Making a garden that can withstand summer drought without being watered is the dream of many who wish to garden in harmony with the environment. In this classic work on gardening in dry climates, first published in 2008, Olivier Filippi offers practical advice to achieve this goal based on his, and his wife Clara's, experience of working with mediterranean-region plants for over 30 years. The first part of the book examines the behaviour of plants that face drought in their natural habitat. What is drought and how do plants manage to survive when little water is available? The second part is concerned with gardening techniques in a dry climate. How do you prepare the soil, when do you plant, how do you maintain a dry garden? The third and longest part describes in detail no less than 500 rewarding plants that are marvellously well adapted to dry gardens. This book is essential reading for gardeners who live in one of the world's mediterranean climate zones and will also be of interest to gardeners in areas where drought is becoming a recurring problem. Armed with a new palette of plants and liberated from the hose and the sprinkler this book invites you on a pioneering adventure that paves the way to a new style of gardening.

In this book, pioneering nurseryman Olivier Filippi offers low-level planting designs that are eco-friendly and so beautiful they redefine the conventional distinction between lawn and plant borders. Inspired by the wild plant communities of Europe, the Middle East, and the USA, these rigorously trialled plant combinations can be used on terraces, paths, gravel beds and flower borders, as well as on areas that are traditionally laid to lawn. With a plant directory that lists over 200 tough but beautiful dry garden plants and Filippi's innovative maintenance techniques, this is the perfect companion to his first book The Dry Gardening Handbook and will delight all dry garden owners.

Mediterranean garrigue landscapes are extraordinarily beautiful: alternating mounds of silver and green, textured leaves, flashes of colour and intoxicating scents combine to delight the senses and rival any cultivated garden with half the work. This book offers inspiration and expert advice on growing the plants and adopting a new more natural way of gardening. Mediterranean plants are diverse and adapted to a wide range of environments and weather conditions. They are of course ideally suited to regions which experience long periods of seasonal drought but many will also withstand periods of high rainfall and extreme cold making this book essential reading for temperate-zone gardeners seeking the Mediterranean look. Some understanding of plant ecology is essential for success and Filippi shares his expert knowledge acquired from decades of research. How a plant interacts with its environment, other plants, and other living things indicates what it needs to flourish in a garden setting. Filippi's pioneering approach makes for a much closer relationship between gardener and nature that puts few demands on natural resources. Over 400 fascinating photographs capture the effortless beauty of natural plant communities and show gardeners how different gardens can be.