The Education of a Gardener

Russell Page was one of the great English landscape architects of this century…His book The Education of a Gardener remains, in my view, the best combined guide to planting and designing a garden ever written, with inspiration for every sort of gardener, wherever they are placed. The last chapter on his own dream garden is brilliant

* Independent *

Probably the most influential 20th-century book on garden design… It is the universality of its lessons that is the great strength of his book

* Country Life *

Page has written an astonishingly beautiful book about his craft

– Doris LessingPage had a great talent and a sensitivity not only to different types of flora and to different climates, but also to the architectural requirements of gardens, both large and small… Combining a painter’s eye (his only formal training was in art) with a pragmatic and encyclopedic knowledge of horticulture, he produced gardens that were - are -extraordinarily lovely * New York Times *

Russell Page, admittedly a bit of a mystic, is pretty much out there by himself with his verdant heart and green digits

– Michael Pollan

Russell Page (Author)

Russell Page became a professional garden designer in 1928 after studying painting at the Slade School, University of London, and in Paris. He designed a great variety of gardens in Europe, the Middle East, North and South America, ranging from small cottage and town gardens to elaborate layouts including the Battersea Festival Gardens in 1952. He was one of only three Englishmen to have received a medal from the French Academy of Architecture.

Russell Page died in January 1985. After his death The Times wrote, “In a world in which the gifted amateur is no longer the guiding light in the design of gardens, and in which highly qualified professionals prevail, Russell Page stood out as one of those great originals, for which England has been famous.”

Alan Titchmarsh (Introducer)

Alan Titchmarsh MBE is known to millions through his career as a television presenter of shows including Love Your Weekend, Love Your Garden, Ground Force, Gardeners’ World, The Alan Titchmarsh Show and Spring Into Summer. He has written more than forty gardening books, as well as twelve novels and three volumes of memoirs. He was made MBE in the millennium New Year Honours list and holds the Victoria Medal of Honour, the Royal Horticultural Society’s highest award.