Living Fences: A Gardener's Guide to Hedges, Vines & Espaliers - Softcover

Tanner, Ogden

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1626543747 ISBN 13: 9781626543744

Publisher: Echo Point Books & Media, 2015

Synopsis

It's reasonable to want to make one's home a serene oasis, a safe haven from hustle and bustle of a busy life. Why, then, is it so hard to make such a space a reality? Between street noise, boisterous neighbors, stray animals, wandering pets, headlights, and streetlamps, it is nearly impossible to feel secluded at home these days. High stockade fences and masonry walls can feel austere and uninviting; no one wants to be resented by their neighbors. And zoning laws and building codes mean you might have to inch your way through a maze of red tape before you even break ground.

Living fences are the solution. In addition to blocking unsightly views and providing some well-deserved privacy, versatile and graceful screens of living plants are a natural and aesthetically pleasing alternative to man-made fences. In this illustrated guide, celebrated garden and landscape designer Ogden Tanner provides all the information you need to select, plant, and maintain an array hedges, vines, shrubs, and espaliers to create a verdant and relaxing atmosphere around your house. With detailed information on over 100 species of plants, Living Fences is a one-stop manual for beautiful and functional garden design.

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

Those looking for solitude?or simply privacy?in their gardens as well as beauty will find a host of choices in this comprehensive, accessible, sophisticated and fluidly written overview of the title's trio of naturally growing alternatives to fences. In the main chapters, Tanner (Gardening America) provides information on the three varieties of horticultural fences, following each with a generous listing of species suitable for specific tasks, e.g.,"windbreaks," "espaliers for foliage and form," "fast-growing vines." Thumbnail plant "bios" include such considerations as hardiness zones, available cultivars, planting procedures and care. Illustrated with lush photographs, the volume concludes with a list of resource nurseries and a bibliography. Gently reminding new yard- and garden-makers that hedges need be neither tall nor evergreen, Tanner offers much to experienced gardeners too: the section on espaliers?one of gardening's more challenging specialties?is itself worth the price of the book.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Tanner points out that living fences can do more than just screen views or act as property boundaries. Hedges, vines, and espaliers can also act as partitions to enclose or divide gardens and sitting areas. A smaller living fence can hide an outdoor work space from the rest of the garden so that tools are stored out of sight. His book explores a variety of living fences as alternatives to expensive stockade fences, giving detailed explanations on selecting, planting, and propagating plants and shrubs. There is advice on selecting, pruning, and training species, detailing their advantages and disadvantages, ranges, and growing needs. Color photographs throughout. George Cohen

Edition details

• Publisher: Echo Point Books & Media
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1626543747
• ISBN 13: 9781626543744
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 130