Gardens and green spaces are at the vanguard of positive change. They are modern-day crucibles for ideas and innovation that are providing solutions to some of our most persistent problems, whether loneliness or illness, flooding or drought. Around the world, green-fingered thinkers and pioneering plants-people are harnessing the power of the wild to quietly find small-scale strategies to reverse these ills.
It’s no longer just about aesthetics, but about what the great outdoors can do – save water, transform mental health, bridge social divides, educate vulnerable children, reimagine polluting industries and provide much reason for optimism in a rapidly changing world. Celebrating both the garden and gardener as integral players in a healthier future this book presents a series of strategies that will help the reader reevaluate the potential that lies in green spaces near them by looking at how they have been applied in gardens around the world.
Sixty-five projects demonstrate how gardens can repair, heal, empower, nourish and reimagine, whilst an easy-to-read coloured code links each project to others in the book that solve a similar problem, whether soil health, education or pollution. Profiles of ten Green Thinkers dotted throughout delve more deeply into the inspiring work that these pioneers are leading. A glossary of plants, materials and techniques at the back of book encourages readers to apply the lessons learnt in their own garden, be that a windowsill or an acre.
It’s no longer just about aesthetics, but about what the great outdoors can do – save water, transform mental health, bridge social divides, educate vulnerable children, reimagine polluting industries and provide much reason for optimism in a rapidly changing world. Celebrating both the garden and gardener as integral players in a healthier future this book presents a series of strategies that will help the reader reevaluate the potential that lies in green spaces near them by looking at how they have been applied in gardens around the world.
Sixty-five projects demonstrate how gardens can repair, heal, empower, nourish and reimagine, whilst an easy-to-read coloured code links each project to others in the book that solve a similar problem, whether soil health, education or pollution. Profiles of ten Green Thinkers dotted throughout delve more deeply into the inspiring work that these pioneers are leading. A glossary of plants, materials and techniques at the back of book encourages readers to apply the lessons learnt in their own garden, be that a windowsill or an acre.
Lottie Delamain
DirectorLottie started working life in textile design and spent six years living and working in South-East Asia working in fashion and homewares. On returning to the UK, Lottie retrained in Garden Design at the Inchbald School of Design, graduating with Distinction. Since then she has been working on gardens around the UK, from small urban spaces to historic estates and commercial developments.
Lottie is passionate about connecting people to the natural world and the underrated story-telling power of gardens. In May 2022, Lottie completed her first show garden at RHS Chelsea, A Textile Garden for Fashion Revolution.
She has been featured widely in the press, talks and chairs panels on gardens and design, and regularly writes for House & Garden. Lottie is a big advocate for the power of gardens to enrich our lives, and is a trustee of We Are Grow a charity working with schools & communities delivering programmes in sustainable food growing & outdoor learning. Her first book, published by Thames & Hudson is out in Spring 2026.
Lottie is passionate about connecting people to the natural world and the underrated story-telling power of gardens. In May 2022, Lottie completed her first show garden at RHS Chelsea, A Textile Garden for Fashion Revolution.
She has been featured widely in the press, talks and chairs panels on gardens and design, and regularly writes for House & Garden. Lottie is a big advocate for the power of gardens to enrich our lives, and is a trustee of We Are Grow a charity working with schools & communities delivering programmes in sustainable food growing & outdoor learning. Her first book, published by Thames & Hudson is out in Spring 2026.
Ben Brace
Landscape Architect CMLIBen is a Chartered Landscape Architect, Project Manager and Horticulturalist with 18 years experience across a range of projects and scales.
He spent several years at the Royal Horticultural Society playing a major role in delivering the Key Investment Projects, most notably at RHS Garden Bridgewater. More recently he has worked on the delivery of high end, complex landscapes, with a focus on commercial development projects throughout London.
A self-confessed plant nerd, Ben is a champion of community green spaces, Ben loves the challenge of integrating green infrastructure into urban sites and enabling equitable access for all.
He spent several years at the Royal Horticultural Society playing a major role in delivering the Key Investment Projects, most notably at RHS Garden Bridgewater. More recently he has worked on the delivery of high end, complex landscapes, with a focus on commercial development projects throughout London.
A self-confessed plant nerd, Ben is a champion of community green spaces, Ben loves the challenge of integrating green infrastructure into urban sites and enabling equitable access for all.
Fred Tiffin
Garden DesignerFred came to garden design from a career as a documentary producer working all over the world in news, current affairs and sport. He retrained at the
London College of Garden Design at Kew, graduating with a distinction and then began his career at Cameron Gardens before joining the studio in 2024.
He is an avid gardener, passionate plantsman and devout believer in the capacity of nature to cure the soul. He learnt his love of romantic, naturalistic gardens from his father’s rose collection and has a gimlet eye for good design. Today his designs draw on many years of travelling, having visited over 70 countries and counting. When he’s not in the garden with his dog Olive, he might well be found at Stamford Bridge supporting his other love Chelsea.
He is an avid gardener, passionate plantsman and devout believer in the capacity of nature to cure the soul. He learnt his love of romantic, naturalistic gardens from his father’s rose collection and has a gimlet eye for good design. Today his designs draw on many years of travelling, having visited over 70 countries and counting. When he’s not in the garden with his dog Olive, he might well be found at Stamford Bridge supporting his other love Chelsea.
A secret garden teaming with life
The brief was to make this uninspired newly-built garden in Castle Cary feel not like a new build - and three years later we have. It’s now a biodiverse haven, alive with texture, wildlife and colour.
The main event is a giant multi-level corten steel planter, so giant it needed craning over the house in pieces. Part-water feature, part-perch, part-planter, this is the central island of the garden, housing a spectacular Acer griseum and a beautiful Cornus kousa and a riotous tumble of early Geums which give way to spires of Knipofia. The bed provides an ever changing focal point, height, drama and much needed shade to the glazed facade of the house.
Climbers soften the brand-new walls - a Passion Flower, Jasmines and Honeysuckles - offering nectar and fragrance. A trough water feature planted with marginals brings frogs and other amphibians to the garden, along with dragonflies and beautiful reflections.
The main event is a giant multi-level corten steel planter, so giant it needed craning over the house in pieces. Part-water feature, part-perch, part-planter, this is the central island of the garden, housing a spectacular Acer griseum and a beautiful Cornus kousa and a riotous tumble of early Geums which give way to spires of Knipofia. The bed provides an ever changing focal point, height, drama and much needed shade to the glazed facade of the house.
Climbers soften the brand-new walls - a Passion Flower, Jasmines and Honeysuckles - offering nectar and fragrance. A trough water feature planted with marginals brings frogs and other amphibians to the garden, along with dragonflies and beautiful reflections.
Mild steel which has rusted down over three years is the key material, setting the tone for a warm palette of flowers and the bark of the Acer, and is the perfect foil for layers of green which make this space feel so much more established than its years.
More images and the before
studio@lottiedelamain.com
+44 (0)7393 989 059
Copyright © Lottie Delamain Design Ltd. — Company No: 16204793
+44 (0)7393 989 059
Copyright © Lottie Delamain Design Ltd. — Company No: 16204793
