Garden Books We’re Obsessed With This Year

Gardening with the RHS

Royal Horticultural Society

Hobbies, Leisure, Home & Garden

4.3 • 691 Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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 and Zoe Claymore Books mentioned: Garden People: The Photographs of Valerie Finnis - Ursula Buchan Botanical Illustration: The Gold Medal Winners - Charlotte Brooks RHS Waterwise Garden - Tom Massey RHS Fungi for Gardeners - Dr Jassy Drakulic RHS Slugs: Friend or Foe - Dr Hayley Jones The Kindest Garden: A Practical Guide to Regenerative Gardening - Marian Boswell Illustrated History of Landscape Design - Elizabeth Boults One Garden Against the World - Kate Bradbury The Lost Rainforests of Great Britain - Guy Shrubsole

Transcript

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0:00.0	Looking for the perfect gift for the garden lover in your life?
0:04.0	This Christmas, save £15 on an NHS gift membership
0:07.8	and give them unlimited visits to NHS gardens
0:10.8	and over 230 partner gardens all year round.
0:15.2	They'll enjoy reduced rate tickets and priority access to NHS shows
0:18.8	plus so much more.
0:20.9	Save £15.orghs.org.uk.
0:24.7	Our friends soon, terms and conditions apply.
0:34.1	Winter asks a little less of us in the garden.
0:37.1	With the shortest day of the year now just around the corner, the plants are settling into their slowest pace,
0:43.3	quietly storing up their energy ready for spring.
0:46.3	And when you venture outside for a little tending, that biting winter wind can be unforgiving on the fingertips,
0:52.3	which makes it the perfect season to sink into a cosy
0:55.8	chair, wrap your hands around a warm drink and lose yourself in a good book.
1:01.3	So this week, we're delighted to bring our annual book special, a chance for us to talk
1:07.0	about the standout reads that inspired us this year and to help spark ideas for your
1:11.8	own reading list in 2026. I'm Fiona Davison, head of libraries and exhibitions at the RHS, and joining
1:19.6	me to Wander the Bookshelves, a garden designer Zoe Claymore and RHS Gardening Advisor Nick
1:25.7	Turrell. Welcome, everyone.
1:29.2	Oh, hello, thanks for having us.
1:34.7	So, Zoe, it's been quite a year for you.
1:35.6	We'll start with you.
	...

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