The Wild Garden by William Robinson
Originally published in 1870, The Wild Garden was a sensation, up-ending the conventions of Victorian garden-making, sweeping away formal ideas and artifice, and replacing it with a naturalistic approach, favouring native plants. William Robinson’s book effectively introduced the idea of the cottage garden and the herbaceous border.
Practical, beautiful and occasionally argumentative, The Wild Garden includes chapters on wild roses, bog gardens and ‘Wild Gardening on Walls, Rocks, or Ruins.’ Truly ahead of its time, The Wild Garden changed gardening for ever and remains a key work.
Illustrated throughout by Alfred Parsons, this new edition published by Little Toller has an introduction by the writer, journalist and gardener Alice Vincent.
About the Authors
William Robinson (1838-1945) was an Irish gardener, writer and journalist. His writing influenced a generation of gardeners and he became a friend and collaborator with Gertrude Jekyll. In 1884 he purchased the Elizabethan house Gravetye Manor in Sussex, where he worked to transform its gardens.
Alice Vincent is a writer, journalist and gardener. Her books include Rootbound, Why Women Grow and Hark.
Paperback with flaps
194 pages
15 x 1.5 x 22 cm
