A Guided Discovery of Gardening

Book Author Julia Atkinson-Dunn
Rights Available World

For some, gardening is a mysterious activity involving muck, unfathomable know-how and physical labour. To others, it is their gateway to creativity, well-being and magic. Julia Atkinson-Dunn knows what it is to stand on both sides of this fence and has channelled her discovery of gardening into a book to aid and inspire others in their own.

A Guided Discovery of Gardening is a comprehensive partner in creating a garden, arranged to sweep beginner and progressing gardeners through informative basics to fascinating insights laid bare through her casual, friendly and often personal writing. From introductions to plant types and taking cuttings to valuable tips for home buyers and the curation of seasonally responsive planting.

Particularly relevant to temperate regions around the world, rich doses of handy knowledge are intermingled with reflective essays and visual visits to some of her favourite New Zealand gardens, including her own.

About the Author

On moving into the house of her dreams in her mid-30s, designer, artist and writer Julia Atkinson-Dunn stared wide-eyed at the clean slate of her boring backyard with a bubbling excitement that felt foreign. Her passion for beautiful spaces had only ever been held for interiors, but that was about to change.

Over six years she clawed forward with dirt under her nails and a toppling pile of gardening books by her bed, pursuing a vision that simply seemed to reveal itself as she went.

The flower beds ebbed, flowed and expanded with her experimentation, buoyed by her new gardening friends and backstopped by her ever-growing experience.

Julia lives with her husband in Christchurch, New Zealand from where she has authored and photographed Petal Power and Flowers for Friends (Koa Press 2021), and maintained an ongoing conversation with her fellow keen gardeners via her Instagram, newsletter and column for the country’s premier news platform. She works closely with the garden community as a speaker and host at festivals and events, advocating the magic of gardening to her peers. Her garden aids her art practice, which is concentrated on mixed media botanical still lifes and painted landscapes.