A Year in the Garden

Matthew Rice’s A Year in the Garden is an illustrated, month-by-month journey through a Cotswolds garden, offering practical advice, seasonal tasks, personal anecdotes and recipes.

'An uplifting confection of words and illustrations' Alan Titchmarsh

A guide to gardening and enjoying nature through the year, showing you what to do, when to do it and how to enjoy every season more fully, from the Cotswolds garden of renowned artist Matthew Rice.

In 2012, Matthew Rice bought Ham Court, an estate in the village of Bampton in the Cotswolds. Spread across several acres and surrounding fragments of the medieval Bampton Castle, the garden includes an orchard, paddock, productive greenhouse and small farmyard, all of which shape the rhythm of life throughout the year.

In A Year in the Garden, Matthew documents a typical year spent at Ham Court. He writes about the daily work of gardening – the planning, planting, harvesting and inevitable setbacks – alongside personal anecdotes, practical advice and recipes that make the most of seasonal produce. While the setting is distinctive, the challenges and pleasures he encounters are those shared by gardeners everywhere.

The book is complete with Matthew Rice’s distinctive illustrations, capturing the atmosphere and details of garden life.

A Year in the Garden is both a useful companion and a book to savour, offering encouragement, inspiration and hard‑won wisdom to return to throughout the year.