Images from the Book

Children enjoy embellishing and developing their plots. Encourage them by providing easy-to-grow, stunning plants which perform quickly, such as bedding plants on the point of flowering, so that their relatively short attention span does not become exhausted. Never force them to do to tedious jobs but concentrate instead on making gardening fun.

A well-established clump of bamboo provides ample scope for den-making. Through the woven entrances of this secret lair lies a network of tunnels and rooms fulfilling every child's dream, while informal planting in the foreground allows the play area to blend easily into the cultivated part of the garden.