My philistine of a husband often told with amusement how a cousin when asked when he expected to finish his garden replied ‘Never, I hope. We Made a Garden is the story of how Margery Fish, a leading gardener of the 1960s, and her husband Walter transformed an acre of wilderness into a stunning cottage garden, still open to the public at East Lambrook Manor, Somerset, England.

Sometimes in the summer my heart softens when I see its really pretty flat pink rosettes, but most of the time it is war. You can unsubscribe from our list at any point by changing your preferences, or contacting us directly. It’s one of a (not very) regular series of posts about gardens and houses we’ve owned over the years. Fish’s aspiration to cultivate that most precious and slow-growing quality—the fundamental character of a good garden. Gardening books are always wonderful and, as ever, I came away with notes of new plants to try and new techniques.

My only thought was to get the project under way before Walter took an interest in what I was doing and complicated matters with too much criticism and advice.

I started reading this book with the idea of garnering inspiration as I begin planning this year's garden. Fish, i often found myself running out to the garden right after reading something smart to put in practice.

This book charmed me by the cover and hypnotized me with old-fashioned language, both British and Latin. So much of her has been poured into the garden and into the book that it’s easy to understand why it has stood the test of time and remains a classic. It has been hailed as everything from a blueprint for the creation of a modern cottage garden to a feminist manifesto. I also noticed how overbearing her husband was, and how she enjoyed doing things her own way later on when she gardened by herself.

All used books might have various degrees of writing, highliting and wear and tear and possibly be an ex-library with the usual stickers and stamps.

I had to pull out my phone so many times to Google them to get an idea of how they looked; a visual glossary of some sort would be a nice addition. I do dream of finding extra rooms in the various houses I lived in – have read that it’s not uncommon, but no idea what it means. The husband is older and overbearing, but Margery comes into her own, especially after his death, and becomes a noteworthy gardener herself.

We knocked out the bricked-up window and dug out clay to a further depth of twelve inches, passing it out through the window to a waiting skip.Honestly, he sounded like a bit of an asshole - cutting down so many of her flowers as they were just starting to bloom, smothering her smaller, beloved plants with manure as he tended to his own favorites, only allowing her to participate in menial gardening tasks. But I didn't but it for that, I bought it because it's a beautiful, beautiful book and because I wanted inspiration for my allotment. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality. Yes, she absolutely does have a sense of humour, particularly over her own mistakes – such an attractive trait in both life and writing!