The Secret Gardeners (Updated Edition)

Step inside the private gardens of actors, musicians, designers and chefs in this updated edition of The Secret Gardeners. With four new gardens and 300 stunning photographs, it’s a rare and revealing look at the green spaces that bring famous names back down to earth.

‘The Secret Gardeners is a WONDERFUL book. Just beautiful. It will live, page open, on my coffee table.’ Prue Leith

The Secret Gardeners features the private gardens of more than 25 well-known figures from across British culture, including actors, artists, writers, designers and aristocrats. Through intimate interviews and over 300 photographs, it offers a rare look at the outdoor spaces where creativity, comfort and personal expression take root.

This updated edition includes four new gardens, including those of Prue Leith, Dominic West and Catherine FitzGerald, Jeremy Clarkson and architect Ptolemy Dean. Returning names include Julian Fellowes, Cath Kidston, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jeremy Irons. Each chapter reveals what gardening means to its owner, how their space reflects their personality, and why these green sanctuaries matter so deeply.

Photographed by Hugo Rittson-Thomas and written with warmth and insight by Victoria Summerley, this is a book that celebrates the joy of gardening, the importance of private space and the stories that grow behind the garden walls.

The Secret Gardeners is the perfect book for anyone who loves gardens and wants to get inside the head of the people who create and care for them.

About the Authors

Victoria Summerley is an award-winning national newspaper journalist who specialises in writing about gardens and gardening. Former executive editor of The Independent, in 2010 she won the prestigious Garden Media Guild Journalist of the Year award, and she writes an award-winning blog.

Hugo Rittson Thomas is one of the UK's leading portrait photographers. He started his career in the art world, studying at Central St.Martin's and Goldsmiths University of London, and took part in the landmark exhibition Temple of Diana alongside Tracey Emin at The Blue Gallery in 1999. Hugo lives and has a studio in London.