Margery Fish, the leading gardener in the 1960s, had a love for the informal style of gardening, which is particularly evident in Ground Cover Plants. It shows not only her awareness of the practical problems of an acid soil or an awkward bank, but also her sensitivity to the colour and shape of foliage. The various subjects recommended for different situations - shrubs, conifers, herbaceous plants and annuals and rock garden plants - all have positive special features of their own.

The reappearance of this invaluable guide to the use of ground cover will be welcomed with great pleasure both by those already familiar with Margery Fish's works, and those who come to them for the first time. Graham Rice, the widely published gardening author and the 'London Evening Standard' gardening correspondent, has reviewed the plant names in the original text, providing a plant-name section at the back of the book. This provides a way of identifying current plants from their old Latin names.