Cuttings: A Year in the Garden with Christopher Lloyd

by Christopher Lloyd, Jonathan Buckley (Photographer), Stephen Anderton (Introduction)

In the tradition of Gertude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West, Christopher Lloyd established an English country garden at Great Dixter in East Sussex, where he not only demonstrated his bold ideas but also wrote the books and journalism that profoundly influenced generations of garden-lovers. He constantly reshaped and replanted his garden at Great Dixter, because, as he "We don't want to be wishy-washy on the fence." He loved color, praising "extra oomph" and "the immense value of red" - and he hated fashion ("that awful phrase, good taste"). This selection from his columns in the Guardian reflects his passions and challenges, his eagerness to experiment, his appetites, and his prodigious knowledge as a plantsman. His journalism is as vigorous as his gardening style -advising, entertaining, and cajoling his readers as he guides them through the gardening year. Arranged to cover the seasons from January to December, this magical book will delight all who love good gardening and good writing.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Horticulture

400 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2007

About the author

Christopher Hamilton Lloyd, OBE, was a British gardener and author. He was the 20th Century chronicler for the heavily planted, labour-intensive, country garden.[

Reviews

[Ruth Brumby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The essays are good and a collection of them is interesting, but because they were originally written to stand alone there is a good deal of repetition. Nevertheless I learned a good deal from his practical gardening information and enjoyed his style. He gives his own strong opinion in a way that allows others to have theirs.
In gardening terms his focus on succession is useful but the flower colour tends to be unsupported by the foliage that I would like to see and there is a sense of too much excitement and impermanence.
It might be even cleverer and even more difficult to have good colour, texture and combination through the seasons without changing the planting quite so much.
he stress on the importance of combinations is in my view right, but each plant also needs to be celebrated for its individuality.