The Garden, Elements and Styles

The definitive reference guide to garden design, its rich history, and the creative art of gardening - a luxuriously illustrated A-Z compendium of more than 200 garden elements, styles, features, and ornaments for gardeners around the globe

With its easy-to-use A-Z format, The Garden examines over 200 modern and historical garden styles, features, types and ornaments, with definitions and informative descriptions and more than 500 spectacular images. This accessible, inspirational book is perfect for both amateur gardeners and specialists alike.

Its entries, written by garden expert and historian Toby Musgrave - author of Phaidon’s bestselling book The Gardener’s Garden - range from Allée, Borrowed Landscape and Coastal Garden, to Minimalism, New Perennial Planting, Pool, Vista and Xeriscape Garden and form a unique, illustrated ’glossary’ for gardeners, featuring more than 400 gardens, both public and private, iconic and lesser known.

Examples include spaces such as the Baroque gardens of Versailles and rarely published tropical courtyards from contemporary designers, alongside artist creations such as Frida Kahlo’s courtyard in Mexico and Derek Jarman’s coastal garden in Dungeness, England. Alongside the work of private garden owners and makers, the book also showcases the work of emerging and eminent designers, including Andrea Cochran, Emily Erlam, Raymond Jungles, Dan Pearson, and Piet Oudolf.

Whether creating an English cottage garden or tending a Japanese Zen landscape, the range and beauty of The Garden will inspire gardeners and garden lovers everywhere as never before.

Dr. Toby Musgrave is an authority on garden history. He devised and presented the BBC Radio 4 series The British Garden, and has written for many magazines and newspapers. He teaches garden history at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad, and has also lectured at Oxford University and the Royal Horticultural Society. He was consultant editor for The Gardener’s Garden (2014) and is author of Green Escapes (2018), both published by Phaidon.