The Dry Garden

The late Beth Chatto, surely the doyenne of British gardening and garden writing in recent decades, wrote this book in 1977 but the sound advice it contains remains relevant today. It was informed by her own practical experiences of gardening in eastern England. It has a general account of the development of her large garden in the 1970s, advice on clearing ground and preparing to plant and a very useful list and informative discussion in alphabetical order of plants recommended for dry situations. Although these are suggestions from the 1970s the range of plants available now hasn’t really changed that much, whatever the horticultural trade with its endless new introductions intended to part us with our cash might like us to believe.As seems to be the tradition with grand garden writers, plants’ names are given in botanical Latin which makes it a slog to read. My edition of the book has the original grainy black and white photos from the 1970s which will disappoint if you’re expecting the lavish full colour photos we’re now accustomed to in gardening books. While owning this good will give you some serious garden credentials, if you’re just looking for suggestions for a few plants for dry situations try Google or the RHS Plants for Places book instead.

Beth Chatto has a very engaging writing style and there is a wealth of information in the book. However it is an old book, so has only a few black and white photos in the centre. If like me you are a novice gardener then the plant names don't mean much without supporting pictures. I have given this book to my horticultural friend who is really enjoying it. I have bought Drought Resistant Planting also by Beth Chatto which suits me much better as it's full of beautiful colour pictures to bring the text to life.

It quite a good book, with a lot of information, but it is all in black and white and the pictures and very blured.

Heard alot about beth chatto wanted to read her garden tips very useful

Everyone who owns a garden or even a window box should own a copy of this book, which sets out a completely pragmatic philosophy of gardening and then actually tells you how to achieve it. As other reviewers have said,it's short on pretty pictures (older editions anyway), but it does have tons of valuable advice, a comprehensive list of plants and an infectious enthusiasm that more than compensate for full colour photographs.

i would recommend this book to any one who has got a dry, stoney garden as it helps you to understand what will grow. I now have a plan to fill my garden with lots of plants .

A great book which was bought as a gift and was very well received by the intended audience. To say "over the moon" is an understatement.

The editon I received is very poor and there appear to be some photos mising