We all know the garden can be an extension of your home, but how do you do it and do it well?
Manoj Malde has burst into our lives over the last few years and along with him, he has brought colour, vibrancy, texture and a depth to gardening that we all so desperately needed.
For those not in the know, Manoj Malde is a renowned award-winning garden designer, TV presenter and an RHS Judge and Ambassador and over his years in the industry, he has used his background to create spectacular designs of all manner of size and shape. Manoj is able to fuse both his personal background and early childhood in Kenya (along with his Indian ancestry), with his previous career in the fashion world to give him an eye into creating gardens that are not only functional but also have an instant visual wow factor too. For the past 12 years he’s work with private clients on their own gardens and then in 2017 his garden at RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Beneath A Mexican Sky, was awarded the silver-gilt medal.
Since then, Manoj has worked on numerous other gardens for both private and public display, culminating in his design of the Eastern Eye Garden of Unity at Chelsea in 2023. But this was no ordinary garden, this space also hosted Manoj’s wedding to his husband Clive on press day too. Equally vibrant in design, this garden firmly put Manoj on the world stage for garden design, and it really was only a matter of time until he wanted to share his eye with us, in his own book. For Manoj, a garden should really be a space to be proud of, to look at, to enjoy, to touch, to feel and to absorb with every sense and in his new book Your Outdoor Garden – gosh, does he do all of the above and more.
Your Outdoor Room is exactly the perfect title for a book like this, as Manoj takes us on a journey of all that he has learned and how to apply that to our own gardens. The idea of a grand visual spectacle of a garden would usually imply that there is an endless budget and a limitless skill set, but that just isn’t the case in Manoj’s book. He shares effective ways to maximise your space for living, no matter yours skills or bank balance. Simple sections such as Designing Your Social Space focus on how you’re able to use your garden to socialise, whether that’s a full on dining area or just a hidden nook for you and your family. If you really have no idea where to start with your garden, then this is the book for you, you’ll come away with ideas and solutions to take forward.
Expertly written by one of the UK’s best loved garden designers, Your Outdoor Room is there to guide you through every step of the way to create a garden that works the way that you want it to.
Your Outdoor Room is out now from Quarto Books with an RRP of £20.00 and is available in all good bookshops and online.
Do check out Manoj’s Instagram page for more and if you’d like to hear even more from Manoj then watch back our recent Instagram Live session where we discuss the book and much more!
See you again soon for another garden book review.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for my review. No payment was made in return for said review and the words, opinions and views above are those of my own.
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View From The Potting Bench 