The Serious Gardener: Rock Gardens

by Anne Halpin, Robert Bartomonei

A master gardener relates the history of rock gardening in Europe and America; discusses the classic definitions of rock gardens, alpine gardens, and rockeries; and provides practical and aesthetic information on arranging and moving boulders, rocks and earth. 150 full-color photos.

192 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 1997

Reviews

[Diane]

Pretty good reference for creation of a rock garden. Lots of photos. No mention of zones though for the suggested plants though. (Although I always end up yelling at books that do, e.g. "Hardy to zone 8!!!! Who the Hell lives in zone 8??? If I lived in zone 8 I could just through anything out the door and it would grow, Grumble, grumble, grunt.)

[Sarah]

Good reference. I will go back and reread when I am closer to starting my rock garden, it seams to have a good explaination of plants, which I would like to try on my rock outcropping next to my moss garden. As a novice gardener this book is beyond my expertise, so it will take multiple readings to absorb all of the information.

[Sarah]

Good gateway into rock gardening for beginners. It ignores the direct history of rock gardens predating European style rock gardens in Asia and derives most of the ideas from European qualities. However, it does encourage gardeners to seek inspiration from native landscapes to a certain degree.