John taught and lectured around the world and, thanks to his energetic writing, teaching and media appearances, he became regarded as the ‘king’ and ‘godfather’ of garden and landscape design. How to Design a Garden is an informative and ultimately practical collection of his thoughts and advice selected from countless writings and lectures given to students, professionals and the public around the world.  

In addition to his teaching on how to design a garden, the book has two key themes – environmental sustainability and a focus on the local vernacular. In this revised and updated edition, a new directory of 50 essential plants shows how far ahead John was of his time and to what a great extent his teaching remains relevant to garden-makers today.

Grounded in the Garden explores the practical considerations that come into play when creating a beautiful garden which also respects nature. TJ goes deep into such topics as using colour in the garden, creating and re-creating borders, and generally, how we can get the most from our gardens. But this is much more than just a how-to guide. Interspersed among the practical advice is a spiritual and thought-provoking inquiry as he reflects on nature and what she has to teach us if we are willing to listen.

TJ writes, ‘Maybe the only things that matter in the end are love and the heart connections we have made.’ This book is an invitation to love both the natural world and ourselves. It is also a feast for the eyes. TJ’s photographs are interspersed with contributions from Jason Ingram, Clive Nichols, Richard Murphy and Kieran Neary. Together, their images bring to life the creatures, the beauty and the colour in his garden.  

The Science of Garden Biodiversity: The Living Garden shows how data and science can help to dispel myths, such as that wildlife gardens are great for wildlife (and other gardens aren’t), that a garden fit for wildlife must be ‘wild’ and that you must grow native plants. It also provides an understanding of how diverse life can be in gardens and how gardens work. And along the way there are scientific ‘signposts’ to better wildlife gardening. Julian Doberski explains the role of ‘small things’ – microorganisms and invertebrates – that are fundamental to the ecological functioning of gardens.

Learning more about the ecology of a garden helps us understand what makes a garden a refuge for wildlife and how following the science may lead to a more thoughtful and constructive approach to gardening, garden design and garden planting.

In this book, Susie Pasley-Tyler charts how her love of gardening was born at Coton and imparts what she has learned over the past thirty years of developing its many and varied sites, the discoveries that have come to her, the mistakes she has made (and how they were repaired), and above all the sheer delight to be gained from gardening.

Andrew Lawson, pre-eminent garden photographer and colour guru, says, ‘Susie Pasley-Tyler’s passion for her garden is infectious. Perhaps there should be a health warning that this book will make you want to follow her example, and think again about your own garden.’

Experienced and novice gardeners alike will be encouraged and enlightened by Susie Pasley-Tyler’s account of being at the helm of one of the finest gardens in England.

‘My dear home, my nest, my house’: these words from a 1958 song by Jules Bruyère, with which Agatha Christie opened her autobiography, sum up the importance of home to her. She also wrote: ‘What I liked playing with as a child I have liked playing with later in life. Houses for instance.’ She also lovingly included descriptions of houses (especially ‘her’ houses) in her books.

Hilary Macaskill examines the houses that meant most to Agatha Christie, including her childhood home, Ashfield, in Torquay; Winterbrook in Oxfordshire, and, above all, Greenway, soaring above the River Dart and Agatha’s favourite home from 1938 to the end of her life in 1976 (though requisitioned in the Second World War by the Admiralty, and from 1943 to 1945 home also to the United States Coast Guard).

The author also explores more temporary abodes, not only a succession of flats and houses in London (mainly in Kensington and Chelsea) but also the homes she set up at the digs in the Middle East that she travelled to with her archaeologist husband, Max Mallowan, and the hotels – notably the Moorland Hotel on Dartmoor, to which she adjourned in the grip of writer’s block to complete her first detective novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, and the Burgh Island Hotel, a major inspiration for And Then There Were None and Evil Under the Sun.

With a focus on popular vintage items and decorative antiques Love Vintage has sections on favourite places to source stock in the UK and France, how to curate your collection, plus help with setting up a vintage business and purchasing tricks and tips and advice from experts in their field. Shop Talk shares insights from 8 dealers in the UK and France. Combined with recommendations on what to look out for and who to follow this book will arm you with all you need to get started and more.

In more than 300 original photos and drawings, this practical book shows you how to do the same. Where possible, choose good-quality natural materials, say no to needless plastics, aggressive chemicals, and unnecessary waste. Use your own labour to save money and give a unique result. It’s a way of life, joyful, satisfying and enriching.

Judicious use of precious resources makes us part of a cycle of creation and renewal, a global jigsaw in which everyone has a part to play. Stockley shares projects of varying complexity from her own home to inspire you to create something gorgeous in yours.

After studying in Paris in the 1920s, they moved to London, where they gave fabulous parties attended by the cream of creative London. Morris became a sought-after painter of flowers, birds and landscapes, while Lett was hailed as Britain’s first Surrealist.

Together they founded the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End in Suffolk, attended by Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling, where the atmosphere was described as “robust and coarse, exquisite and sensitive all at once, also faintly dangerous”. Lett ran the school and was a superb cook who swapped recipes with Elizabeth David. Cedric Morris became an award-winning plantsman and poppy and iris breeder. He was an acknowledged influence on many gardeners, including Beth Chatto.

This biography, revised and updated in this paperback edition, is a fascinating portrait of a unique couple who were hugely influential across the spheres of gardening and cookery as well as art.