Kate's book reviews

This month Associate Landscape Architect Kate Richards has been reading two books: Shade Garden by Beth Chatto and Planting by famed landscape architects Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury.

She said: “Following a recent re-visit to RHS Bridgewater, and inspired by the developing perennial beds (designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, and now with two years’ growth), I have been exploring the topic of planting for different locations, referencing the work of Beth Chatto and Piet Oudolf in particular.

“Chatto is a plantswoman best known for her work in her own garden in Essex, where she transformed a neglected and overgrown wilderness into a beautiful series of spaces over several years. Her book ‘Shade Garden’ is especially useful for several projects we are working on in the studio, and her in-depth knowledge of how certain plants can turn a dark space into an opportunity to provide interest throughout the seasons is illuminating.

“Oudolf’s book, co-written with Noel Kingsbury, is equally inspiring, covering topics ranging from conceptual approaches to planting, alongside more in-depth, technical chapters on how to group and combine different species. The emphasis is always on planting a large variety (form, colour, season, height, and so on), but with a keen eye on how each species might behave over time too.

“Plants, like all natural things, change and the concept that we as designers can plan the initial layout of a scheme, but time and nature will evolve that design, is both very interesting and humbling.”