A YEAR IN MY GARDEN

Hélène Lesger Books, £35 ISBN 978-9082683691

An engaging book that guides us through a year in designer van der Kloet’s Dutch garden, jam-packed with take-away knowledge. Reviewer Annie Guilfoyle is a garden designer and lecturer.

The name Jacqueline van der Kloet is synonymous with designing with bulbs but in this, her tenth book, she concentrates on her own garden De Theetuin, in Weesp in the Netherlands. Beautifully photographed and arranged over 12 chapters corresponding to the months of the year, the book begins with September, which, as van der Kloet explains, ‘is the month which makes it most obvious that “the garden” is a continuous process, without a clear beginning or end’.

Intended as a guide through her garden rather than a diary, van der Kloet aims to give the reader the feeling that they are being led by the hand, gaining a better understanding of what they should be doing in their own garden and of how the garden will affect them. Seasonal musings describe the work that van der Kloet will focus on in the garden, such as bulb planting or pruning.

We are also taken on occasional detours to discover her design work, such as Martha Stewart’s US garden, Disneyland in Paris and, closer to home, de Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands.

Each chapter includes a photo spread showing a particular view in the garden over 12 months – a clever technique to illustrate the importance of seasonal interest, something that is so easily overlooked.

Van der Kloet doesn’t shy away from the failures and tougher aspects of gardening, such as how she dealt with the devastation wrought by the box tree moth. She even includes a list of the plants she regrets having planted. It is this honesty and openness about her experiences as a gardener and designer that makes the book so engaging. I feel as if I have been led through the garden and learned everything about it, warts and all.