Cottage Gardens (Cassell's Garden Directories) - Hardcover

Squire, David

9780304358069: Cottage Gardens (Cassell's Garden Directories)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0304358061 ISBN 13: 9780304358069

Publisher: Cassell Illustrated, 2000

The essence of the cottage garden is informality, a comfortable retreat from the cares of modern life: this old-fashioned warmth accounts for its increasing popularity. Bring cozy charm to your own outdoor space with this manual of planting schemes, flowers, flowering shrubs, and trees. Recreate the authentic feel of the cottage garden with fencing, fountains, and paving, and see which plants traditionally bloomed in these gardens...and which ones have become modern alternatives. The integration of fruit, as well as vegetables and herbs, has always set cottage gardens apart from others. Find out how to plant and care for the trees, as well as how to pick and store their bounty. The directory features such beauties as the lacy Shasta daisy, hardy purple sea lavender, bright vermilion Oriental poppies, and the sweet-scented flag iris.

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Review:

A rather unappealing title for a book containing a mine of information on what should be regarded by every gardener as the backbone of any garden. As implied by the title, "Broad-Leaved Evergreens", conifers are excluded and the work focuses on trees, shrubs and climbers which in all but the most severe winter will remain green all year round and are which hardy in the United Kingdom. A garden with no evergreens lacks form and substance, most especially during the bare winter months and many are even generous enough to provide flowers in that period. Their uses are endless: hedging, shrubberies, backdrops and screening or as free-standing specimens. From the towering eucalyptus to the diminutive box these valuable plants come in all shapes and sizes, plain-leaved or variegated, with or without showy flowers. The pH spectrum is well-covered too so no matter what the soil type, there are broad-leaved evergreens to suit every garden situation. They are global in their diversity: bamboos from China and the footsteps of the Himalayas, cistus and rosemary from the Mediterranean, magnolias from Asia and mutisias from South America. From mainly foliar interest such as rhamnus and pittosporums to floriferous evergreens such as camellias and rhododendrons; from the erect quercus to the scrambling clematis, the choice is vast. Stephen G. Haw, a garden writer of several decades and specialist in Chinese flora in particular, gives an attractive overview of this group of plants giving knowledgeable cultivation advice together with a detailed look at the various species and varieties of each genus. Accompanied by his photographs the book is an invaluable reference for all gardeners.

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