Book Review - Making the Modern Garden by Christopher Bradley-Hole

In his new book 'Making the Modern Garden', international award-winning garden and landscape designer Christopher Bradley-Hole demonstrates the potential for designing gardens using contemporary forms and ideas.

He explores the whole process of garden design, breaking it down into step by step sections. An opening chapter, The Poetry, explains how the modern garden has evolved. He then splits the book into a series of thematic chapters. The Grammar looks at the basic structure of garden design, from initial thoughts and inspirations to understanding of proportion and underlying influences - such as art and architecture. The Narrative then considers styles of different types of modern gardens.

Christopher Bradley-Hole is one of the most ground-breaking and influential garden and landscape designers working today. He is the winner of numerous awards, including several Chelsea Gold Medals and has been involved in leading projects including landscaping the grounds at the Highbury Stadium redevelopment and gardens for Pallant House Modern Art Gallery in Chichester.

'Making the Modern Garden' is a definitive book on the philosophy and practice of contemporary garden design and will inspire you to incorporate modern aspects to your own outdoor space.

Christopher's design focus on using a building's form and structure to inspire the plantings around it, combining harmonious proportions and using natural construction materials, reflect the architecture associated with the building.

Readers of this book will enjoy the lavish illustrations, Christopher's choice of fascinating contemporary gardens from around the world and his discussion on the influences that have shaped modern spaces. He looks at a variety of garden styles which include the Enclosed Garden, the Water Garden and the Country Garden.

He makes the valuable point that making a garden should be a … … 'liberation, an opportunity for freedom of thought and expression.' By reading his book you cannot fail to be stimulated by that and you will find lots of inspiration for changing your own landscape - perhaps creating a modernist utopia in your own garden.

One thing the book will certainly do and that is to awaken a deeper sense of understanding into contemporary forms and ideas in the reader and to more fully appreciate that new approaches to planting can be applied no matter where the site is.