Recommended books lists on MGi member sites
Book reviews
We welcome reviews of books on gardens, plants or related topics.
Please send reviews of any books you have enjoyed to Marjorie Orr.
Latest Review
How to Create a Gravel Garden Workbook
Alena Samoylenko – Amazon 2024
A simple yet satisfying guide to creating a low-maintenance gravel garden, which can prooduce an elegant, well-planted, drought-tolerant area, free from frequent weeding.
Review by Marjorie Orr – Mediterranean Gardening France
Le nouvel esprit des Jardins
Louisa Jones – Hachette Livres Pratiques 1998
For each of ten beautiful contemporary gardens, Louisa Jones reveals what was at stake, what was desired and how it was achieved. She deciphers the colours, the architectural elements and the plant palette. In French.
Review by Joanna Millar – Mediterranean Gardening France
The Garden Wanderer
Julie Kinney – Margaret River Press 2016
Julie Kinney of MGi association Mediterranean Gardening Margaret River has chosen 20 gardens to illustrate the garden wealth of her own particular corner of Western Australia.
Review by Trevor Nottle – South Australian Mediterranean Garden Society
Gardens of Corfu
Rachel Weaving – Impress 2018
Magnificently illustrated and a delight to read, this first-ever book on Corfu’s gardens focuses entirely on private gardens, which range from romantic old estates and highly personal ‘grandmothers’ gardens’ to stunning contemporary works by international designers. Rich with stories about the gardens and their creation, the text brims with insights into the island’s unusual social and natural history.
Review by Liz Godfrey – Mediterranean Gardening France
The Essential Garden Design Workbook – 2nd edition
Rosemary Alexander – Timber Press 2009
Rosemary Alexander, founder and principal of the English Gardening School, has updated this classic design handbook with many suggestions to help improve the garden’s ecosystems. The explanatory drawings are a delight.
Review by Anthony Daniels – Mediterranean Gardening France
Gardening with Less Water
David A. Bainbridge – Storey 2015
Inspired by an ancient Chinese technique, the author has produced a handyman’s guide to inventive, low-cost, super-efficient watering systems.
Review by Michèle Bailey – Mediterranean Gardening France
Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden
Beth Chatto – Frances Lincoln 2000
The story of how Beth Chatto created a gravel garden on the site of a former car park alongside her nursery and garden near Colchester, Essex.
Review by Joanna Millar – Mediterranean Gardening France
Planting Design for Dry Gardens
Oliver Filippi – Filbert Press 2016
This English translation of Alternatives au Gazon, is sub-titled ‘Beautiful, resilient groundcovers for terraces, paved area, gravel and other alternative to the lawn.’ His drought-tolerant low-level plant combinations redefine the distinction between lawn and flowerbeds. The plant section includes over 200 grasses, groundcovers, perennials and wild flowers that will thrive amongst gravel and stone.
Reviews by Alec Cobb & Rosie Peddle – Mediterranean Gardening France & Mediterranean Gardening Association Portugal
Indigenous Plant Palettes – An Essential Guide to Plant Selection
Marijke Honig – Quivertree – 2014
This comprehensive, well-illustrated guide sure to become every South African Gardener’s bible. It includes an extensive plant directory, covering all of the 440 plants mentioned, with magnificent photographs and succinct yet full descriptions of every plant.
Review by Marianne Alexander – Cape Horticultural Society
The Bold Dry Garden: Lessons from the Ruth Bancroft Garden
Johanna Silver – Timber Press 2016
Ruth Bancroft is a dry gardening pioneer. Her lifelong love of plants led to the creation of one of the most acclaimed public gardens, The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, California. The Bold Dry Garden offers unparalleled access to the garden and the extraordinary woman responsible for it.
Review by David Bracey – Mediterranean Gardening France
Gardening with Drought-Friendly Plants
Tony Hall – Kew Publishing 2020
This guide to plants suited to the hotter, drier summers brought by the changing climate is written by Tony Hall of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Tony profiles more than 200 plant species and cultivars suitable for a variety of garden situations.
Review by David Bracey – Mediterranean Gardening France
Dry Climate Gardening – Growing Beautiful, Sustainable Gardens in Low-water Conditions
Noelle Johnson – Cool Springs Press 2023
Mediterranean (semi-arid) gardening is undergoing a forced transition with climate change bringing it closer to desert conditions in certain southern regions with prolonged, intense summer heat.
Review by Marjorie Orr – Mediterranean Gardening France
How to Create a Gravel Garden Workbook
Alena Samoylenko – Amazon 2024
A simple yet satisfying guide to creating a low-maintenance gravel garden, which can prooduce an elegant, well-planted, drought-tolerant area, free from frequent weeding.
Review by Marjorie Orr – Mediterranean Gardening France
Les orchidées en Camargue
Stéphan Arnassant et Francis Dabonneville – Zerynthia 2006
This twenty-page brochure is aimed at serious orchid enthusiasts. It includes a map showing the detailed location of species growing in the Camargue. In French.
Review by David Bracey – Mediterranean Gardening France
Mesembs of the World
Steven Hammer et al. – Briza Publications 1998
A collective work by the world specialists in Mesembryantemaceae. In 400 pages and with over 700 high-quality colour photographs, it reveals the magical charm of these plants, as surprising as they are sublime.
Review by Michel Gautier – Mediterranean Gardening France
Bulbs of the Eastern Mediterranean
Oron Peri – Alpine Garden Society 2015
The Eastern Mediterranean countries offer a rich and varied bulbous flora. In this field guide more than 400 species are illustrated, making it an essential reference work for everyone with an interest in bulbous plants.
Review by Trevor Nottle – South Australian Mediterranean Gardening Society
Around the World in 80 Trees
Jonathan Drori – Laurence King Publishing May 2018
From the trees of Britain, to India’s sacred banyan tree, trees offer us sanctuary and inspiration – not to mention the raw materials for everything from aspirin to maple syrup.
Review by Gill Clarke – Mediterranean Gardening France
Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Western Mediterranean
Chris Thorogood – Kew Publishing 2016
Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Western Mediterranean is the most comprehensive and up-to-date plant identification guide to the area. The western Mediterranean is one of the most important regions in the world for its outstanding biodiversity, boasting over 10,000 plant species.
Review by Rosie Peddle – Mediterranean Gardening Association Portugal
Flora of the Mediterranean, with California, Chile, Australia & South Africa: An Illustrated Guide
Christopher Gardner and Başak Gardner – Bloomsbury Wildlife, October 2019
This book is magnificent, beautiful, and hugely informative, a work of scholarship and love. No praise too high.
Review by Juliet Walker – Mediterranean Plants and Gardens
The Land Where Lemons Grow
Helena Attlee – Particular Books 2014
This fascinating book covers many subjects including travel, history, botany, economics, the inevitable recipes and of course, oranges and lemons.
White Beech: The Rainforest Years
Germaine Greer – Bloomsbury 2014
In this book the author describes her efforts to restore ecologically some 150 acres of a former dairy farm, partly heavily forested, in south-east Queensland, Australia.
Review by David Bracey – Mediterranean Gardening France
The Brother Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession
Andrea Wulf – William Heinemann 2008
This book tells us, in loving detail and with considerable gossip, about some key early plantsmen, the intrepid collectors, the importers and the famous early botanists who contributed so much to the gardens we know today.