Gardens With Atmosphere: Creating Gardens with a Sense of Place

One of the world's most successful garden designers--and winner of the prestigious Best Garden Award at the Chelsea Flower Show 2000--describes in detail the influences and inspirations that produce gardens in perfect harmony with house and landscape. For a garden to exude atmosphere, it must look beyond its own boundaries and embrace elements from the surrounding environment. Bring native trees, flowers, grasses, and architectural materials into your little plot of Eden. Or, contrast a rooftop oasis with the city streets below, while still recognizing the energy coming from that different dimension. Equally important, gardens must continue and extend the home's patterns, shapes, colors, even period features. Innovative suggestions for working with various landscapes and water; for taking advantage of what's already there; for establishing links between house and garden; and much more will open your eyes to the endless possibilities for a harmonious design! A Selection of Garden Book Club. 9 1/2 X 11. All in Color

Gardens are so much more than a mere grouping of plants. Those that evoke a sense of spirit and harmony with their surroundings capture our imaginations and touch our souls. Mastering this fusion of place and plants, history and horticulture, is the forte of acclaimed garden designer Maynard, who creates complete worlds within the landscapes he develops, from tranquil woodland glades to sculptured formal vistas. Maynard and Seddon encourage gardeners to acquire a broader perspective and allow their creativity to soar beyond the sheer physicality of a landscape and its horticultural requirements. Interior decor, exterior architecture, personal treasures, even a property's history can all be considered when creating symbiotic surroundings. Maynard's gardens are supremely lovely, ephemeral places that invite the visitor to experience them deeply, using every sense to its fullest, and his book is sublimely inspiring. Carol Haggas
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