The Plant Room: A Contemporary Guide to Urban Gardening - Hardcover

Swift, Joe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563551895 ISBN 13: 9780563551898

Publisher: BBC Books, 2001

Synopsis

The contemporary guide to urban gardens. In this mould-breaking book, Joe Swift addresses the new generation of the stylish city, for whom the garden is just another room in the house - somewhere to relax, entertain, cook, eat, work and play. Like the other rooms, the 'plant room' needs to be decorated and, for people leading busy lives, the garden provides a new and satisfying way to express themselves creatively, as they blend textures, colours, sounds and scents to make a highly individual outdoor space. In the past, the garden was primarily a place to grow plants. But now, plants are only one of the main elements which go towards creating a successful garden. It takes careful planning to foster plants which will look good in the urban setting. Joe Swift shows readers how to achieve this and how to choose from the wide range of garden furniture and accessories available to complete the look.

About this title

Review

The Plant Room is the book that the aspiring urban gardener has been waiting for. Why is it that the small-to-middling-sized outdoor space associated with your urban dwelling remains so neglected? Too useful as a repository for junk? Too awkwardly shaped to warrant doing anything with it? And maybe it's in shade nearly all day anyway. There are all too many reasons for not getting round to making the effort. The Plant Room provides powerful incentives for making the most of whatever town-garden space one is lucky enough to have, transforming it not so much into a place to grow plants but an extension to the indoor functions--"somewhere to relax, entertain, cook, eat, play and work". Developing and running such an innovative space requires careful planning and cunning use of resources, towards which Joe Swift offers a mass of pertinent, practical advice. He divides his book by urban garden type (it might be a conservatory, water, roof or minimalist garden), discussing in detail for each the considerations of planning, design, landscaping, maintenance and so forth. Plants are by no means neglected but are in this context one of the elements that can contribute to a design that is at once coherent, striking and functional. Modern materials such as concrete, steel and glass can combine with brick, wood and water to extraordinary effect. One could soon be looking at that dark side-alley in quite a new light. Proof of what can be done is in the arresting photographs which illustrate remarkable gardens in London (where Swift works), New York and Sydney. They include a number of Manhattan roof gardens, as if to show just what you can dream of and make possible. --Robin Davidson

From the Author

Joe Swift's comments on The Plant Room
I have no doubt that an outdoor space in the city, however small, is a real bonus. The garden is no longer just a place to grow a few plants, mow the lawn every weekend and often be disappointed with the results. How can you fully relax in a garden when there’s loads of work to be done? As well as a place just to escape from the city stresses the garden is increasingly being seen as a place to relax, entertain, cook, let the kids play and even work. To use this space fully the garden needs to be designed with a multifunctional approach and it needs to incorporate modern materials so that it sits comfortably in an urban setting. Thematic gardens such as Japanese or Mediterranean quickly tire and I believe a more modern classic approach is called for. In The Plant Room I deal with plenty of practical issues as well as hopefully inspiring and giving you ideas for your own space. I show how to get a garden that both looks stylish and contemporary, but also a garden that is realistically achievable, flexible and genuinely low maintenance. I hope you like it and would be really interested in any feedback.

Joe Swift

Edition details

• Publisher: BBC Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0563551895
• ISBN 13: 9780563551898
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 168