Luciano Giubbilei is known for his award-winning gardens at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and for his beautiful and serene garden designs for private houses across the world. Since 2012 he has been working on an experimental flower bed in the famous garden of Great Dixter in East Sussex (home of the late gardener and gardening writer Christopher Lloyd), in close collaboration with the Head Gardener, Fergus Garrett. This elegant book offers a personal insight into his inspirations and the development of his style over the years.

Luciano Giubbilei at Great Dixter.

The long border at Great Dixter in the early-morning light of summer.

Another view of the abundant borders at Great Dixter. One reason for using so many plants has been to expand Luciano’s plant knowledge, and understand how they perform.

Seen here are the dark-stemmed Anthriscus sylvestris ‘Ravenswing’, blue Camassia leichtlinii subsp. suksdorfii Caerulea Group, fresh green Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii and the wine-coloured tulip ‘Jan Reus’.

The baroque flares of Reseda luteola (weld) cannot pass unnoticed. Once a common plant, it is now rarely seen in abundance on borders; it is more often grown as a cut flower, for its scent.

The cover of the book shows Luciano Giubbilei’s garden for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 2014. This photograph @Carl Bengtsson

All other photographs above @Andrew Montgomery

Luciano Giubbilei’s ‘The Art of Making Gardens’ with photographs by Andrew Montgomery is published by Merrell Publishers (£45).

The first part of the book explores Giubbilei’s work at Great Dixter across the four seasons. The second part examines his love of craft and traditionally made objects, and – through visits to and discussion with craftsmen in the UK and beyond – considers the contribution such work makes to his garden design. The final part constitutes a wider investigation of Giubbilei’s influences under the broad themes of water, colour and texture, revealing exactly what it is about the world that inspires him and how that is manifested in his designs, with specific reference to his gardens for the Chelsea Flower Show in 2014 and the Venice Biennale in 2015. With beautiful new photographs by Andrew Montgomery throughout and full plant lists, this book will appeal to garden lovers everywhere, as well as those seeking a deeper understanding of the creative process behind making a garden.

Buy your copy of the book here.

The gardens and house at Great Dixter can be visited. There are also horicultural events, study days and workshops. See more at: www.greatdixter.co.uk

For more inspiration read our other garden stories here.

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