Win A Copy Of ‘The English Country House Garden’

/ David Marsden

It’s been several months since I’ve held a book competition on The Anxious Gardener.  How remiss of me.  How selfish.  And so to remedy that I’ll be giving away two shiny, non-thumbed books in the next couple of weeks.  Here’s the first.

The English Country House Garden

‘The English Country House Garden’ retails at twenty-five of your Earthling pounds and here’s what publisher, Frances Lincoln, has to say about it:

In ‘The English Country House Garden’ George Plumptre takes 25 country house gardens of England and binds them together to tell a compelling narrative, whilst giving each its own particular emphasis. He sets the scene with the ‘essentials’ of Hidcote, Sissinghurst and Great Dixter, examining why they have achieved their pre-eminent reputations.  Next he takes five gardens to illustrate the sweep of history from Elizabethan Montacute to the 18th-century landscape at Rousham, High Victorian principles at Tyntesfield, the Arts & Crafts at Rodmarton, and Folly Farm where an Edwardian masterpiece has been revived for the 21st century. Then he illustrates the ‘country house garden ideal’ and how a select group of gardens evoke this. Each has an atmosphere, a sense of romance or long history, that is as significant and memorable as their planting and design. These lead on to ‘personal creations’ where the garden is an expression of a personality or family. These include Lullingstone Castle where Tom Hart Dyke has made his World Garden; Exbury where Lionel de Rothschild created an unrivalled rhododendron garden; and the contrast of Charleston where the Bells and the others from the Bloomsbury group gardened in bohemian tranquillity. Finally the author turns his attention to contemporary masterpieces:  the work of Piet Oudolf, Tom Stuart-Smith, Dan Pearson, and the partnerships of Alan Gray and Graham Robeson showing how they have rejuvenated historic landscape settings.

Interesting, huh?  Would you like to own a copy?  Well, here’s all you need to do:

leave a comment below saying that you wish to enter

and

(if you don’t already) follow ‘The Anxious Gardener’ blog, follow me on Twitter or like The Anxious Gardener Facebook page.  Hell, do all three – I shan’t mind.  (The appropriate follow buttons are top right of this page).

The closing date is midnight on Thursday 11th September 2014.

I shall draw the winner out of my

242

and notify the winner by email and add the result to the bottom of this post.  I’m afraid you must have a UK postal address to enter or the use of one.  (The book can only be posted within the UK).

Good luck!

There will be another book draw in a couple of weeks.

oooOOOooo

The competition is now closed.  And the winner is Dan, The Singing Gardener.  Congratulations.

44 thoughts on “Win A Copy Of ‘The English Country House Garden’”

  1. Oooh blimey! This would look dead posh in our ‘library’. When I say ‘library’ I really mean tiny book shelf but no one needs to know the truth…right?
    Any opportunity to look slightly intelligent must be grabbed so please count me in. Ta 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  2. I’d better add my name to your pot/hat, David. Now you’ve brought it to my attention, I want to read it and think it’s probably too niche for my local library. I glazed over in garden history classes at college, only really paying attention when Piet Oudolf and Dan Pearson were mentioned, and this may plug a few gaps!

    Like

    Reply

  7. Please put my name in the “pot”/drawing. Would love to have a beautiful book on English gardens which in my travels overseas, I found to the be the most beautiful of all. And so many gardeners in your country, whether small or large, take such beautiful care of their own gardens. It’s a delight to walk around a village and peek over fences and see such well tended plots. True gardeners. I’m most envious!

    Like

    Reply

  11. Oh David I would love that book. I will be in the UK in a few weeks and could have it posted to my cousin`s house. If I am lucky enough to win.

    Like

    Reply

  16. Please may I enter the draw for the book, ‘big birthday’ coming up next year and I want to make a list of 50 gardens I would like to visit, this would give me plenty of inspiration.
    Thanks

    Like

    Reply

  19. Since you are drawing the winner while I’m in England for 2wks and will have a local address at an airbnb house I am entering!
    Looking forward to visiting many British gardens while I’m there…in fact it’s the whole reason for the trip!

    Like

    Reply

  21. I love the look of this book with its wide spread of gardens from the familiar to the less known. Thank you for the chance to win.

    Like

    Reply

  22. I would love to win a copy of this. Marcus Harpur is a frequent visitor here and George Plumptre has told my husband that I am the NGS opener who tweets (ie. too much)! So I think I qualify as an interested reader (and gardener)….

    Like

    Reply

Any thoughts?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.