The English Flower Garden

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£24.00 per copy

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- For the UK: £15.50

- For Overseas: £28.30

In this book William Robinson, a giant in his field, laid down the principles that revolutionised the art of gardening. Robinson's source of inspiration was the simple cottage garden, long neglected by the fashionable landscapists. He rejected the artificial and the formal: he had a profound respect for nature's infinite diversity. This book was first published in 1883. The last and definitive edition was published in 1933 and is reprinted here in full. This edition has been significantly up-dated: Graham Stuart Thomas has revised Robinson's splendid dictionary of flowers, trees and shrubs by supplying the most up-to-date nomenclature.

The Wild Garden

Book Price:

£80.00 per copy (limited edition print)

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- For the UK: £20.00

- For Overseas: £35.00

Originally Published in 1870, The Wild Garden remained in print for more than 50 years and is now proving to be the most relevant and influential of Robinson's publications. Robinson used his own estate, Gravetye Manor as a laboratory to experiment with his design theories, and the measure of their success is that after decades of neglect, the plantings in the wild areas of the garden have survived, and indeed are flourishing.

William Robinson - The Wild Gardener

Book Price: £30.00

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- For the UK: £5.50

- For Europe: £14.30

- For US etc: £24.00

In this book Richard Bisgrove, author of the bestselling Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll, analyses William Robinson and his remarkable contribution to gardening. William Robinson (1838–1935) and Gertrude Jekyll were almost exact contemporaries and each made enormous contributions to the English garden – and so to the gardens of the whole English-speaking and Anglophile world – but in rather different ways. Robinson, more than any other gardener, was responsible for sweeping away the carpet bedding of the Victorians and promoting a more relaxed style using hardy plants. His voluminous writings have been hugely influential. The English Flower Garden (1883) has been described as 'the most widely read and influential gardening book ever written'.

The Wild Garden(1870) runs it close. As a man he was something of a paradox – an Irish bachelor who is widely regarded as the father of the English flower garden, a theorist who scorned theorizing and an author who wrote with passion – and simultaneously – about the technicalities of mushroom cultivation and the picturesque treatment of a thousand-acre estate. Illustrations include engravings from Robinson's books and contemporary watercolours, as well as photographs of Robinsonian gardens – especially his own garden at Gravetye Manor.

The Wild Garden - Expanded Edition 2009

Book Price: £20.00

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William Robinson’s revolutionary book, The Wild Garden, envisioned an authentically naturalistic approach to gardening that is more vital today than ever before. First published in 1870, The Wild Garden evolved through many editions and remained in print through the remainder of the author’s lifetime (1838-1935). In the book, Robinson issued a forceful challenge to the prevailing style of the day, which relied upon tender plants arranged in rigidly geometrical designs. In sharp contrast, Robinson advocated for the use of hardy, locally adapted native and exotic plants arranged according to local growing conditions.

Robinson’s vision was inspired by his first-hand observations of natural habitats in Europe and North America, and he put his ideas into practice in his own garden at Gravetye Manor in West Sussex. The Wild Garden was ground-breaking and hugely influential in its day, and is stunningly relevant to twenty-first century gardeners and landscape stewards seeking to adopt sustainable design and management practices.

In addition to the complete original text and illustrations from the fifth edition of 1895, this expanded edition includes new chapters and 125 colour photographs by award-winning photographer and landscape consultant Rick Darke. His new material places wild gardening in modern context, underscoring Robinson’s importance in the evolution of ecological design and illustrating an inspiring diversity of contemporary wild gardens.

The potent combination presented here makes this new edition of a timeless classic an essential resource for all who wish to know how we arrived at our present understanding of gardens and what opportunities lie ahead. As will be immediately clear to anyone who leafs through this book, Robinson’s urgent message continues to resonate.