A Gardener’s Year celebrates the joy of cultivating living things, and reflects upon a life working with plants. It’s more than a record of horticultural activities through the seasons. It’s a metaphor for having a dream and making it come true. This dream may, for many, be about growing plants from seed and then seeing them bloom, or harvesting vegetables for the table. For Fennel, who spent half his life working in gardens, it’s about a bigger vision: about cultivating a cottage garden where he can live a self-sufficient life outdoors. The book sees him sow the seeds of his future reality.

Chapters

1. Introduction
2. The Makings of a Gardener
3. Room to Grow
4. Dig It!
5. Chicken Poo
6. One Man's Weed
7. Pricking Out
8. The Cottage Garden
9. A Naked Assault
10. Urban Greenery
11. Dust and Desire
12. The Size of One's Carrot
13. Gardener for Hire
14. The Good Life
15. Garden of Dreams
16. Learning from the Master
17. The Last Cast

Most popular quote from A Gardener's Year

"Roll up your sleeves and imagine your vision of paradise. This, in whatever form it takes, is your garden. Keep hold of the image; know it’s every detail and piece together the elements that need creating or nurturing, so that when you get the chance, you can prepare the ground, sow the seeds, and make it real. Ours is a gardener’s life, whether we realise it or not."

Reader testimonials

"A refreshingly upbeat and eccentric view of gardening and its context in one's life."

"Fennel chooses not to paint the usual cliched and overly-romanticised view of gardening, though his love of all things horticultural is evident. Instead he entertains us with funny and down-to-earth stories of a life spent gardening. A fun read, recommended for those of us who garden for pleasure."

“Fennel’s writing is uniquely funny. I mean, who else can name a chapter ‘Chicken Poo’?  His sense of humour, balanced with some deep yet subtle messages, had me in tears. From his ‘escape’ to a public toilet, to what not to say to a celebrity, this is a Journal to entertain all readers.”

“When I started reading this Journal I had a garden with a lawn and a patio. Now I have a vegetable patch, blisters, an aching back, and the biggest smile of my life. Thank you Fennel!”

“I now understand how one can sow the seeds of dreams as easily as nurturing plants, so long as we point our green fingers (or whatever colour they may be) in a hopeful direction.”

Publication details

• Published by Fennel’s Priory Limited
• Copyright © Fennel Hudson 2013, 2025
• Hardback ISBN 978-1-909947-34-4
  • Dimensions: 216 x 140mm (8.5 x 5.5in)
  • B&W interior with monochrome images
  • 180 pages
• Paperback ISBN 978-1-909947-35-1
• Kindle ISBN 978-1-909947-32-0