Gardens Through Time tells the history of garden design through the story of the Royal Horticultural Society, from its foundation in 1804 to the present day. The history of British gardens has rarely been tranquil. Architects and horticulturalists invariably come to blows over garden design. This debate, as well as the influx of exquisite plant material from all over the world, keeps gardens vibrant and interesting. The society that started life 200 years ago with 7 well-connected men now serves and educates over 280,000 people. Gardening has bloomed into a GBP3.5 billion-a-year industry. Written by presenters, Jane Owen and Diarmuid Gavin, this is the story of the Society, plants, people, ideas and inventions behind the passion. It concludes with a look at the contemporary garden specially designed by Diarmuid for the TV series. Combines carefully researched historical material with commissioned photography.

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	57% buy the item featured on this page: Gardens Through Time: 200 Years of the English Garden 4.0 out of 5 stars (5)
	17% buy Design Your Garden: 10 Steps to Design Revolution in Your Garden 4.3 out of 5 stars (3) �11.39
	16% buy "Home Front" in the Garden 4.4 out of 5 stars (8)
	5% buy The Garden Planner 4.1 out of 5 stars (8) �8.01

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent TV programme and excellent book!!, 1 Dec 2004

By A Customer

This is an excellent book, written in a warm and simple style.
Enrichingly informative about people, gardening fashion and technical
developments; the social and historic background to the changes in
gardens over the last two centuries makes for a very interesting read; as well as having fascinating pictures there are tables of contemporary events, placed here and there in the text.
Jane Owen is obviously an historian who loves her subject. The
RHS must be delighted at this anniversary commission as am I - enthusiastic amateur gardener!!

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book - it's fascinating, 1 Feb 2005

By	Philippa Farrow (oxford, uk) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I loved this book - incredibly interesting and informative but surprisingly easy to read. A beautifully written book which everyone should own - an excellent present.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Barely scratches the surface, 31 Dec 2004

By	Budge Burgess (Kilmarnock, Scotland) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

An interesting and engaging coffee table book which takes a sanguine look at the English fascination with the garden. Essentially covering the last two hundred years - though with the odd look further back, and a speculative nod towards the future - the most disappointing thing about this book is its illustrations. The photographs are competent enough, and the reproduction adequate ... but there is very little in the way of visual stimulation. Given that we are talking about gardens, about living, vibrant, full colour environments, the illustrations here just do not come alive. They do not inspire.

Nor does the narrative. It's interesting stuff. We look at the commercial growth of gardening as Victorian entrepreneurs strove to supply and nurture a new breed of back and front gardeners - the emergence of catalogues and seedsmiths, the inspiration of the plant finders, the need to dig for victory, the growth of literature and journalism, the recent impact of the television. It's more a social history and commercial history than an exploration of changing tastes or designs. Interesting, but a bit bland.

If I was wanting to find inspiration for the design or redesign of my own garden, I certainly wouldn't start here. It's a book you'd possibly read once and then never revisit. It's an introduction to the recent history of gardening, but there's no depth to it - it barely scratches the topsoil. Not a colourful perennial, I'm afraid, and not something you'd miss.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 5 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars I kept the book!
I bought this book as a present for a friend, after seeing the tv series. Having started to read it, I decided to keep it for myself! Read more

Published on 8 Feb 2005

4.0 out of 5 stars Down To Earth
As a relatively new convert to gardens and gardeninging, I was given Gardens Through Time by a very experienced horticulturist who said he'd found it informative and... Read more

Published on 31 Jan 2005

› See all 5 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }