Home Ground: Sanctuary in the City

Ten years ago Dan Pearson found an extremely rare, large, neglected city plot and set out to design and create a garden space all of his own.

Arranged by seasons, Dan shares the challenges of gardening his city plot in a romantic and beautifully written series of diary-like essays, documenting the horticultural tasks required and sharing his successes and failures on the way.

Written and photographed in ‘real time’ this book documents an urban garden and gardener at work, bringing the experience of gardening to life and offering a unique insight into the work and thoughts of the one of the world’s most respected garden designers.

“I want to be transported somewhere entirely restful once I step out of the back door. The first thing you do when you open the door is breathe out and exhale. The next breath in tastes better for the surroundings.
I believe the air is sweeter here for the greenery and that the mood in the garden works to put you in a better frame of mind. The breeze in the bamboos baffle the city hubbub, the shadow patterns play with the light and you can smell the damp and the rot in the autumn. It is a place that has its own life and its very own rhythms. I spend more time living outside because the garden draws me out there. It is the first place I go after getting out of bed in the morning and the last at the end of the day.”