The Wild Garden

About this book

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 forever and remains a key work.

Little Toller's new edition, the most recent addition to the Nature Classics series, has an introduction by the writer, journalist and gardener Alice Vincent.

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Biography

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, where he worked to transform its gardens.

Alice Vincent is a writer, journalist and gardener. Her books include Rootbound, Why Women Grow and Hark.