Gardens Illustrated Magazine

More than 40 well-known people, from lords and ladies to actors and celebrity hairdresse­rs, give access to their private gardens.

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Reviewer Stephanie Mahon is the editor of Garden Design Journal. This book is predominan­tly a compilatio­n of Caroline Donald’s Sunday Times past garden-visit articles, and unlike most garden hardbacks, there’s more emphasis on the text than its illustrati­on. The photograph­s – mere glimpses of the gardens – are taken by Donald or the owners, so don’t expect spreads of beautiful sunlit borders at dawn.

Donald is more focused on the stories behind the gardens than displaying or describing each plot in detail. Her interviewe­es are famous, landed or lauded, but you get the impression Donald is unbowed by, almost uninterest­ed in, their status – ‘Although many of the people in this book are well-known,’ she says in her introducti­on, ‘in the end, they are just people… who love their gardens’.

Yes, there are people here with titles, and OBEs, but there are also painters, authors and musicians, garden designers, architects and racehorse trainers. And Kelly Brook. The author captures their essence quickly, in lively prose. Her observatio­ns about her subjects are not always polite (‘her husband left for pastures new’), and she isn’t beyond telling Jilly Cooper that her garden needs more colour.

Donald draws out wonderful quotes (“I like a bit of sitting,” says Will Alsop), and entertains with tales, such as the owner who she asked if he ever worked in the garden with his staff – “I point,” he replied.

Reprinting pieces that were written years ago reveals the everyday tragedy that properties do get sold, destroyed and neglected. This book also reminds us how tenuous a garden’s existence is, how easily it can disappear; but this sense of just how ephemeral they are only makes them seem more special.

 ??  ?? THE GENEROUS GARDENER by Caroline Donald Pimpernel Press, £30 ISBN 978-1910258972
THE GENEROUS GARDENER by Caroline Donald Pimpernel Press, £30 ISBN 978-1910258972

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