Most private gardens are small yet many horticultural books relate to plots that are extremely large, if not manorial. So, in picking my books of 2003 from the 50 or more I have perused, I have taken the needs of the majority - people with small gardens - very much into account. The Small Garden Encyclopaedia, compiled by Sue Phillips (Salamander, 347pp, £14.99 paperback) has the advantage of understanding that small gardens are not large gardens in miniature. It is a comprehensive guide to the secrets of success: choosing a consistent style, using vertical as well as horizontal space fully, creating illusions of distance, contriving surprises, paying attention to detail and choosing plants that contrast well. The book is intensely practical with illustrated, step-by-step directions to many planting ideas, although some projects seem to assume the small gardener is also a DIY enthusiast. Roses for the Smaller Garden, by Mark Mattock (Quadrille, 168pp, £14.99 paperback) will persuade gardeners old and new that Britain's favourite flower is not only suitable for growing in limited spaces but highly desirable, whether a climber is chosen to add a touch of class or a hybrid tea as a special feature. The author, a lifelong rose grower and judge, explains the best way of using each kind of rose from standards, which are making a comeback, to the modern ground-cover types. The photographs by Linda Burgess are exceptional. Warning: When I am an Old Woman was voted Britain's most popular poem by BBC TV viewers in 1996. Now the poet, Jenny Joseph, has written a book on gardening - as charming yet idiosyncratic as her poem. Led by the Nose: A Garden of Smells (Souvenir Press, 198pp, £14.99) is a highly personal account of a year on Jenny's plot. Her plants please themselves, growing and flowering how, when and where they choose, while she delights in discovering what they have been up to and where the interesting smells are, from crumbly leafmould at the bottom of a bag to the heady scent of philadelphus. To her month-by-month essays she adds a series of useful lists for lovers of fragrant plants, including plants and when they smell, month-by-month. How to be a Gardener, Book Two by Alan Titchmarsh (BBC, 312pp, £19.99), a companion to his TV series, sets out to help enthusiasts apply their knowledge to create a beautiful garden. It follows Book One, which covered practical aspects. Subtitled Secrets of Success, the second volume explains how to think about planning the garden you want and choosing features and plants which go well together to produce the most attractive effects. With 600 photographs and diagrams, this is an excellent guide to all major aspects of gardening. The Royal Horticultural Society Encyclopaedia of Roses by Charles and Brigid Quest-Ritson (Dorling Kindersley, 448pp, £25) is one of two fine rose books which celebrate the diversity of the world's favourite flower. The authors trace the history of the rose and creation of varieties, explain the classification system and advise on choosing, buying and cultivation with step-by-step photography. The heart of the book is an A-Z catalogue of more than 2,000 of the finest roses grown worldwide, with each entry illustrated and described. Climbing Roses of the World by Charles Quest-Ritson (Timber Press, 306pp, £25) - busy chap, Charles - looks far beyond the back gardens of Britain to document virtually all climbing and rambling roses in cultivation, nearly1,600. With the aid of 200 photographs, he traces the histories and garden use of every kind, from species roses through Multifloras, Noisettes and Wichuranas to modern climbers. It is the first significant volume on climbing roses for many years. Tulip by Liz Dobbs with Cees Breed (Quadrille, 104pp, £12.99) covers the origin and history of tulips, including the role played by 18th-Century English "florists" - home workers who specialised in breeding new types. The modern classification system of more than a dozen categories from single early through lily-flowered to Rembrandt kinds and species is explained and illustrated. There's a selection of some of the most stunning varieties from the many thousands in existence, including scarce varieties that most enthusiasts can only dream about. The photographs by Clay Perry are superb. Great British Trees by Jon Stokes (The Tree Council, 112pp, £8.99 paperback inc p&p from the council at 51 Catherine Place, London SW1E 6DY) is one of those rare volumes that does not exhort the reader to go out and start digging or planting. The 50 trees include the oldest, rarest and most spectacular specimens singled out from gardens, parks, churchyards, farms and woods. Every one has a story to tell. As to be expected, many are yews and oaks, including the 4,000-year-old churchyard yew at Llangernyw in North Wales and the Big Belly Oak overhanging a main road in Wiltshire. But there are many others, such as the original Bramley Seedling apple tree, the topiarised Umbrella Tree, the Cage Pollard beech at Burnham Beeches, which featured in the film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, and the wild cherry at Studley Royal, that great house near Ripon, possibly planted by John Aislabie, the disgraced MP behind the 18th-Century South Sea Bubble economic collapse. The Plants that Shaped our Gardens by David Stuart (Frances Lincoln, 208pp, £25) is also to be read solely for pleasure. In witty, informative style, the author contends that the garden as we know it was created by ordinary gardeners responding to new plants. Herbaceous borders, mass bedding, rose gardens, rockeries, shrubberies and water gardens were all designed to display exotic and novel plants. We meet amazing characters such as William Dampier, the pirate-botanist who brought the first plants from Australia, and Jeanne Baret, first woman to circumnavigate the globe, as well as nurserymen who made fortunes from the discoveries and subsequent hybrids. |
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