A bit of a mess

In a world that still mistakes perfectionism for passion, the garden offers a humbling antidote – nature will always have the final say

When I started out in garden design, I would do rather naive black-and-white sketches in an attempt to convey my design ideas. They were hit and miss. One client asked if I would colour in my sketches

Science is proving what gardeners have always known – that tending plants and spending time outdoors is soothing to mind, body and soul

Marian Boswall seeks design inspiration in classic and new gardening texts

Whether winter-faded ferns, the spindly harvestman or the tyrannical stare of an irate chicken, through-lines from the prehistoric to our modern age are all around us in November, says John Lewis-Stempel