The Wild Garden by William Robinson

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 for ever and remains a key work.

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

‘One of the classics of gardening…he’s worth listening to today, and noting.’ The Daily Telegraph

‘…the boldest attack on unnatural art.’ Robin Lane Fox

Cover by Cedric Morris.