2025's GOOD BOOKS

Worthy additions to your read-next pile

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THE NEW BEAUTIFUL by Gardens Illustrated contributors Rizzoli, 2025

The New Beautiful brings together 52 gardens first featured in Gardens Illustrated magazine, each one chosen to reflect the growing emphasis on ecology and sustainability in contemporary garden design. While aesthetics remain important, these gardens demonstrate how beauty can emerge from decisions based on climate resilience, wildlife support and responsible use of resources.

The featured gardens, mostly in the UK, span a range of settings—from compact urban courtyards and rooftop plots to windswept coastal landscapes and expansive country estates. Each garden profile is concise yet insightful, overlaying the writer's interpretation with comments from the designer and others involved in the creation or ongoing care of the site. Large photographs capture wide views and the context of surrounding landscapes, buildings and landforms.

The gardens run from highly naturalistic schemes to more traditional, formally arranged spaces, demonstrating that ecological gardening can take many different shapes. Historic properties such as Sissinghurst Castle are shown evolving in response to modern environmental concerns, while urban gardens reveal how even small sites can become ecologically rich and beautiful.

The book highlights both planting design and hardscape choices, including the use of reclaimed materials, the creation of microclimates and the practical considerations that go into long-term ecological stewardship. Because it gives readers a window into the designers' thought processes, inspirations and intentions, The New Beautiful is as instructive as it is entertaining, providing food for thought on changes we might make in our own gardens.

YOUR NATURAL GARDEN by Kelly D. Norris Cool Springs Press, 2025