Thenford

Anne Heseltine, Michael Heseltine

Thenford
Format
Hardback
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Country
United Kingdom
Published
1 April 2025
Pages
320
ISBN
9781035917723

Thenford

Anne Heseltine, Michael Heseltine

A new edition.

To celebrate showcasing Thenford's world-class collection of snowdrops, this completely updated edition contains superb photography of the dynamic new collection. The perfect gift for garden lovers everywhere.

When Michael and Anne Heseltine wanted to tell the story behind the creation of one of the most beautiful private gardens in England, they thought their book should be titled Mistake by Mistake. While every gardener will identify with that sentiment, the Heseltines were advised that a book with such a gloomy title would never sell. So the book they published in 2016 was called Thenford: The Creation of an English Garden. This second edition, published in 2024, updates the story and balances the mistakes against the achievements.

Over more than 40 years, Michael and Anne have converted a run-down walled garden, silted-up mediaeval fishponds and overgrown woodlands into a 70-acre arboretum that includes three lakes, restored fishponds, an alpine trough garden, a rill, extensive water gardens, a sculpture garden and a restored walled garden. The arboretum owes its original inspiration to the late Sir Harold Hillier and contains more than 3,000 varieties of trees and shrubs, many wild-collected by such well known plantsmen as Roy Lancaster CBE, Allen Coombes, Keith Rushforth and Chris Chadwell.

Thenford's most recent feature is the national collection of snowdrops, built over the years with much encouragement from renowned galanthophiles David and Margaret MacLennan, and now numbering more than 1,200 varieties.

Beautifully illustrated, this story of the creation of an extraordinary garden will delight horticultural experts and novices alike.

Visitors are welcome. For details of public access see thenfordarboretum.com.

Order online and we’ll ship when available (1 April 2025)

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