Gardening is the most popular outdoor leisure activity in the United Kingdom. Millions of people read gardening books, yet few know much about the history of gardening literature. The author has collected an account of English gardening books over a period of four centuries. Authors of gardening books have come from all walks of life and all shades of political opinion. The books have been written for labourers and nobility, children and adults, women and men, yet their authors do not appear in the various dictionaries of English Literature. The first volume of this work deals with the readership of gardening literature over the centuries, recounting the wide variety of forms in which the books are written. The recurring theme of pleasure is celebrated and the roots of gardening in religion and the special relationship between gardening and childhood are analyzed. Pictures from selected gardening books illustrate the text.