Gardening Book of the Month July 2011

Fearless Colour Gardens: The Creative Gardener’s Guide to Jumping Off the Colour Wheel is a work of art in 180 pages. Written by Keeyla Meadows the book uses more coloured ink than I have ever seen before in it’s illustrations.

Sections and Quotes in the Book

• Colour Journey ‘Colour is fun and colour is everywhere’. Do not be afraid of colour.
• Putting together colour palettes – flowers do it why shouldn’t you – mix your colours.
• Building colour gardens – frame your garden in sections like a series of photographs
• Tour of colour gardens – If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, plant a garden

Making Gardens Works of Art: Creating Your Personal Paradise also by Keeyla Meadows gives me opportunity to show another splash of colour in this post.

From Amazon

Bees and Bee Keeping Books

Bee keeping books

A second selection on Bee Keeping Equipment

More Bee photographs and a range from Google

Bee World and other specialist Apiarist book publishers International; Bee Research Association

Gardening Book of the Month June 2011

Late Summer Flowers will soon be upon us. This book by Marina Christopher will be in paperback at a lower price by August but if you can’t wait buy from Amazon.

Reviews in Other Publications

• A timely book where the author’s practical experience and knowledge really shines. (Garden Answers )

• It is a must for any one who wishes that their garden had a more vibrant colour from August throughout to the edge of winter, needs inspiration for plant combinations, or simply wishes to indulge themselves. (Organic Gardening )

• This book is packed with gorgeous pictures. (Independent on Sunday )

• Useful reference…descriptions of her choice of plants…gives practical advice…comprehensive plant dictionary…accurate information…excellent photography.(Gardens Illustrated)

• Seed heads, late perennials and also foliage, are revealed as valuable components. (John Fredericks)

• Great source of ideas and lots of practical tips not only on plant selection but also cultivation and propagation based on strong science and obvious real nurseryman experience. (Alistair Campbell)

Gardening Book of the Month May 2011

In Search of Paradise: Great Gardens of the World by Penelope Hobhouse is a history and evocation to understand gardens. The book is one to savour and return to many times. It is an appropriate choice for a gardening book of the month when so many people are contemplating holidays away from their own gardens.

What is in The Book

• “Gardens Through the Centuries,” is the first section on a journey covering four thousand years from the earliest gardens in what are now the deserts of the Middle East.
• In the middle ages the first Mughal Emperor Babur 1483 – 1530 had a number of gardens including the Garden of Fidelity which was divided into four parts with a central pool.
• The attention to detail  in Chinese and Japanese gardens express a respect for nature, where the placement of each stone had meaning.
• Places for contemplation, stroll and moss gardens were found in Japan.
• Then moving on to the lavish gardens of Italy and symmetry of gardens in Germany, Netherlands and Russia. The formal gardens of France complete this section
• Penelope  Hobhouse then discusses the contribution to garden design made by Roberto Burle Marx, Fernando Caruncho, Dan Kiley, John Brookes, James van Sweden.and Beth Chatto.
• The 200 plus photographs and even more pages creates a tour de force

Sources
Amazon purchase price £17.50
Gail Cooke and Gang Chen reviews.
Other books by Penelope Hobhouse including Gardens of Persia

Gardening Book of the Month April 2011

Joe’s Urban Garden Handbook by Joe Swift

In a book that may appeal to ‘ladies who garden’ Joe Swift shows how to create an area that meets your practical and style requirements whilst making the best use of every inch of available space.

In a related book Joe’s Allotment: ‘Planning and planting a productive plot’ is a more earthy approach rather than a functional design book.

Joe packs in loads of ideas for postage stamp sized gardens into the Urban Garden Handbook including;

• multi-tiered,
• decking,
• paving and dining-friendly chill out zones
• as well as a  helpful guide on what to grow where.

Joe Swift Brief Biography 1965

• Joe is an English garden designer and author
• Joe Swift is the son of author Margaret Drabble
• Over 12 years, Joe has designed many gardens on TV, including several for Gardeners World
• Joe writes for Gardeners World magazine, has a regular column in The Times and various magazine and newspaper articles.
• He has written 3 books- ‘The Plant Room’, and ‘Joes Urban Garden Handbook’, and ‘Joe’s Allotment’ published in April 2009.
• Joe is involved in many charities and is currently President of the National Gardens Scheme.
• Joe regularly gives talks on garden design, has hosted many live events and also gives after dinner speeches. link

Amazon link to Joe Swift

Garden Design Tips

“The Essential Garden Design Workbook” provides the reader with tips for every stage of planning a garden.

• How to survey a site,
• How to choose landscaping materials,
• How to develop planting schemes.
• Valuable tips on green and environmental gardening
• How to harvest rainwater,
• How to design a green roof,
• Tips on sustainable planting,
• A guide to composting.
• Tips on space, light, and color.
• Easy ways to measure large spaces, estimate the height of a tree, and find the right proportions for a decking and hard landscape.

Currently available from Amazon for £14.75

Gardening Book of the Month April 2011

Other Design Resources

Interesting Design Tips

Design Tips for a Physic Garden

Formal Garden Design

Old Garden Tool Collecting and Books

‘Antique Garden Tools and Accessories’ from Myra Yellin Outwater

This is selected as our Gardening Book of the Month March 2011

Old Garden Tools is a virtual museum and prop hire business that showcases a large and extensive collection of vintage and antique garden tools and gardening ephemera. Have a look at the interesting web site.

The book ‘Old Garden Tools’ from Kay N. Sanecki
A cheap paperback describing how ‘some of the oldest implements in the world are those that have been used by land cultivation. Many garden tools are universal in use, like the rake, scythe, slasher, spade and saw, and much estate management of the past, before mechanization, was dependent upon them’.

Often older tools are made better and will last longer than the newer tools available today. Collecting them preserves a heritage and they can make fine statement pieces in a garden shed or display.

Gardening Book of the Month March 2011

Gardening Secrets: From National Trust Experts

This book contains many secrets we wish gardeners tips had published. We have one suburban garden to draw on but the National Trust has slightly more.

Book Contents

• There is advice on pruning, planting and propagation for anyone who wants to maintain and get the best from their garden.
• Aim for spectacular results all year round by planting for winter interest or designing your summer flowerbeds.
• If you want to be greener in your own garden, there is advice on everything from compost making and chemical-free weed control to building hedges for habitats and companion planting.
• ‘Whether you have a large lawn to maintain, a conservatory, a garden by the sea, an allotment for fruit and vegetables or a small urban plot for planting containers, this little book contains sound, accessible advice from the experts.’
• Amazon copy

Gardens that Contributed

• The gardens of houses such as Red House in Kent and Tyntesfield in Somerset.
• The a knot garden from a 1640 design at Moseley Old Hall in Staffordshire;
• ‘Capability’ Brown’s landscape garden at Petworth in Sussex
• Victorian Gardens like Biddulph Grange in Staffordshire, with its wealth of new plants introduced from all over the world
• The famous plantsmen’s gardens of the last century, such as Nymans in Sussex, Sissinghurst Castle in Kent, and Hidcote in Gloucestershire.
• Recent acquisitions including Greenway in Devon

Amazon selection of books and DVDs about National Trust Gardens and Properties.

Fruity Book the Pomona

The Oak Spring Garden Library: Pomona v.2: Pomona Vol 2 from Sandra Raphael describes selections of rare books and other material in the Oak Spring Garden Library, a collection formed by Mrs Paul Mellon.

This “Pomona” describes 100 books and manuscripts about fruit, with illustrations taken from some of the most beautiful books on the subject as well as from original drawings and paintings.

• The earliest book described is Bussato’s “Guardian di Agricoltura” of 1592, the latest “The Hereforshire Pomona” an encyclopedia of apples and pears from the 1870s.
• In between there are fruit books large and small – La Quintinie’s “Instruction pour les Jardins fruitiers”, Duhamel’s “Traite des Arbres fruitiers”, and many others.
• The book is divided into sections on fruit growing in France and Britain, fruit elsewhere in Europe, and fruit in America, as well as citrus fruit, apples and pears, peaches and soft fruit, grapes, melons, and tropical fruit. Each description gives the background of the book and its relationship to others and is accompanied by illustrations of its contents in color and black and white.
• The “Pomona” includes not only brief bibliographical summaries of each book but also background essays that place the books in an historical setting.

Who Was Pomona

• Pomona was a  Roman goddess, unusual in that she was never identified with any Greek counterpart. She was particularly associated with the blossoming of trees rather than with the harvest.
• Pomona protected and inspired the abundance of the fruitful gardens and orchards.
• In 19th-century statues and building decorations, Pomona is usually shown carrying either a large platter of fruit or a cornucopia.
• The Latin word, pomum, means “fruit” and probably gives its name to apples  or Pommes
• Pomona Fruits is a UK business selling all things fruity, a veritable garden fruit specialists.

The Oak Spring Garden Library: Pomona is our  Gardening Book of the Month February 2011

Best New Allotment Books

Read and weed but not at the same time!
Inspiration from a good book may save a lot of perspiration!

Top Five
Do it right from the Royal Horticultural society
Do it every month
Do not forget to eat or cook
Record what you have grown for the last 3 years
See One Man’s tips for green-fingered urbanites.

The RHS Allotment Handbook: The Expert Guide for Every Fruit and Veg Grower from RHS

Allotment Month by Month from Alan Buckingham

The Allotment Book: Seasonal Planner and Cookbook from Andi Clevely

The Three-Year Allotment Notebook from Joanna Cruddas

One Man and His Dig: Adventures of an Allotment Novice from Valentine Low