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LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH, MELBOURNE, DELHI
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Chris Young 
CONTRIBUTORS Zia Allaway,Andi Clevely, Christine Dyer, 
Jenny Hendy, Richard Sneesby, Fiona Wild, 
Vicky Willan, Paul Williams, Andrew Wilson
SENIOR EDITOR Zia Allaway
SENIOR ART EDITOR Joanne Doran
EDITORS Christine Dyer, Diana Galligan, Caroline Reed, 
Sarah Ruddick, Fiona Wild, Vicky Willan
USEDITOR Rebecca Warren
DESIGNERS Vanessa Hamilton, Vicky Read, 
Alison Shackleton, Pamela Shiels
DESIGN ASSISTANT Francesca Gormley
AIREDALE PUBLISHING Ruth Prentice, David Murphy, Murdo Culver
PHOTOGRAPHERS Peter Anderson, Brian North
ILLUSTRATORS Peter Bull Associates, Richard Lee, Peter Thomas
PLAN VISUALIZERS Joanne Doran, Vicky Read
JACKET DESIGN Mark Cavanagh, Alison Donovan
PICTURE RESEARCH Lucy Claxton, Mel Watson
PRODUCTION EDITOR Maria Elia
PRODUCTION CONTROLLER Mandy Inness
MANAGINGEDITOR Anna Kruger
MANAGING ART EDITOR Alison Donovan
PUBLISHER Jonathan Metcalf
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Liz Wheeler
ART DIRECTOR Bryn Walls
First American Edition, 2009
First published in United States in 2009 
by DK Publishing, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
RD106 March 2009
2  4  6  8  10  9  7  5  3  1
Copyright © 2009 Dorling Kindersley Limited
Text copyright © 2009 Royal Horticultural Society and Dorling Kindersley Limited
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be 
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means 
(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of 
both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780 7566 42747
DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, 
fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, 
New York, New York 10014 or [email protected].
Printed and bound by SNP Leefung Ltd, China
IMPORTANTNOTICE
The author and the publishers can accept no liability for any harm, damage, or illness 
arising from the use or misuse of the plants described in this book.
Discover more at www.dk.com
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Contents
6 FOREWORD
Chris Young, Editor-in-Chief
10 HOW TO DESIGN
A comprehensive guide to the principles of garden design, 
and how you can apply them to create a design of your own.
First principles   20 Choosing materials 52  
Designing with plants 72   Assessing your garden 90  
Creating a plan 100   Design case study  118  
126 CHOOSING A STYLE
From formal and foliage to Modernist and Mediterranean, 
explore the history and key ingredients of these major 
design styles and find inspiration for your own garden.
Garden styles explained  128   Formal gardens 132  
Cottage gardens  140   Mediterranean gardens 148  
Modernist gardens 156   Japanese gardens 164
Foliage gardens 172   Fusion gardens 180  
Productive gardens 188   Family gardens 196
Sustainable gardens 204   Urban gardens 212  
Country gardens 220   Concept gardens 228  
234 MAKING A GARDEN
All the practical information and step-by-step guides 
you need to bring your garden designs to life.
Building garden structures 238   Planting techniques 256  
268 PLANT AND MATERIALS GUIDE
Expert advice to help you choose the perfect plant for
any situation, and the right materials for your design. 
Plant guide 270 Materials guide 330
Index  342 Acknowledgements  352  
Suppliers  358     Designers’ details 360  
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7
Foreword
HAVE YOU EVER SAT—just sat—in your garden, thinking, looking 
around, taking in the view? Not really looking at anything in particular, but 
thinking about anything and everything to do with your garden, asking 
yourself, “what if I planted a tree there?”, or, “if I moved those slabs, what 
would I put in their place?”. Whether you were aware of doing this or not is, 
in a way, immaterial because what you have been doing is visually making this 
piece of land your own, and coming up with thoughts and ideas for improving 
your outside space. Welcome then—whether it be for the first or fiftieth 
time—to the world of garden design.
The concept of garden design is nothing new: when Man first cultivated land, 
and enclosed his arable crops and livestock, he was delineating usable space to 
its best advantage. This may not be design as we understand it now (obviously, 
aesthetics were of no practical value then), but he was making spatial 
relationships based on need. He was designing his environment to suit his 
individual daily, monthly, and yearly requirements.
Since that time, the process of creating a garden has evolved according to 
style, fashion, prowess, skill, aptitude, wealth, travel, experimentation, and 
history, but it can all be distilled down to that first need. In essence, it is 
all about a human being exerting some level of control over his or her own 
surroundings. And, really, that is all garden design is today. 
As is set out by my fellow authors in this book, creating a garden can be 
an intricate and time-consuming process, but the fundamental starting point 
is to remember that garden design is about creating an outside space that you 
(or your client) want. Many discussions will ensue after that initial thought—
WELCOME IN
Successful garden design  from what style you want, to working out how sustainable your garden might 
is about creating usable, 
attractive, and well-made  be, but don’t let the detail bog you down too early in the process. Of course 
spaces that suit the 
owner’s personal needs. detail is essential for a successful garden, but holding on to that vision, that 
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8 FOREWORD
desire, is a key part of the process. This book will help you, not only with the 
nuts and bolts of garden making, but also to focus the vision and, I hope, help 
make it become a reality.
So why is there a need for such an encyclopedia? In truth, because designing 
a garden can be something of a lonely experience. Even though we are 
constantly bombarded with images, suggestions, and information (too much 
choice, one might say), it is rare to be able to look in one place for everything
—from plant selection to gravel color, from fence posts to tree heights. The 
very nature of having so much choice can render the designer/gardener/client 
more than a little confused as to what they actually want from their garden. 
The activity of making a garden can also be influenced from so many 
quarters—from horticultural collections to urban material manufacturing—
that a designer needs a refuge of sorts, where questions are answered and 
problems resolved. I hope this book will be that refuge in an ever-crowded, 
information-obsessed world.
i PLAN YOUR PLAN k GOOD FORM PERSONAL SPACE
Putting your ideas onto  Successful designs use  Good design should reflect 
paper, or computer, is  flower color, leaf shape,  the wishes, likes, and 
an essential step when  and tree stems to create a  dislikes of the garden 
designing your garden. balance of color and form. owner—regardless of the 
country or climate.
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FOREWORD 9
In many cases, deciding on what you want your garden to be like is initially 
the hardest, but then the easiest part of the process. It is translating that vision 
into a reality that takes the bulk of the time: working out how parts of a garden 
can sit together, how planting interest throughout the year can be sustained, 
deciding on hard landscaping materials that will work in all weather conditions, 
and so on. These are the stimulating—and at times frustrating—aspects of the 
process, but they make the difference between an unusable piece of land 
adjoining your property and a beautifully designed garden. 
The chapters in this book take you through these very stages of garden 
design, helping to demystify the unknowns and clarify the unclear. I sincerely 
hope you enjoy it and, as a result, make the best garden you possibly can.
CHRIS YOUNG
CONSIDERED STYLE i URBAN JUNGLE k SENSE OF SCALE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Successful spaces are  Using foliage plants of  When creating a plan,  Sometimes, beautiful 
created when planting  different types and heights  working to a scale allows  design expressions can 
colors and combinations  can help to provide privacy  you to be sure that all  be created by mirroring 
complement the hard  from neighboring views  structures and details will  shapes, like this sculpture 
landscaping materials. and offers useful shelter. work well on the ground. and round-flowered Allium.
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Description:HAVE YOU EVER SAT—just sat—in your garden, thinking, looking around, taking in the view? Not really looking at anything in particular, but thinking about anything and everything to do with your garden, asking yourself, “what if I planted a tree there?” or, “if I moved those slabs, what wou