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The English Gardener’s Garden, Phaidon’s Gorgeous New Book

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The phrase “English garden” may conjure a particular image in your mind: perhaps the neatly clipped hedges and expansive lawns of a country estate or maybe an informal tumble of blossoms spilling over a path in a cottage garden. The recently-published book The English Gardener’s Garden proves, in 2023, there are a myriad of definitions of what an English garden is.

When Phaidon published The Gardener’s Garden in 2014, the globe-spanning, 500-page book was an instant success. Nearly ten years later, the publisher has narrowed their geographic scope to the English isles. The English Gardener’s Garden extracts the British gardens from the earlier book and offers updated photography and additional gardens for a total of more than 60 English gardens and 300 photographs.

Above: The gardens at Great Dixter in East Sussex have passed through many hands. Once the family home of Christopher Lloyd, they are now under the stewardship of Fergus Garrett. Photograph by Andrew Montgomery, from The English Gardener’s Garden.

With a foreword by garden writer and designer Tania Compton and a brief history of English gardening by Dr. Toby Musgrave, The English Gardener’s Garden is a welcome addition to any Anglophile gardener’s library. It is part inspirational tome and part armchair travel experience with gorgeous photography to linger over.

Dan Pearson was tasked with creating a garden amongst the ruins of Lowther Castle, which are part of a 130 acre estate in Penrith, Cumbria. Photograph by Claire Takacs, from The English Gardener’s Garden. — Above: Dan Pearson was tasked with creating a garden amongst the ruins of Lowther Castle, which are part of a 130 acre estate in Penrith, Cumbria. Photograph by Claire Takacs, from *The English Gardener’s Garden*.

The book can also be used as a practical guide for planning your next trip to visit English gardens: There’s even a directory of the gardens that are open to the public (we hear many of the private ones are often open as well through the National Garden Scheme’s visiting days).

Levens Hall’s topiaries are some of the oldest in the world. The 10-acre garden located in Kendal, Cumbria was designed by Guillaume Beaumont in the 16th century. Photograph by Richard Bloom, from The English Gardener’s Garden. — Above: Levens Hall’s topiaries are some of the oldest in the world. The 10-acre garden located in Kendal, Cumbria was designed by Guillaume Beaumont in the 16th century. Photograph by Richard Bloom, from *The English Gardener’s Garden*.

The gardens in the book have roots going back 500 years and include designs by legends like Capability Brown and Gertrude Jekyll. These gardens “are not just a dialogue between art and nature but an entire conversation between the spirits of the creators past and present,” writes Compton in her foreword. Indeed, it is the tension between past and present and seeing ancient estates alongside contemporary designs that makes this book so interesting.

Sarah Price’s Maggie’s Centre Garden is located at a cancer center in Southampton, Hampshire. Photograph courtesy by Hufton+Crow, courtesy of Maggie’s Centre, from The English Gardener’s Garden. — Above: Sarah Price’s Maggie’s Centre Garden is located at a cancer center in Southampton, Hampshire. Photograph courtesy by Hufton+Crow, courtesy of Maggie’s Centre, from *The English Gardener’s Garden*.

Inside you’ll find what Compton describes as “gardens that have risen from the ashes of a neglected past to stride with the times,” such as Dan Pearson’s garden planted amongst the ruins of Lowther Castle, and of-the-moment designs like the Maggie’s Centre Garden located at a cancer center in Southampton, Hampshire, that opened in 2021. The book also wanders into lesser known public and private gardens. I’ve bookmarked Rousham as a must visit for a future date after flipping through the book.

Its gorgeous botanical cover is based on a 1901 print from the Morris & Co. archives; The English Gardener’s Garden is $46.45 on Bookshop.org. — Above: Its gorgeous botanical cover is based on a 1901 print from the Morris & Co. archives; *The English Gardener’s Garden* is $46.45 on Bookshop.org.

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The English Gardener’s Garden, Phaidon’s Gorgeous New Book