Lively exchange of letters between Christopher Lloyd and Beth Chatto, two long-established friends and distinguished gardeners.

What were early kitchens like? How have they evolved over time? What factors have influenced their design? David Eveleigh takes you into the heart of the home and shows us why modern kitchens are the way they are. Everything you could wish to know about kitchens and their unusual history will be found with these pages.

If we garden, we have seen damage done by insects. Whether it is damage done to fruits and vegetables or to our prized ornamentals, it is frustrating to say the least. Often, seeing the damage provokes our indignation and we declare war on all the insects in the garden without considering the repercussions that our actions might bring. Instead of pulling a chemical pesticide off the shelf, an alternative method of insect pest control would be to attract the natural predators to our gardens...

Britain's favourite gardener Alan Titchmarsh has also been the most popular contributor to Gardeners' World magazine for the last twenty years.This collection of his very best columns, demonstrates just why he is regularly voted the readers' favourite. His brilliant writings are, in turn, practical - just how far back should we prune our roses? - opinionated - I always rail at people who go out on a Sunday afternoon to tidy their gardens. I mean, a garden is no...

NOW A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER"Unrivalled gardening wisdom from Monty Don, including e**ssential tips, knowledge and musings from his 50 years of gardening experience" - Daily Telegraph**"The book is a potboiler of his [Monty Don's] wisdom" - Sunday TimesWritten as he talks, this is Monty Don right beside you in the garden, challenging norms and sharing advice.

When Alan left school at fifteen little was expected of him. An ‘O’ level in art is not the most obvious passport to success, but in the ancient greenhouses of the local nursery Mrs T’s little lad found his spiritual home, learning his trade and the strange ways of human nature.But the comfort and familiarity of his home in the Yorkshire Dales would soon be left behind as he journeyed south to college and then to Kew Gardens where he encountered rare plants collected by Captain Cook...

This handy, practical and inspirational little book is perfect for the pocket or art bag. It shows watercolour painters of all levels how to loosen up their paintings and maintain spontaneity by painting simple watercolour studies in no more than 10 minutes.Written by popular artist Hazel Soan, the book is arranged in three parts: the first section explains all about the equipment you will need; the second section covers techniques and shows what can be achieved with watercolour in...

If you want birds for pets.Then you could get a couple of hens or bantams.And let them loose in your back garden.Rather than lock some poor canary or budgerigar up in some little cage.If you have the time and the space.Then poultry can make good pets.Hens are easier to look after than ducks.And, some breeds lay a lot of eggs too.I have had hens, bantams, ducks, Muscovies as pets.Free-ranging in my suburban back garden.

Packed full of tips for the aspiring watercolourist, its handy format makes it ideal for quick reference either in the studio or out in the field.Contents include:essential tips on all the basic watercolour techniques, plus helpful advice on sketching and drawingguidelines on painting skies, backgrounds, foregrounds, the main subject, trees, details and shadowsclear and straightforward step-by-step instructions for painting a complete landscape in ...

This classic text provides a comprehensive and practical guide to growing mushrooms, and is suitable for the home and amateur growers. Illustrated with detailed diagrams, it introduces the reader to a broad range of topics and contains helpful advice that remains of relevant use today. Contents include: Mushrooms; About Mushrooms; First Principles; Buildings; Mushroom Growing on a Small Scale; Mushrooms for the Amateur Gardener; Natural or Hit-and-Miss Methods of Growing Mushrooms; Manure ...

From the author of Earth: An Intimate History, an exuberant "biography" of four acres of woodland, evoking a cosmos of living and inanimate things and imagining its millennia of existenceA few years ago, award-winning scientist Richard Fortey purchased four acres of woodland in the Chiltern Hills of Oxfordshire, England. The Wood for the Trees is the joyful, lyrical portrait of what he found there.With one chapter for each month, we move t...

Since 1973, Storey's Country Wisdom Bulletins have offered practical, hands-on instructions designed to help readers master dozens of country living skills quickly and easily. There are now more than 170 titles in this series, and their remarkable popularity reflects the common desire of country and city dwellers alike to cultivate personal independence in everyday life.