Garden Books We’re Obsessed With This Year

This week, RHS Head of Libraries Fiona Davison, garden designer Zoe Claymore and RHS Gardening Advisor Nick Turrell gather to share their must-read gardening books of 2025. Along the way, they explore what really makes a garden waterwise, dive into the astonishing world of fungi, demystify regenerative gardening, and get to the root of soil science. They also journey through the makings of a temperate rainforest, spotlight remarkable horticultural heroes from history — and yes, they even tackle the topic every gardener loves to hate: slugs.

Host: Fiona Davison with Nick Turrell (instagram.com/nickturrellgardens/?hl=en) and Zoe Claymore (instagram.com/zoe_claymore/?hl=en)

Books mentioned:

Garden People: The Photographs of Valerie Finnis (thamesandhudson.com/products/garden-people?srs…)- Ursula Buchan

Botanical Illustration: The Gold Medal Winners (accartbooks.com/uk/book/rhs-botanical-illustra…)- Charlotte Brooks

RHS Waterwise Garden (dk.com/products/9780241740224-rhs-waterwise-ga…) - Tom Massey

RHS Fungi for Gardeners (dk.com/products/9780241785812-rhs-fungi-for-ga…) - Dr Jassy Drakulic

RHS Slugs: Friend or Foe (dk.com/products/9780241762851-rhs-slugs-friend…) - Dr Hayley Jones

The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening (waterstones.com/book/the-kindest-garden/marian…) - Marian Boswell

Illustrated History of Landscape Design (blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/Illustrated-…) - Elizabeth Boults

One Garden Against the World (bloomsbury.com/uk/one-garden-against-the-world…) - Kate Bradbury

The Lost Rainforests of Great Britain (waterstones.com/book/the-lost-rainforests-of-b…) - Guy Shrubsole