Book Reviews

We welcome reviews of books on garden, plant 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 JonesHachette Livres Pratiques 1998

Pour chacun de dix beaux jardins contemporains Louisa Jones révèle quels étaient les enjeux, les souhaits et les moyens mis en œuvre pour les réaliser. Elle décrypte les couleurs, les éléments architecturaux, la palette végétale.

Review by Joanna Millar – Mediterranean Gardening France


The Garden Wanderer

Julie KinneyMargaret 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 WeavingImpress 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. BainbridgeStorey 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 ChattoFrances 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 FilippiFilbert 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.

Review by Alec Cobb and Rosie Peddle – Mediterranean Gardening France & Mediterranean Gardening Association Portugal


Indigenous Plant PalettesAn 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 HallKew 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 JohnsonCool 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 SamoylenkoAmazon 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

Cette brochure d’une vingtaine de pages est destinée aux amateurs sérieux d’orchidées. Ils y trouveront une carte montrant la localisation détaillée des espèces poussant en Camargue.

Review by David Bracey

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

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

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

Royal Botanic Gardens, April 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 – MGAP

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.

Review by David Bracey – Mediterranean Gardening France


White Beech: The Rainforest Years

Germaine GreerBloomsbury 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 WulfWilliam 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.

Review by Joanna Miller – Mediterranean Gardening France