A garden that cannot be seen in one glance entices people to step outside with a sense of wonder. Landscape designer Paul Bangay has an extraordinary ability to envisage scale and create gardens that feel as though they’ve been there forever. These gardens are places to explore.

They emerge from the countryside, with borrowed landscapes and dramatic views as key elements. Within each design, Paul creates spaces that bring a different experience of the garden. Vast lawns are bordered by wild grass terraces or dramatic herbaceous borders that flower all year round. An allée of trees directs the eye to mountains in the distance. Outdoor dining areas create intimate vantage points within the broader scale. Jasmine-covered walls diffuse exquisite scent on summer nights.

From grand gardens in France to a forest grown from saplings, join Paul on this tour de force of projects complete with lakes, mountains and walled gardens. For each project, Paul shares the design process, as well as garden plans and extensive planting lists.

Simon Griffiths’ photography of these gardens from around the world captures the sublime form, light and generous landscapes.

Big Garden Design documents a designer who relishes the challenge of working at scale and the principles of landscape design from the most precise detail to the grandest vista.

This lavishly illustrated memoir reveals the creative process of one of Australia’s best-known garden designers.

Paul Bangay is Australia’s most sought-after garden designer, with close to forty years’ experience. Known for his mastery of scale, balance, form and colour, Paul draws on his lifelong study of the natural and classical worlds to create gardens around the globe.

This illustrated memoir explores the evolution of one of Australia’s finest design minds. A visual delight, it ranges from photos of childhood gardens and goats to hand-drawn plans for Paul’s earliest designs. Through never-before-seen materials, the story behind Paul’s vision is revealed – and we see the creative workings that come to fruition in meticulous and timeless gardens.

Paul Bangay’s celebrated Victorian property, Stonefields, has now been under his expert care for 15 years. Today, the garden is mature and more beautiful than ever – from the vibrant autumn colours in the woodland and evocative dormancy of winter to the jubilant flowering of the crab apple in springtime and perpetual rich harvest of produce. In Stonefields by the Seasons, Paul takes the reader through the garden at different times of year to highlight the design principles he has applied to various parts of it, and the wide-ranging inspirations for his choices. Along the way, he gives practical advice on seasonal planting and outlines essential quarterly tasks.