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Outdoors: The Garden Design Book for
the Twenty-First Century

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“In a unique partnership,
  Diarmuid Gavin and
  Terence Conran have
  collaborated to create
  a book that makes it easy
  for anybody to appreciate
  and apply the principles
  of high-quality, imaginative
  and innovative garden
  design…”

THE BEAUTIFUL AND COMPREHEN-SIVE book Outdoors: The Garden Design Book for the Twenty-First Century by Diarmuid Gavin & Terence Conran is full of ideas and inspirations from intriguing water features and patios to roof terraces and amazing garden rooms.

Check out the fabulous sculpture in nature early in the book where twisted branches of strawberry guava and rose apple saplings wind
and weave their way through the trees in a stunning example of training and using plants, trees or flowers to your own advantage — introducing natural art into your garden.

Outdoors is the ultimate garden design book for the twenty-first century, covering all aspects of working and living in your garden.
A visual delight, the book is generously-illustrated with stunning photographs of examples of gardens around the world.

In two introductory essays, the authors engage in lively dialogue, discussing their personal insights into what the early and main influ-ences have been on their work; how garden design has evolved,
its current place in design as a whole and the journey that it will take throughout this century. Their very different styles provide readers with both practical knowledge and the confidence to seek inspiration for their gardens from diverse sources such as history.

But this is not just a book about gardens — it is a visual odyssey and
it is inspirational. Along with the usual pergolas and bridges, Outdoors depicts a clever use of tunnels and natural or man-made frames to make a focal point of magnificent views from a garden. An attractive moon gate was an integral feature of ancient oriental gardens and it is not out of place today.

Other examples of carefully designed gardens are shown in dramatic landscapes and in bold and vivid colours. Brave experiments of turf landforms and permanent or temporary natural garden sculptures are shown, along with practicalities such as how to plan and design a garden, the design brief, site survey, inspiration and materials. Advice is given on attracting wildlife and creating a delightful space from a small courtyard garden to planting a natural water garden.

A special section on shade and shelter shows a magnificent, curved shelter in steel and wood that almost looks random. Woodland gardens can hold treasured surprises such as a one-off sculpture in a grassy glade; driftwood can be used to create sculptures or even a secret room.

Whilst many garden owners tend to define their gardens by function, Outdoors explores a range of garden uses such as Relaxation, Pro-ductive, Entertainment, Practical and Family. Readers are encouraged to look beyond the garden gate for ideas and inspiration and the authors provide creative, inspirational and up-to-date alternatives. Practical information is provided on each garden type and how to design your own with classic solutions and appropriate means for put-ting conservation philosophies into practice — whether it be for wildlife, recycling or water-wise gardening.

Outdoors is full of ideas: artistic lawns; kitchen gardens; screens; fire-pits; outdoor kitchens; decks, dance floors; advice on plants; cultiv-ating and planning orchards; 'borrowing' trees from neighbouring gar-dens; art in rural gardens; summerhouses; terraces; tree-houses; lady-bird houses; and creating beautiful spaces so that your garden is a place of enjoyment and tranquillity.

Also featured is a maze of clipped hedges (yew and box); the function and beauty of paths (we particularly liked the slate zig-zag garden path); innovative lighting — including uplighting trees to enhance their natural beauty; a brilliant, cosy outdoor living room; and planting unusual grasses like the Squirrel Tail Grass.

Superb, natural wild flower lawns or meadow gardens are heavenly places to be and examples are shown in Outdoors. The late Christopher Lloyd introduced me to his meadow garden at Great Dixter over twenty years ago and I was hooked enough to create a little wildflower bed in my own small garden.

In addition, Outdoors presents fifteen stimulating case studies from around the world from Barton Court in Yorkshire to Pacific Heights in California, personally chosen by the authors to demonstrate how innovative design can be translated to the garden. Whether you live
in the town or country and regardless of the size of your garden, Outdoors is an invaluable source of information, inspiration and motivation.

• Outdoors: The Garden Design Book for the Twenty-First Century
by Diarmuid Gavin & Terence Conran is published by Conran Octopus and is out now in hardback at an RRP of £40.

Diarmuid Gavin's innovative designs have won him several medals at
the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. As well as co-presenting popular television shows such as Home Front in the Garden, Diarmuid has contributed to national newspapers and written six books on garden design. He runs his own garden design and build business based in Dublin and London.

Terence Conran is widely recognised as one of the world's great designers and restaurateurs. Terence — who freely admits to being happiest when in his vegetable garden at his home in Berkshire — discovered a passion for gardening as a child and has since designed medal-winning gardens for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and has written several gardening books, including The Essential Garden Book with designer Dan Pearson, which has sold more than 160,000 copies.

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