The London office of Timber Press is located in Queens Park, a short tube ride on the Bakerloo line from Oxford Circus. This is both a leafy residential area and vibrant media stronghold. Our office is sandwiched between a rambling Victorian churchyard, home to some outstanding old trees, and Queens Park, the best small park in London.
Timber Press was founded in the USA over 30 years ago and its head office is now in Portland, Oregon. The very first book Timber Press published in 1978 is still in print. J. D. Vertrees's Japanese Maples, now fully revised and updated by British maple expert Peter Gregory, was by no means a sure bet at the time. It eventually created its own market by sparking interest in these once esoteric plants. Timber Press founder Richard Abel followed this successful lead with a line of quality books for sophisticated gardeners, horticulturists, botanists, naturalists, and landscape professionals.
Today Timber Press has three hundred titles in print and is considered a pre-eminent publisher of horticulture books. Books on trees, shrubs, perennials, and orchids have long been the mainstay of Timber's list, with forays into classic garden literature, plant exploration, and ethnobotany. As Timber Press continues to grow, it has applied its formula for information-rich books to new subject areas such as field guides, edible plants, sustainable living, and the natural sciences. Whatever the subject or audience, Timber always seeks out the best qualified experts to write its books.
Timber is a truly global publisher, with authors in Europe, the USA, New Zealand, Israel, Japan, and Australia, to name a few. Many authors are also plant explorers who travel throughout the world's wild places, and as a result the Timber catalogue reflects the planet's rich plant life.
In 2006, Timber was purchased by Workman Publishing, whose various imprints include Artisan, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, and Storey Publishing. Timber continues to maintain its editorial independence in London and Oregon, but works closely with its colleagues at Storey and Workman to reach the widest possible audience for their complementary gardening lists.
To learn more about Timber Press books and authors, we invite you to request a free catalogue, or browse a bit deeper into our web site. Please e-mail us with comments and suggestions. We would be pleased to hear from you.