Elspeth Thompson - Writing and Broadcasting about Gardening ¦ The Guardian ¦ Sunday Telegraph

Gardening
Books

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THE LONDON GARDENER:
Guide and Sourcebook
Elspeth Thompson’s indispensable, fact-packed guide to all aspects of London gardening, published in hardback in 2004 by Frances Lincoln £12.99; paperback 2006 £7.99
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“Elspeth Thompson’s book should be on every London gardener’s shelf, with another copy beside the phone. It really is that useful.” - Harriot Lane Fox, The Daily Telegraph

“You don’t need to be a Londoner to benefit from… this sympathetic compendium, packed with advice, addresses – and sensitivity to the needs created by urban life.”
Anna Pavord, The Independent

“Elspeth Thompson’s delightful writing style – passionate, informal but informed – makes this ideal bedside reading.”
Maxine Farmer, The Garden

“”…wide-ranging and subversive…ground-breaking ideas”
Leslie Geddes-Brown, Country Life

A TALE OF TWO GARDENS
by Elspeth Thompson
Published in hardback in 2003 by Cassell Illustrated £16.99
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“In this second instalment of her Sunday Telegraph columns, Elspeth Thompson divides her time between her maturing garden in Brixton, South London, and a vegetable garden planted on shingle on the south coast. With her charming style, infectious enthusiasm and down-to-earth approach to gardening, Elspeth’s book has plenty to encourage and inspire gardeners in even the most inauspicious surroundings.” Deborah Penn

URBAN GARDENER
by Elspeth Thompson
Published in hardback in 1999 by Orion £9.99;
paperback 2000 £6.99.
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“To garden in the city is to garden against the odds. This collecion of Elspeth Thompson’s cult ‘Urban Gardener’ columns in The Sunday Telegraph charts with wit and originality her struggles against urban gardening bugbears such as lack of space, shade, slugs and the ravages of builders and local cats. In three years she has tamed an overgrown allotment into producing organic fruit and vegetables and created a beautiful contemporary garden from twenty by twenty feet of concrete. A refreshing book – a passionate and honest account of the pleasures and frustrations of gardening in the city” - Gardens Illustrated

“A new voice in garden writing: unpretentious, witty and refreshingly unsnobbish” - New Eden

“Her writing is pure delight – light-hearted and knowledgeable with a casual charm and style – and very much of today” - Anthony Noel

NEW COUNTRY GARDEN
by Elspeth Thompson with photographs by Melanie Eclare
Published in hardback in 2001 by Ryland Peters & Small £18.99; paperback 2005 £7.99
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“A delightful exploration of contemporary developments in country gardening, from a ‘plant lover’s paradise’ with bold colour plantings in new cottage-style gardens, to elegant modern parterres and a self-seeding wildlife meadow – and you don’t have to live in the countryside to do it.” - The Lady

NEW DECORATED GARDEN
By Elspeth Thompson with photographs by Melanie Eclare
Published in hardback in 2002 by Ryland Peters & Small £18.99
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“Author Elspeth Thompson and photographer Melanie Eclare set out to show that contemporary elements can be introduced into a garden without replacing lawn with concrete. Coolly urban or rustic and rural, the gardens featured – from London to LA - have a fresh, stylish appeal and should five the reader confidence to add a modern touch to an otherwise traditional garden.” - Jackie Bennett, The English Garden