Gardens, in my view, often involve too much gardening. This is partly to do with the nature of human beings, who will make a competition out of anything if they possibly can.

Edward Enfield has only ever had one garden, but his dealings with it have extended over half a century. He came to his three quarters of an acre knowing nothing about growing anything, and this book is an account of his horticultural successes and failures, inventions and frustrations, discoveries and developments.

With wry humour, he leads us through the thorny subject of roses, counts the blessings of keeping chickens and exposes the perfidy of gardening copywriters, while offering wise and witty tips on how best to enjoy the fruits of your labour.