Aiming to provide all the information which a gardener needs in planning the growth of a garden from youth to maturity, this book incorporates annoted charts to indicate stages in the height or spread of some of the most popular garden plants over a consistent timescale. Each chart shows four stages of growth, and also shows the plant at all four seasons of the year, thereby conveying in visual form not only growth rates, but such features as flower colour, autumn leaf colour and berrying characteristics. The descriptive text includes practical advice on habitat, planting, care and maintenance, together with recommendations for alternative plants with similar or contrasting growth profiles.