During the period 1500-1750 a general shift in gardening practice took place, from which emerged three distinct types of gardens: (traditional) subsistence or kitchen gardens, aesthetic gardens, and gendered aesthetic gardens. The gardening and husbandry manuals published during the period, typified by the texts selected for this volume, reveal how and what one planted was related to one's role in society. These texts attest to the changing nature of gardening - from a largely subsistence endeavour to an artful practice that became defined in gendered terms. The texts reproduced have been divided into two parts: gardening books for the 'country' housewife and gardening books for 'ladies'.