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Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 712.60942 EAN: 9780711226388 ISBN: 0711226385 Label: Frances Lincoln Manufacturer: Frances Lincoln Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 240 Publication Date: September 25, 2006 Publisher: Frances Lincoln Sales Rank: 125272 Studio: Frances Lincoln
Product Description: Beautiful color photographs of the very best gardens in England and Wales.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Absolutely terrific book
This is an absolutely terrific book that is both well written and illustrated. Amazon's look inside feature does not do the range of photographs justice.
Rating: - Beautiful and inspiring
I bought this book at a discounted price.
In my view, it offers very good value for money. Not only Andrew Lawson's photograph are very inspiring, but the entire book is meant to intruduce the reader to the idea that an English Garden can be much more varied and original than the conventional "idea" of garden most of us have.
Several types of garden are described, from more traditional to very modern ones, from relatively modest to sumptuous, and also focusing on the use of particular elements like, say, water.
I found most interesting (for English residents) that the book is mainly focused on gardens open to visitors. This makes the beauty and glory of such places truly, because physically, "accessible" to the reader, more accessible in fact than the book could ever achieve.
I do not have many books on gardens, I like them but they are not one of my main interests. Still, this and another book I have bought on the subject are enough to plunge me in the world of gardens everytime I feel like it, with great personal satisfaction. The fact that I did not feel the need to look for additional books is the testimony that I have already found what I was looking for.
Whilst I do not know whether this book would completely satisfy the expert or avid connoisseur, in my eyes it certainly addresses all the needs of the non-specialised reader, providing a pleasant experience both in the text and in the (beautiful) photographs.
Rating: - Expected more
For the price (even at Amazon's discount) I expected the photos to be a better quality, perhaps a little glossy too. The photos are beautiful but they actually look better on line when you view Amazon's peak inside. In the book the pictures look like the copies I get from an in-jet printer of my old family photos. Not as sharp and clear as the original.
If you are looking for inspiration and excellent instructions on how to create an English Garden then I recommend Ursula's other book- "The Ultimate Garden Book For North America."
This one is a great coffee table book. You and your guests will enjoy looking at it once in a while. There are phtotos on almost every page. However, I don't think it will be very useful if you want to update or create a new room in your garden.
At the end of each chapter there is a list of gardens in England that you can visit for the particular theme.
The Chapters are titled as follows:
1. Formal Bones (60 pages)
2. Floral Exuberance (52 pages)
3. The Landscape Tradition (30 pages)
4. The Country Garden (36 pages)
5. Gardening with Nature (26 pages)
6. Influences from Abroad (22 pages)
7. Ornament in the Garden (32 pages)
8. Water, Water Everywhere (30 pages)
9. The English Rose (20 pages)
10. The Kitchen Garden ( 28 pages)
11. The Contemporary Garden (28 pages)
Notes (20 pages)
Rating: - the english garden
gorgeous book - made the perfect gift to my sister-in-law who is an avid gardener and loves english garden design
Rating: - An indispensable book for English garden lovers
Most of gardens of the world can be put into two major categories: formal gardens and naturalistic gardens. The formal gardens are represented by Egyptian gardens, Persian gardens, Islamic gardens, Italian gardens, French gardens, and some American gardens, etc. The naturalistic gardens are represented by some famous English gardens, Chinese gardens, and Japanese gardens, etc.
If you mention English gardens, most people will think of large areas of lawns, trees, garden architecture, lakes and sky. These are the basic elements of a typical English landscape garden.
"The English Garden" covers not only the typical and well-known English landscape gardens, but also formal garden layout ("formal bones"), country gardens, kitchen gardens and contemporary gardens, influences from abroad, as well as garden ornament, plant materials such as English roses, etc.
Ursula Buchan and Andrew Lawson wrote: "All gardens, if they can be described as such, have ultimately to do with the desire of their maker to control their surroundings." They continued to discuss the various periods of English gardens including the Roman period when the early formal gardens dominated and the Landscape Movement period when geometric forms were intentionally rejected. They also discussed knot gardens and parterres, Medieval courtyard gardens, the Arts and Crafts style, the cottage gardens and the New Naturalism.
"The English Garden" is one of the most comprehensive books on English gardens open to visitors. It has 240 pages and over 300 color interior photographs. It is an indispensable book for English garden lovers.
Gang Chen, Author of "LEED AP Exam Guide" & "Planting Design Illustrated." LEED AP, AIA
- Expected more
