Garden design books
Garden design books to start from. Open one to see books like it, or tell BookSense what you loved for four picks made for you.
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New to the genre? These 5 are the books to read first.
Gardens Are for People
Thomas Dolliver ChurchA landscape architect's account of designing gardens around how people actually live in them, and an early statement of the modern residential garden as a room outdoors.
The Education of a Gardener
Russell PageA designer's memoir and reflection on training the eye for space, structure and planting, widely read as a classic of garden design thinking.
Designing with Plants
Noel KingsburySets out the naturalistic, plant-led approach to planting design that Oudolf developed and that has since influenced many public and private gardens.
Poetics of Gardens
William TurnbullTreats gardens as places that carry meaning and feeling, and asks how design creates a sense of place.
Plants in Garden History
Penelope HobhouseTraces how plants were used, grown and valued in gardens across different periods, linking garden design to the history of plant cultivation.
Chosen and described with AI from our notes on the genre.
More garden design books
- The Art of the Islamic Garden
The Art of the Islamic GardenEmma Clark - Creating Japanese Gardens
Creating Japanese GardensPhilip Cave - Planting in a Post-Wild WorldPlanting in a Post-Wild WorldClaudia West
- The Small Garden
The Small GardenJohn Brookes - Construction Detailing for Landscape and Garden Design
Construction Detailing for Landscape and Garden DesignPaul Hensey2016 - Healing Gardens
Healing GardensRomy Rawlings1998 - Secret gardens
Secret gardensAlan R. Toogood1987 - City gardening
City gardeningDeirdre Colby1987 - Creative Vegetable Gardening
Creative Vegetable GardeningJoy Larkcom1997 - AquascapingAquascapingGeorge Farmer2020
- The poetics of gardens
The poetics of gardensCharles Willard Moore1988 - Planting
PlantingPiet Oudolf2013