The world's oldest gardening manual, which was once owned by Henry VIII and offers horticultural tips dating back more than 700 years, is going on display at the Royal Collection trust at Buckingham Palace next year.

The manual is believed to have influenced the lost garden at Henry VIII's Whitehall palace. It was written in Latin between 1304 and 1309 by Petrus de Crescentiis, a wealthy lawyer from Bologna, Italy, and was the only publication of its kind during Henry's reign, so it entered the king's library after his death in 1543.

In addition to a wealth of gardening advice, the manual includes details on estate management, beekeeping, wine production and how to create a royal garden. Some of its more bizarre entries include growing tastier lettuce with goat manure, growing different colored figs on the same tree, and details of how mandrakes have supposed supernatural powers.

Read more about it in the Guardian.