The Thoughtful Gardener

In The Thoughtful Gardener, Jinny Blom shares insight into the creative process she has developed while designing more than 250 gardens around the world. Jinny believes that garden design should lead from a house and its context. For her, design is more a matter of intelligence and appropriateness than imposing a particular style. As such, Jinny’s approach, which she demonstrates in this book in the many and varied gardens she has created, can be applied to any garden in any situation. The reader can take inspiration from Jinny’s principles and apply them to their own garden, whatever the shape, size of plot or aspect, to create a garden that will work for them and for their situation, giving enormous satisfaction for years to come.

Jinny Blom is a leading garden designer who began her London based landscape design practice in 2000. Jinny works on a wide range of projects and has designed hundreds of gardens all over the world. Her innovative and uniquely thoughtful work has been much lauded and featured in the press internationally. 

She has designed four award-winning gardens for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and was awarded the coveted gold medal in 2007; along with silver-gilts in 2002 (for her ‘Healing Garden’ developed in collaboration with The Prince of Wales); in 2006 (for Laurent-Perrier); and in 2013 (for her creation commissioned by Prince Harry’s charity, Sentebale). The great-granddaughter of an Impressionist painter, Jinny had a Liberal Arts education in the UK. She trained and practised as a transpersonal psychologist and psychotherapist, working for many years in mental health. In 1996 she chose to devote herself to her lifelong interest in natural landscapes and gardens. She has been a columnist for The Times, contributed regularly to radio and television worldwide, and in 2002 won BBC Radio Broadcaster of the Year for her Radio 4 Woman’s Hour features. Jinny has been nominated Woman of the Year an unprecedented three times - in 2002, 2007 and 2013 - for her services to society including her role as Artist in Residence at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital.