Successful Small Gardens: New Designs for Time-conscious Gardners - Softcover

Roy Strong

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1840910623 ISBN 13: 9781840910629

Publisher: Octopus India, 1999

Synopsis

This work is aimed at those who want a garden that will respond to the time that they can devote to its upkeep. Limited time does not mean limited style: with good planning, some of the most effective small gardens can be maintained with surprisingly little input. The author looks at 20 successful new gardens. Graded into those which require low, medium or relatively high maintenance, they range from an elegant parterre to a serenely reflective water garden. Each is presented with photographs and an annotated planting and ground plan. By discovering the reasoning behind the design and by explaining how they can be emulated and adapted, the author shows how each can be mined for accessible ideas.

About this title

Review

Judging from the title, Successful Small Gardens was written for every gardener I've ever known--we are all short of time, and never have enough room for all the plants we want to grow.

In case you turn to this book expecting advice on small urban gardens, take note that Strong is a British author, and the Brits have a different take than we do here in the States on what constitutes a small garden. Anything less than an acre is considered quite small; consequently many of the gardens photographed here seem generous if not downright spacious. Still, good ideas and examples of strong design abound, along with Strong's practical advice about garden-making and maintenance. The photographs are plentiful and beautiful, focusing on overall garden shots rather than plant portraits. Schematic drawings and plant lists provide the details.

"Some of the most stylish of all gardens are in fact labour-saving," begins Strong in his chapter entitled "Gardens for the Hard-Pressed," designed to require only an hour or two of work each week. Pergolas and paving, naturalized bulbs, simple parterres, and the use of evergreens are a few of the techniques suggested to cut down on maintenance.

For those of us for whom gardening is such a way of life that we try our best never to add up the number of hours involved, Strong has included more complex gardens with a wide variety of plants. At every level of maintenance, from an hour a week to more than a full day a week, each garden discussed is a fine example of expert plantsmanship and design. --Val Easton

About this edition

• Publisher: Octopus India
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1840910623
• ISBN 13: 9781840910629
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 160