The art of gardening has existed for as long as human beings have been able to cultivate the earth.
From ancient Mesopotamian civilisations to the groundskeepers of royal households throughout history, gardens simultaneously represent the power to provide sustenance and the awe-inspiring power of the natural world. Taming and controlling nature reflect a fascinating ability to be at one with the forces that allow our planet to exist.
Gardens have long been a metaphor for paradise. It’s no wonder, then, that we as a society consider well-kept botanical gardens, green spaces and personal allotments revered spaces.
Perhaps our desire to explore the magnificent gardens of Kew and Versailles reflects an inner desire to return to antediluvian peace. Yet with cross-dimensional time travel out of the question and nil ability to fly-kick that apple out of Eve’s hand, we must make do instead with the very real, marvellously beautiful gardens of the contemporary world.
Whether it be the personal gardens of individuals or public gardens attached to stately homes and kitchens, pieces of kept land have inspired writers and artists for centuries.
From Monet’s Giverny garden, which gave the world paintings like The Water-Lily Pond, to the gardens of Great Maytham Hall which are believed to have inspired Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden, we have nature to thank for much of the world’s most prized works.
We’ve curated a selection of the best books about gardens for those who may not necessarily have a natural green thumb, but greatly appreciate all shades of nature’s beauty. Keep scrolling to get lost in botanical houses and arboretums.
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The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Whether read this book as a child or an adult, there’s nothing quite like the sense of mystical wonder evoked in Burnett’s beloved novel. The Secret Garden is the story of a young girl named Mary Lennox who, after losing her parents, must leave India to live in her uncle’s mansion on the wild English moors.
Lonely and confined to the grounds of her uncle’s abode, Mary one day discovers a key hidden in a flowerbed which leads her to a hidden door. Once she turns the key in the lock, Mary discovers a bucolic paradise that should only exist in dreams.
Buy now £13.17, Amazon
In the Garden: Essays on Nature and Growing
In this wonderful collection of essays, fourteen writers share the ways in which you needn’t have access to a garden in order to become a gardener. With pieces that touch on the shared language of gardening and nature, as well as short treatises on the radical power of communal gardens, it’s a self-reflective read which is perfect for the spring and summertime.
Buy now £9.19, Amazon
The Writer's Garden by Jackie Bennett
Illustrated with specially commissioned photography by Richard Hanson, Jackie Bennett’s The Writer’s Garden details the botanical gardens, vegetable plots, rolling hills and hermitages belonging to 30 of the world’s greatest authors. From Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Orchard House’ where Little Women was written to the Massachusetts home of Edith Wharton, explore the symbiotic relationship your favourite writes had with their natural surroundings.
Buy now £24.21, Amazon
Life in the Garden by Penelope Lively
On one hand, Life in the Garden is a highly unique memoir which covers Lively’s existence through the gardens of her childhood and beyond. We begin in the garden at her childhood home in Cairo before moving to her grandmother’s garden in Somerset, followed by the author’s own successive gardens in Oxfordshire and North London. Yet Lively also covers famous literary gardens from the likes of Paradise Lost and Alice in Wonderland to reveal the symbolic power of nature.
Buy now £9.39, Amazon
The Gardener of Versailles by Alain Baraton
Master gardener Alain Baraton has been the gardener-in-chief at the Palace of Versailles since 1982. As such, his relationship with the meticulous hedgerows and sloping flower beds of the historical landscape is almost otherworldly. In The Gardener of Versailles, Baraton details his life within the living and breathing monument while drawing attention to the unique relationship between gardeners and the earth they tend to – no matter how big or small.
Buy now £22.71, Amazon
A Shakespearean Botanical by Margaret Willes
A lovely pocket botanical by Margaret Willes, this precious book is for those whose special interests involve both gardening and Shakespeare. Willes takes fifty quotations from Shakespeare’s works which reference flowers before delving into their botanical history, societal relevance and symbolic meanings.
Buy now £11.85, Amazon
Royal Gardens of the World by Mark Lane
Though more of a coffee table book than a holiday read, Mark Lane’s glorious volume covers the bustling gardens of 21 royal homes across the globe in fascinating detail. From Highgrove to the Taj Mahal, Lane writes of the architectural significance of the homes themselves before moving into details of the scrupulous design and upkeep of the gardens which surround them.
Buy now £35.00, Waterstones
Kew - Plant Words by Emma Wayland and Joe Richomme
Those with a natural curiosity for the incredibly variety of plants and their fascinating history will rejoice for Kew’s Plant Words by Emma Wayland and Joe Richomme. The beautifully illustrated volume explores the etymological roots of plant names before delving into their deeper meaning, historical value and the stories which surround them.
Buy now £12.99, Waterstones
