Monty Don's articles are so well founded, his enthusiasm is contagious and his advice is invaluable. This book is a collection of 50 of Monty’s articles, written as part of a regular column for The Observer. My soil has more rocks than Saudi Arabia has sand so I cannot just dig a simple hole and plant a bulb. Here Monty invites us into the garden at Longmeadow, to show us how he created this beautiful garden, and how we can do the same in our own. No missing or damaged pages, no tears, possible very minimal creasing, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins.

But in my mind that early field with its pattern of woven fences protecting the little plants, so small yet filled with dreams, still remains beneath the skin, is still there beneath all the years. He has been lead presenter of Gardeners' World since 2003 and since 2011 the programme has come from his own garden, Longmeadow, in Herefordshire. Across two sites separated by a hedged path we have a mixture of raised beds, larger beds and some surrounded by low woven fences that are halfway between the two.I learned that the wind howled in from three sides, so when I began to lay out the garden in the autumn of 1992 I knew the first thing I needed were windbreaks.

The Jewel garden really hits its stride in August and September despite the shortening days because the nights are warm and dahlias, bananas, zinnias, tithonia, sunflowers, helianthus, nicotiana and cosmos are flowering exuberantly. It is based upon four symmetrical beds arranged in the square charbagh pattern centred upon a water feature that bubbles gently in the centre. There was one tree - the hazel in what is now the Spring Garden – and everything else was rough grass, nettles and brambles. A journey through beautiful Islamic gardens across the world, with photographs by the acclaimed Derry Moore.I have grown vegetables since I was a small child and growing our own vegetables, herbs and fruit has always been an essential ingredient in the lives of Sarah and I. Then, as autumn begins to bite, the Jewel Garden is cut back, tender plants lifted and it hibernates until quite late in Spring to resume its season of blazing glory. Great review, I so enjoyed the opportunity of watching Gardener’s World last Friday although I was actually rather disapointed at the content, seems that they were short of things to say – strange in spring.

The gentle planting in the cottage garden, which contains flowers, fruit trees, herbs and shrubs, and will soon be blooming with summer roses. The book is then divided into months but it isn’t a book with your typical monthly listings of things to do. By the way, I have a book review meme on the 20th of every month, and I invite you to add this, if you would like. While the soil, weather, and temperatures are very different where I live, there is still a lot of information that is applicable.is the story of a creative partnership that has weathered the greatest storm, and a testament to the healing powers of the soil. I particularly liked the relaxed feel to the book, maybe this is because the author is self-taught and has no hang-ups about how things should be done. Arranged in a square pattern with a fountain in the middle, the garden features a shady pavilion, lemon and orange trees and fragrant roses and lilies. So it is a must for new and aspiring gardeners to take heed before just “diving in”, to have a bit of savvy before you just make the journey into growing your own produce, plants and so on. There is a a real sense of the garden coming magnificently into being but still rich with the promise of more to come.

This year has given us the enforced opportunity to learn more about the fascinating natural world around us. From the beginning of the book you get a real sense that Longmeadow is a very special place to the author. The first starts at the end of May and continues to mid July and then there is a noticeable shift as the light changes slightly and the whole garden heats up until September. Our team is made up of book lovers who are dedicated to sourcing and providing the best books for kids.The various areas of long grass and wild flowers are rich with crocuses that are soon followed by narcissi, fritillaries and camassias. I consider myself to be an experienced gardener now but I still take great pleasure in looking to Monty’s books and TV programmes for inspiration and ideas. Although Monty gardens 3000 miles away from me, I can take a lot of his advise and wisdom and use it in my own gardening efforts. We do so as much as cooks and lovers of good food as gardeners, always striving for good taste and health over appearance or size.