Text image with the words 'A Year in a Cottage Garden' in large, bold white letters on a black background.

A Year in a Cottage Garden

Depicting the sheer glory of gardening, alongside its real-life trials and tribulations. Designing a new book charting a year in a Cotswolds cottage garden.

THE CLIENT

This book is a product of our relationship with the Genus Gardenwear team. Joff, the Head Gardener, has been producing blog content for many years for the loyal Genus community exclusively, however it felt like the right time to bring this content print, capturing a new, wider audience. The book is commissioned by Genus Founder and Cottagist, Sue O’Neil and is as much about the relationship between cottage dweller and gardener as it is about the challenges of the garden itself.

The book contains practical, seasonal advice with horti’ anecdotes, plant folklore and insightful observations, and is a love letter to the traditional English cottage garden. From the start of spring through to the stillness of winter, and then again to the very first new year stirrings of life in the garden, readers are taken through sowing, planting, harvesting and planning, as the garden shifts and settles with the season.

Application

Paperback book
Product photography
PR comms

Stand out

Copywriting

Further Links

Website

The cover of a book titled 'A Year in a Cottage Garden' with a large black silhouette of a watering can on a blue background.

THE CHALLENGE

For many projects like this, its often the content creation that presents a challenge. In this instance that was already established, however this was targeted at a specific audience for a specific purpose. Our challenge would be to repurpose and write for a much wider audience, producing more of a Cotswold coffee table book rather than a book for horti enthusiasts.

Beyond the content, the design structure and aesthetics needed to fit the mould of a coffee table book, beautifully crafted with a high level of finish, yet being affordable to capture and inspire this new casual audience. We needed to bring this project to market within a relatively short period of time to meet the spring launch date; on time and on budget. The content needed to feel bitesize and fun. The visual needed to transport us, as the audience, into this world of wholesome splendor.

A man with glasses and gray hair harvesting a large, leafy lettuce in a garden during daylight.
A hand-drawn illustration of a garden landscape with various labeled areas including woodlands, a vegetable garden, greenhouse, pond, compost bins, orchard, shed, hazel nuttery, and cherry tree corner.

Illustration

We commissioned a local, Cotswold-based illustrator, Jenny Bowers, to produce the lead visual of the cottage for use on title pages, as well as producing a map of the cottage garden site. This really set the tone for the book. We wanted to recreate the magic that can be found in likes of Winnie the Pooh style maps. Our desire was to create an interesting juxtaposition between a relatively modern cover and overall design with the slightly more twee, wholesome feel for the fold out feature.

Close-up of a book titled 'A Cottage Garden' with a line drawing of a house on the cover. The authors' names, Joff Elphick and Sue O'Neill, are at the bottom.
Open booklet showing a detailed illustrated map of a cottage garden with labeled areas like orchard, greenhouse, pond, woodland garden, and shed. The right page has the title 'A Year in a Cottage Garden' and the authors' names, Joff Elphick and Sue O'Neil.
An open magazine on a wooden table, displaying a two-page article about September in a cottage garden with a photograph of pears on a branch on the left page and text on the right page.

Copywriting

Copywriting was key to this project. The author had done a fantastic job in getting the content down and appropriate for a horti enthusiast, we now needed to take this and make it suitable for anyone with an interest in cottage gardens and the cotswolds. Our copywriter, Emma Mason, did a fantastic job editing, bringing consistency to the writing and a strong sense of style, without losing the humour and warmth that the author created. Titles, along with the images needed to draw the audience in so you simply can’t put this book down.

WHAT WE DELIVERED

Over a four month period we edited and produced a 144 page paperback book with throw-out cover and special gloss finish cover. This project was very much a team effort.

We collaborated with a UK, short run, self-publishing specialist printer to achieve the desire finish within budget, whilst achieving high production values. The book very much feels like something that can confidently grace the very best coffee tables as well as being displayed amongst National Trust and RHS gift shop shelves, promoting everything that is to love about Cotswold gardens.

Page from a magazine or book with a quote in large font about garden sculpture, attributed to Joff Elphick, along with a large green letter 'M' and paragraph text.
Open book on wooden table with text titled "Removal Business" and a photograph of a tree branch with blue and black paint on it.
Close-up of magazine pages with orange and yellow autumn leaves and white text.
Quotation marks on a yellow background

Andy and his team at L&F Creative are fantastic. Their vast experience made the whole publishing process seamless. Their endless advice and help have made the book a joy to work on with nothing phasing them or being too much trouble. Everything is done with positivity, a can do attitude and a smile, I can't wait to work on my next project with them.

Joff Elphick
Co-Author & Professional Gardener