How to Design a Garden

Discover the timeless wisdom of John Brookes MBE, one of the most influential garden designers of all time. Renowned as 'the man who made the modern garden', Brookes transformed the way we think about outdoor spaces, making them not just places for plants, but true extensions of the home.

In How to Design a Garden, Brookes shares his groundbreaking design philosophy, practical methods, and enduring advice drawn from decades of teaching, writing, and lecturing around the world. Whether you’re a professional designer, a student of landscape architecture, or a passionate home gardener, this book will inspire you to create outdoor spaces that are both beautiful and liveable.

Inside you’ll find:

• A clear, practical approach to designing gardens that suit modern lifestyles
• Brookes’ insights on environmental sustainability and linking the garden to its setting
• A directory of 50 essential plants
• Inspirational ideas and real-world tips from one of the most respected voices in garden design

This revised and updated edition of In How to Design a Garden proves why John Brookes’ ideas remain as relevant today as when he first introduced them. Thoughtful, practical, and visionary, this is a must-have for anyone who wants to design a garden that truly works for the people who use it.

'The most inspired and inspiring teacher of garden design.' Cleve West

John Brookes designed gardens and landscapes all over Britain and Europe, and also in the United States and Canada, South America, South Africa, Australia, Iran, Japan and Russia. He founded schools of design in Japan, Chile and Argentina and, most famously, the Clock House School of Design at Denmans, West Sussex. He was awarded an MBE for garden design and services to horticulture, the Award of Distinction of the American Association of Professional Landscape Designers, the Garden Writers' Association of America Award of Excellence, and countless other international awards including four Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals. He lived at Denmans until his death in 2018 at the age of eighty-four.

Andrew Duff is a garden designer, Managing Director of the Inchbald School of Design and Vice-Chair of the Society of Garden Designers.

Gwendolyn van Paasschen is a garden designer and writer. Having worked with John Brookes on a major design project in upstate New York, she helped him with his memoir, A Landscape Legacy (Pimpernel, 2018), and is now chair of the John Brookes Denmans Foundation, which is dedicated to perpetuating John Brookes' design legacy and to the preservation of Denmans Garden.