It is always helpful to consult some books on garden design when thinking about improving the basic structure or layout of your garden. The books listed here are all first-class and chock full of neat ideas. You should be able to find them at the library. I have also given the names of some of my favourite B.C. garden designers. The Garden Designer by Robin Williams:Once the co-director of Britain's College of Garden Design,

Williams was commissioned to write this book by the Royal Horticultural Society, which should give you some idea of the quality of the work. It contains a wealth of garden-making ideas and intelligent advice on everything from the basic components of good design to the finishing touches of garden decorating. Williams stresses the need for all elements in a garden to blend harmoniously, and he presents some confident plans for a variety of garden styles. The key to great garden-making? ``It requires getting to know the site well,' says Williams, ``and developing a sense of how the different components you introduce will affect one another and influence the space and atmosphere of your garden.'

In The Ultimate Garden Designer, Tim Newbury takes a very down-to-earth approach to the whole business of making a garden. He has a marvellous knack for designing wonderfully balanced gardens that achieve a pleasing harmony of form and function. He says he didn't write the book to teach people how to become professional garden designers. He just wanted to provide homeowners with what he calls "off-the-peg' designs for various sites and micro-climates. The bulk of the book is taken up with colorful artists' renderings like the one shown here. There are also detailed plant lists for 15 different gardens from woodland to formal, Japanese-style to kitchen garden, plant-lover's garden to water garden, family garden to roof garden

'Everything in the garden must have a purpose,' says Newbury, who won gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show for his cleanly designed gardens. “Whether it is practical, such as a nicely detailed trellis screen to hide the dustbins [garbage cans]; artistic, such as a beautifully laid out herbaceous border, or even humorous like the stone frog sitting by the pond, everything in a garden should serve a purpose.' He says we should think about creating "a complete package' by which he means envisioning the finished version.

Penelope Hobhouse can do no wrong in my book. I love all of her ideas and the gardens she designs, even though some contemporary designers in England think she is now out of date. In Garden Designs, she was on top of her form and with exquisite photos by Andrew Lawson what could be more perfect.

Time spent with any of Hobhouse’s book is worth while, but this one features a wide variety of designs from town gardens in London and Hamburg to small country gardens in Somerset and Gloucestshire.