Summer plots to inspire the green- fingered
THE SECRET GARDENERS by Victoria Summerley (Frances Lincoln £30)
AS A NATION of gardeners, we British are perennially inquisitive about other people’s lawns. Those of celebrities are particularly fascinating, because it is so rare to have the opportunity to peer behind the high walls that shield them from the public’s gaze.
But this elegant book, with lavish photographs by Hugo Rittson Thomas, invites us into the secret landscapes of Jeremy Irons, Prue Leith, Julian Clary and a host of other stars.
From Rupert Everett’s riverside idyll to Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne’s quirky garden sculpture, this is the perfect combination of gardening and gossip.
DOWN TO EARTH by Monty Don
(DK £17.99) ‘THE process of making a garden is like a river running through your life,’ writes Monty Don. ‘The place stays the same, but the water, even on the stillest days, always moves.’
The Weekend columnist and presenter of BBC’s Gardeners’ World brings together and shares his accumulated personal knowledge of half a century.
An opening section on the seasons, the weather and working with nature is followed by suggestions for planning and cultivation, and a guide to monthly horticulture tasks.
Handsomely illustrated, this is a practical and philosophical guide to thoughtful gardening.
GROW COOK NOURISH by Darina Allen (Kyle Books £30)
DARINA ALLEN is Ireland’s foremost advocate of the Slow Food movement, and her Ballymaloe Cookery School in County Cork is appropriately situated on an organic farm.
Her comprehensive and beautifully illustrated kitchen garden companion is an indispensable guide for garden-totable eating. ‘Anyone can grow, anywhere, in any space,’ she insists. ‘You don’t even need green fingers.’
Sections on vegetables, fruit, herbs and foraged produce include growing instructions, intriguing scraps of folklore and even advice on medical benefits.
NATURAL SELECTION by Dan Pearson
(Faber £20) AWARD-WINNING garden designer and writer Dan Pearson moved from his town patch in Peckham to an eighthectare smallholding in Somerset.
His book draws on ten years of regular columns to celebrate the twin pleasures of town and country gardening, with evocative accounts of how to find beauty during every month of the year, from celandine and fiery salix in winter, to cascades of roses in high summer.
THE ALMANAC by Lia Leendertz (Unbound £9.99)
LIA LEENDERTZ’S delightful Almanac for 2018 is an especially useful seasonal companion for gardeners.
Alongside information on weather, wildlife and a constellation of the month, it offers advice on tasks such as pruning and planting, lists of produce in season and recipes for making the most of whatever the month offers, from blood oranges in January to elderflowers in June.
PLANT LOVE by Alys Fowler
(Kyle Books £18.99) MOST of us at some time have optimistically bought a houseplant and, in a matter of weeks, killed it. Writer, TV presenter and houseplant enthusiast Alys Fowler understands the problem only too well: ‘Your plants do not want to live with you. They like to be home, just not in your home.’ Yet they’re good for our health and wellbeing.
In this generously illustrated guide, Alys offers advice on which plants will thrive best in challenging conditions.