Design In The Plant Collector's Garden: From Chaos To Beauty

by Roger Turner

All gardeners love plants but if you love them too much the chances are you will end up with a plant collection rather than a garden. Help is at hand from confirmed plantaholic and architect Roger Turner, who describes how to indulge a passion for collecting plants without forfeiting the joys of a coherent, well-designed garden. Happily, the book prescribes little need to curb the excesses of plant addiction but simply recommends ways of focusing it to the advantage of all who share or visit your garden. Good collections need to be displayed well so that you can see them properly. The first part of the book looks at the structure of the garden as a whole, the balance of 'empty space' to 'planted space', the use of framing devices, and the value of paths in providing routes around the garden. At the heart of the book is a large section on plants that proposes ideas and solutions for making gardens with different types of plant collections. Here you will find schemes for displaying collections of trees from small groups to full-scale arboreta; recommendations for single-genus collections that look well planted together in one bed; and the ideal 'space-holder' plants that cover bare earth before prize bulbs emerge. Over 200 eye-catching and informative photographs highlight successful planting methods and illustrate the rewards to be gained from finding the perfect setting for a treasured plant. Plant enthusiasts, collectors and gardeners everywhere will unite in their enthusiasm for this practical book that provides the key to making beautiful gardens while keeping the spotlight on the plants.

Genres: Gardening

224 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2005

Reviews

[uosɯɐS · Rating 3 out of 5]

English gardeners always have a wealth of knowledge and a mature perspective on the subject. So, thumbs up! However, sometimes their ideas on gardening are so mired in tradition as to be stuck-up. So, thumbs down! Their access to dozens of very old (centuries old?) gardens is an amazing resource. They know what works, and the national heritage for the activity is probably unrivaled anywhere else. Lots of great photos because of this. So, thumbs up! However, gardening in Colorado is a world away from that, and probably at least half the plants mentioned in this book would not be cold-hardy in my area, and the remaining ones probably need too much water. Also, my knowledge of Latin names is still fairly limited, and without the provision of any common names, or at least identifying pictures for every species mentioned, half the time I don't even know what plant is being talked about. So, thumbs down! All-in-all, I actually did enjoy reading this book. Not sure how much of this knowledge is going to be useful in my own garden, however.

[Steven McKay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally enjoyed this book when it adhered to its title: plant collections. When the author started straying further afield, though, the content became less relevant, not because I am an avid plant collecter, but because I don't live in the UK. The author relies very heavily on specific plants to illustrate design concepts. Unfortunately, very few of these examples will survive where I live. I wouldn't have minded had I expected this book to have been written specifically for British gardeners, but I didn't expect this. I'll be passing this book along to a friend who lives in a milder climate.