New Country Garden - Softcover

ELSPETH THOMPSON - MELANIE ECLARE; Melanie Eclare

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841728780 ISBN 13: 9781841728780

Publisher: RYLAND PETER &, SMALL, 2005

Synopsis

ELSPETH THOMPSON, MELANIE ECLAREThis book perfectly captures the spirit of twenty-first century gardening: modern outdoor spaces where beauty, comfort and romance are key, informed by gardening tradition. Front Cover

About this title

About the Author:

Elspeth Thompson writes about gardening for the Sunday Telegraph Magazine and two collections of her columns have been published as The Urban Gardener and A Tale of Two Gardens. Melanie Eclare is one of today's most popular garden photographers. Her books include Glorious Gardens of Ireland, New Decorated Garden and, with Tom Petherick, Heligan, A Portrait of the Lost Gardens.

Review:

While town and city gardens are undergoing major transformations into decked , stainless steel and concrete living spaces, a quieter revolution is taking place in rural retreats. Cottage gardens are evolving in tune with today's green ideologies and where once a metal arch or obelisk would be used they are now made of hazel or willow. Pergolas and seating too are increasingly being made from natural materials and the understanding of organic gardening necessitates the addition of wildlife-friendly boundaries and water features. These ideas tumble over into a more relaxed form of planting. No longer is there a major autumn clear-up and cut-back, but flower heads and leaves are being left for wildlife whilst at the same time enhancing the winter landscape by their skeletal forms. Planting too is changing from the pastel hues of the past to the more vibrant colours of modern plants of today such as cannas and dahlias. Formal knot gardens are becoming less formal with a loose inner planting of ornamental grasses or blowsy meadow flowers. Hedgerows are left slightly overgrown to provide homes and food for wild creatures who in turn help with the control of pests in the garden. Lawns are turning into wildlife havens, increasingly becoming wild areas of natural flora and prairie-like grasses. Elspeth Thompson, most famous for her "Sunday Telegraph" magazine features brings these new country gardens to life with her engaging style of writing whilst the luscious photographs of Melanie Eclare illustrate the variety and beauty of these bucolic havens. As the subtitle of this book so succinctly puts it, this is "A Plant Lover's Paradise".

About this edition

• Publisher: RYLAND PETER &, SMALL
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1841728780
• ISBN 13: 9781841728780
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 143