Welcome to my first newsletter and blog of 2024. Many thanks for opening and hopefully reading this, and a happy new year to you all…
Above and Below, sample pages from the soon-to-be-published ‘A New Cottage Garden’ by Mark Bolton
A New Cottage Garden will be published in august this year, and I am delighted with how it looks. Many thanks to the fabulous Pimpernel Press, and the excellent Sarah Pyke who designed the book. I photographed and wrote the book, but Sarah stitched it together, and Jo Christian led me on through the whole process. It was a massive job for me, but as a mad keen gardener it was one I loved doing. I know every single clod of earth in that little patch and have learnt so much along the way; how to prune, mulch, sow and pick. I also met some amazing people along the way; as it’s a cottage garden book, I was keen to see Gravetye Manor (the home of William Robinson, one of the most important figures in cottage garden history) and luckily I was commissioned by Which Gardening Magazine to shoot there every month for a year (a project about fruit tree maintenance through the year). Tom Coward and his team were so helpful, and whilst learning a lot about fruit, I also found the time to study the garden and the planting style that Robinson developed during his years living at the Manor house. Please do keep an eye out for the book, but don’t worry I will remind you!
I have been a garden photographer (and interiors) for more years than I care to remember now, and have been principle photographer on many books. I also work regularly for all the gardening magazines, and have worked commercially for many garden product suppliers. I am always interested in discussing possible shoots, features, interesting new plants and lovely gardens. Do get in touch with your ideas and thanks for looking at this. I will send another newsletter next month (thats the plan at the moment!) and in the meantime, happy (chilly!) gardening. I’m looking forward to some snowdrops (thanks to Avon Bulbs for letting me shoot these four below last year); and would always be interested to know of any nice winter/spring gardens you may have heard about… Mark
