Gardens can be formal or wild, serene or ostentatious, native or exotic, colourful or monochrome --according to Trisha Dixon, if we like a person, we will probably like their garden In a series of written reflections, interwoven with her evocative, painterly photographs, Trisha explores the relationship that exists between ourselves, our gardens and the natural landscape. Beyond the design and the plants, there is the feel of the garden, which captures the heart from the moment you enter a landscape and stays with you long after you have left. In a chapter on Gardens of the Mind, Trisha explores how artists, thinkers and writers have acknowledged and found value in the spirit of gardens and landscapes. Socrates found truth and beauty beyond Athens' city walls in a sacred grove. Closer to home, Jorn Utzon, designer of Sydney's Opera House sought inspiration and solace in a sandstone beach cave and Arthur Boyd experienced the Shoalhaven as a Wagnerian opera or a Mozart symphony. In Our Ancient Land, Trisha writes about landscapes full of stories, songlines and tracks. She welcomes the shift away from an Anglocentric approach to landscape design to one that shows an intimate engagement with the spirit of place, an acknowledgement of the Aboriginal history and mythology embedded in the land. This is not just to be found in the ancient heart of the country. In Melbourne's Royal Park, for example, bounded by noisy traffic and high-rise buildings, landscape designer Gordon Ford has created a bush pool that you'd feel fortunate to find in the interior of the Kimberley. Her message is the need to understand and respect the environment in our garden making. By approaching nature with humility, rather than a desire to control it, we can make our gardens places of beauty and peace, which nurture body and soul. She explains different approaches to garden design, exploring the teachings of landscape architects and designers of renown. And she frames this in the context of a harsh and changing climate that we need to embrace. Full-colour photographs show the golden glow of seed heads, a Eucalypt reflected in a still pool, magnificent angophoras and mossy outcrops in an escarpment garden on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Here is Annie Snodgrass' Jilba garden in Young, bursting with a Mediterranean palette of greens, purples and white. Here is Philip Cox's South Coast retreat, showing a total harmony of landscape and understated, rustic architecture.

An exciting and refreshing call to arms, The Planthunter is a new generation of gardening book for a new generation of gardener that encourages readers to fall in love with the natural world by falling in love with plants.

Explores the creation of a garden sanctuary with practical advice on plant selection, color, creating pathways and gates, and sharing the space with wildlife.

In this unique book influential garden designer Dan Pearson, weekly columnist for The Observer, discloses his personal inspirations. Dan uses his own distinctive photographs as reference points - giving the reader a direct and intimate insight into where and what he draws upon when working on his own projects. The images show how he looks at his surroundings, and importantly, how they inform his approach of working with nature rather than attempting to dominate it. The theme running throughout the book is that of being able to read different landscapes, being open to ideas, and to take inspiration from many varying sources. The breadth of his influences include sculpture, tree houses and Chicago prairies, taking in locations both wild and gardened. Journeying from New Zealand to Japan, via Thames-side barge gardens, he focuses on the 'spirit' or 'sense of place' generated by the geography, history, architecture, aspect, and native flora of a particular site: the starting point of this gifted designer when embarking on any new project. Far from being a traditional gardening publication, this book expands the genre - inviting us to see gardening in a different light - through the eyes of one of its most talented practitioners.

“Delve into this beautiful book. You’ll come away sharing his passion for the beauty that gardens bring into our lives.” —Sigourney Weaver, environmentalist, actor, trustee of New York Botanical Garden How does an individual garden relate to the larger landscape? How does it connect to the natural and cultural environment? Does it evoke a sense of place? In Spirit of Place, Bill Noble—a lifelong gardener, and the former director of preservation for the Garden Conservancy—helps gardeners answer these questions by sharing how they influenced the creation of his garden in Vermont. Throughout, Noble reveals that a garden is never created in a vacuum but is rather the outcome of an individual’s personal vision combined with historical and cultural forces. Sumptuously illustrated, this thoughtful look at the process of garden-making shares insights gleaned over a long career that will inspire you to create a garden rich in context, personal vision, and spirit.

Far to the north along the Pacific coast of Canada lies an area where abundant rainfall nourishes everything from bright green grasses and colorful wildflowers to ancient, towering cedar, spruce, and sitka trees. This rainforest is the perfect habitat for salmon and a wide variety of birds, insects, and animals, most notably a unique type of black bear called the spirit bear, which is sometimes clothed in creamy white fur and has become legendary among the First Nation people who live in the region. Noted naturalist Dorothy Hinshaw Patent describes the elusive spirit bear and its home, which is in danger of being destroyed by loggers and settlers as they clear-cut the ancient forests for lumber. Every part of the delicate ecosystem is threatened. But steps are now being taken to set aside a protected spirit bear sanctuary--a living museum where people could come and see the spirit bear's realm. The beautiful, detailed watercolors by Deborah Milton will transport readers to this magnificent yet vanishing region.