first volume of the definitive handbook for the gardener, comprising a wealth of green-fingered tips and techniques that cover absolutely everything necessary for creating and maintaining a fruitful garden. Although an antiquarian text, this handbook contains timeless information about the subject and continues to be a must-read for the keen amateur horticulturist today, complete with detailed drawings and diagrams to help you every step of the way on your journey to successful gardening. Sir William Watson (1858 1935) was an English poet, famous for the controversial political content of his work. Originally published in 1910, this book has been elected for republication because of its historic and educational value, proudly republished here with a new introductory biography of the author."