Tasmanian Gardens reimagines the very definition of a garden. It goes beyond perfect lawns and beautiful borders to the people, places and stories that inhabit this contrasting island state. From vast coastal headlands and kelp forests to gorgeous flower farms and gnome collections, the gardens of lutruwita/Tasmania are as diverse as they are delightful. Photographer Alice Bennett and author Meg Bignell explore the gardens and landscapes of the island and unearth a whole library of tales told in plants, design, artistry, topography and very hard work. This book is a celebration of lutruwita/Tasmania from coast to mountain and suburb to town, where every garden is a story and every gardener is a storyteller.

Meg Bignell is the author of three novels - The Sparkle Pages (2019), Welcome to Nowhere River (2021) and The Angry Women's Choir (2022), all published by Penguin Random House. She lives on a dairy farm on the east coast of Tasmania with her husband, three children, one dog and 800 cows. She etched her beloved garden out of a hillside paddock. It has a complicated, loosely planned plot in need of a good edit.


Alice Bennett is an award-winning commercial photographer. Her publications include Country Houses of Tasmania and Living in History (Allen & Unwin). She lives in southern Tasmania on a sheep and oyster farm with her husband and two sons, her dog and a dozen lovely chooks. Her inherited seaside garden is a family chronicle and a work in a progress.