Great Gardens of Britain

Little nuggets capture the spirit of the gardens and entice you to visit.

Helena Atlee's writing bears the stamp of experience and knowledge. Each of her books is the result of serious research and repeated visits, but she wears her learning lightly, charming her reader with evocative and engaging descriptions of style, setting, history and creator - even the effects of changing light and weather are covered... The photos - shot by Attlee's partner, award-winning photographer Alex Ramsay - are gorgeous too, making this book the 'complete package':a first-class intorduction to Britain's great gardens.

A great gift for overseas visitors and those new to the wonders of our islands' horticultural heritage, all engagingly written and beautifully photographed.

A glorious stroll through twenty of the UK's finest gardens.

In double-harness with husband Alex Ramsay, whose year round atmospheric photographs accompany the text, this team has again come up trumps.

There's no better time of year for British gardens, and this sumptuous new book should tempt you to plan a few outings.

Having visited the gardens in print, it's hard to resist the idea of planning a trip to see the real thing.

If this book doesn't inspire you to both visit more gardens and tackle your own bit of Eden, nothing will.

The perfect gift for a keen gardener but also a fantastic guide to the best of British gardens for holiday makers and site-seers. You can also use it as the bucket list of the must-see gardens to visit.

It's a gentle read as befits a book about gardens, but the reader will be struck by the photos and will probably, like me, flick through first to savour the beauty. This is a book that makes you want to go and have a look.

Lively and accessible.

I don't think people ever tire of seeing beautiful photographs of beautiful gardens, and in this new book, Alex Ramsay's photographs are exemplary, capturing each garden with a mixture of atmospheric overviews and interesting details. Helena Atlee's descriptive text gives an introduction to each garden, just long enough to include the salient details, and is light-hearted in approach rather than dry. So yes, this new compilation is certainly worthy of a place on the bookshelf, capturing a moment in time in each of these 20 celebrated gardens.

Attlee's writing is so lively, she can even make you look at The Eden Project with new interest.

The old favourites are revisited with Atlee's witty, perceptive text and the photographs by Alex Ramsay are, as ever, gorgeous.

A marvellous affirmation of excellence in British garden design.