Product Description

This text maps out how the garden is perceived, designed, used, and valued. Essays are organized around six metaphors - the garden muses of Faith, Power, Ordering, Cultural Expression, Personal Expression, and Healing. Each muse suggests specific inspirations for landscape design.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #705363 in Books
• Published on: 1992-04-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 293 pages

Review
"Each of the thirty contributions has thoughtful and provocative things to say about gardens and gardening, as well as about society and nature and our place within them. Taken as a whole, they stretch the mind, push back the boundaries that delimit our perception of the garden, and challenge us to create landscapes that are right for today." --Pacific Horticulture

Customer Reviews

Three-and-a-half stars, actually...
Somewhat of an editorial mishmash, although quite a brave one! Professor Treib is here again with his familiar layout, while the two Chairs of Landscape Architecture at Davis and Berkeley, respectively, conduct this experimental publication.

The list of commentators is impressive, with contributions from diverse writers such as Walker, Eckbo, Harkness and Riley.

A decade in print, this volume provides an insight into what makes gardens meaningful in the human experience throughout our globe, cultures and beliefs. The Meaning of Gardens is a beautiful concept, even though establishing the mean, was no mean task... Nonetheless, it succeeds only for the richness of essays, which each in its own merit is a good source for further investigation and inspiration.

A rich and inspiring look at gardens!
I found this an excellent and far-reaching book, beautifully organized into six "metaphors"--faith, power, ordering, cultural expression, personal expression and healing. This is a book for someone interested in exploring the deeper meaning and symbolism of gardens throughout history and in a variety of cultures, as well as the contemporary art of the garden and the exciting trend in community gardening. I found the section on healing particularly moving.

generally good but a bit esoteric and queer at times
This book was very theoretical, not very practical. It had a lot of examples, some of which were very interesting. But some of the examples were quite strange and weird which makes the book sometimes a bit nonsensical. I would recommend it if you are looking for examples of overly-spiritual gardens not for normal everyday gardening.