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The best DIY and gardening books

Spanish Gardens

Don is a curious and engaging guide, as thrilled by the ad hoc floating vegetable plots of the Amazon as by formal Zen gardens

Lavish ... a celebration of the history and enduring romance of Islamic gardens

Monty Don (Author) Monty Don O.B.E. is the UK's leading garden writer and broadcaster. He has been lead presenter of Gardeners' World since 2003 and since 2011 the programme has come from his own garden, Longmeadow, in Herefordshire. He has written a weekly gardening column for the Daily Mail since 2004, and published over 20 books, including the bestsellers The Gardening Book, Gardening at Longmeadow, and Venetian Gardens. Japanese Gardens, his book with Derry Moore, was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award. Derry Moore (Author, Photographer (ONIX)) DERRY MOORE is an acclaimed photographer known for his images of gardens, houses, and architectural interiors and also for his portraits. His photographs have been reproduced in numerous magazines including Architectural Digest, Vogue, Town and Country and he has published several books including Horses, The English Room, and several books with Monty Don, including Great Gardens of Italy, Paradise Gardens, Japanese Gardens, American Gardens and Venetian Gardens.

For over a decade, Monty Don has travelled the world, using gardens and green spaces to get under the skin of our most beloved cities and countries. Many of his destinations were well-known to him. For his latest journey, though, he explored Spain as a relative newcomer - and he kept a detailed record of his travels. 
 
Starting in Madrid and working his way north through the verdant gardens of Galicia, the Basque country and Barcelona, Monty then heads south to the rugged tropical climes of Mallorca, Alicante, Andalucia, Malaga, and Seville. It's a chance for him to explore how Spain has evolved from the darker days after the civil war to its successful transition to democracy over fifty years ago, tracing those changes through its gardens - from the more conventional gardens created after the war to the rich and inventive approaches of contemporary designers. 
 
Accompanied by Derry Moore's stunning photography, Spanish Gardens is a remarkable and personal journey through one of the most popular country destinations on earth.

The Gardening Book

A fresh approach to gardening by bestselling author and the nation's favourite gardener Monty Don. 
 
'Think of your garden like a meal. When you select a recipe, you're choosing it based on inclination, experience and circumstance. Making a garden, big or small, uses exactly the same process.' 
 
If you are new to gardening, it can seem daunting - with Latin names, various soil types and seasonal requirements, it feels like a lot to learn. But with Monty Don's new book as a guide you will discover just how joyful and rewarding gardening can be. 
 
Whether you want to grow your own veg, create a child-friendly garden, connect with nature, or make the most of houseplants, Monty will help you unlock your space's potential, showing you what, where and when to plant. The Gardening Book gives you the basics to grow over 100 popular flowers, foods, shrubs, houseplants and more - each one has a clear, concise, format: what you need, timing, method, and step-by-step photos, all on one spread. It's a refreshingly accessible approach that will help you build a garden which best serves your needs and enhances your lifestyle.

Venetian Gardens

Monty Don (Author) Monty Don O.B.E. is the UK's leading garden writer and broadcaster. He has been lead presenter of Gardeners' World since 2003 and since 2011 the programme has come from his own garden, Longmeadow, in Herefordshire. He has written a weekly gardening column for the Daily Mail since 2004, and published over 20 books, including the bestsellers The Gardening Book, Gardening at Longmeadow, and Venetian Gardens. Japanese Gardens, his book with Derry Moore, was shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award. Derry Moore (Author) DERRY MOORE is an acclaimed photographer known for his images of gardens, houses, and architectural interiors and also for his portraits. His photographs have been reproduced in numerous magazines including Architectural Digest, Vogue, Town and Country and he has published several books including Horses, The English Room, and several books with Monty Don, including Great Gardens of Italy, Paradise Gardens, Japanese Gardens, American Gardens and Venetian Gardens.

Join Monty Don, Britain's pre-eminent gardener, and acclaimed photographer Derry Moore on their historic journey through the most stunning gardens of Venice and the Veneto. 
 
Few world cities hold the romance and historical sweep of Venice. Thousands visit every year - and a mixture of crowds and climate leave it vulnerable, so much so it is often said to be in danger of sinking - but away from the usual tourist haunts around St. Mark's square are exceptional hidden treasures, some 500 gardens, many of them with fascinating stories. 
 
Starting in the heart of the city and working their way out to the Veneto, Monty and Derry celebrate the beauty of these places and tell their unique stories: from a beautiful nunnery garden with a history of exotic animals and a kitchen garden of the historic Foundation to the Madonna church to the estates of famous Venetian families, like the spectacular Giusti Renaissance garden. 
 
With stunning full colour photography throughout, Venice Gardens will give readers new insight into one of the world's most beloved cities - you won't see Venice the same way again.

Gardening at Longmeadow

'The nation's favourite gardener' - Guardian 
 
'There was nothing here that could possibly be described as a garden. But beneath years of neglect was a blank canvas that I could fill with the garden of my dreams...' 
 
Monty Don invites you into Longmeadow, a place that has become synonymous with Gardener's World, to show how he creates and tends his own garden, and how you can bring some of that same magic to our own. 
 
Following the cycle of the seasons, Gardening at Longmeadow is a year-long diary of Monty's gardening wisdom: from the earliest snowdrops of January and the first splashes of colour in the Spring Garden, to the electric summer displays of the Jewel Garden and the autumn harvest in the orchard. Alongside his rich, personal experiences at Longmeadow, Monty describes the individual plants coming into their own in the floral and vegetable gardens and talks you through key tasks, from composting and lawn maintenance to topiary clipping and fruit pruning. The result is a very personal account of failure, bewilderment and surprise, as well as endless pleasure and some success over the course of a gardening year. 
 
With beautiful photography throughout, Gardening at Longmeadow is an essential book for gardening enthusiasts of all skill levels. It will inspire you to achieve a balanced, healthy garden of your own, that's spilling with produce and full colour all year round.

Monty Don

What do our gardens say about us? 
 
Monty Don has spent many years travelling the world, from America to Japan, from Italy and the Adriatic to Spain and the Mediterranean, getting under the skin of a country through its gardens and gardening traditions. In British Gardens, he finally brings his focus to home, journeying from the northern tip of Scotland to the Cornish coast, seeking to understand what our gardens tell us about ourselves as a nation. 
 
Encompassing historical gardens and public parks, mountains and seascapes, urban gardens and rural nurseries, glasshouses and community plots, each encounter is another link in a larger story of British identity: marks of ingenuity, eccentricity, and adaptation to changing environments. From Northumbria’s Alnwick Gardens and Beatrix Potter’s Lake District farmhouse to the rewilded walled garden on the Knepp Estate and the story of Britain’s first garden gnome, Monty’s account brings in an astonishing range of British experience. 
 
Accompanied by a landmark five-part series on BBC2, and illustrated by stunning photography from Monty’s long-time collaborator Derry Moore, British Gardens is a definitive, and uniquely British, account of a nation like no other.

Monty Don

Books by Monty Don

Articles featuring Monty Don

Beautiful coffee table books

The best DIY and gardening books

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