The thoughtful gardener

A prolific designer, Jinny Blom embraces a wide variety of styles, from formal walled gardens to contemporary installations. What defines her work is her skill with plants and her ability to create a garden that responds to the history of the site and the wider landscape. In this book, she shares her insight into the creative process she has developed while designing more than 250 gardens around the world. The gardens created are as different as their owners and their locations. Small gardens are very intimate and have to work efficiently in order to be pleasing. An Oxfordshire garden of rooms is constructed from nothing, creating a new garden with an old soul. There are modern takes on traditional forms. But all these gardens share a commitment to beautiful craftsmanship and considered planting. Structure and detail are important, and receive close attention. The styles vary considerably logical, calm, beautiful, romantic, naturalistic, formal, sometimes spare but the principles remain firm. Jinny designs for the long term, with consideration for the environment; these gardens are built to last. Reflecting Jinnys highly individual character, there is plenty of wit and quirkiness alongside the expert knowledge, and it will appeal to the widest audience of garden lovers. Thoughtful and beautiful, yet practical and informative, this book marries artistry with functionality.

Seeing. Trusting your instincts -- Understanding. Respecting what you unearth ; Geology ; The plant matrix ; Studying old maps ; Case study : the anti-garden -- Structuring. The necessary corsets ; Orientation ; The fundamentals of planning a layout ; Protection ; Routes and views ; Structures ; Walls and boundaries ; Green structure ; Water : Case study : an ordered estate -- Harmonizing. Loving the tune ; Creating context ; Texture and colour ; Making things ; Art and sculpture ; Case study : raw and sensitive landscape -- Rooting. The gardener is the garden ; Soil ; Structuring and layering planting ; Trees ; Topiary ; Shrubs ; Climbing plants ; Rose gardens ; Flowers and subshrubs ; Grasses ; Ferns ; Bulbs, corms, and rhizomes ; Plant groupings ; The kitchen door ; Meadows ; Hedges ; Case study : planting in tune with history -- Liberating. When it is all over, it can begin ; Conservation ; The art of gardening ; The patient protector ; Beauty is essential ; Down to earth ; Case study : an emancipated landscape