Product Description

Richard Taylor, author of the best-selling "How to Read a Church", joins forces with garden historian Andrew Eburne to produce the ultimate guide to historic and modern gardens. Gardens are amongst the fastest-growing visitor attractions today - in the UK alone 15 million people will visit a garden this year. "How to Read an English Garden" is the essential book for every garden lover. It provides an account of the different elements of gardens of all ages and explains their meaning and their history. Here, you'll find the answer to such questions as: when were tulips introduced into our gardens, and what was 'tulip-mania'? What is a knot-garden, and what was the origin of its design? Who was 'Capability' Brown, and how did he get his name? And why are mazes such a common feature in English garden design? In addition, the book explains how lawns, flowerbeds, trees and ponds came to be a feature, not just of grand houses but of gardens everywhere. Among the many subjects covered are: garden design, plant introductions and collectors, kitchen gardens, water gardens, and garden styles from around the world - English, American, Chinese and Moorish to name just a few. Clearly laid out and beautifully illustrated, "How to Read an English Garden" brings historic and modern gardens to life: a book to accompany garden visitors everywhere, or to be enjoyed and dipped into at home.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #121136 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From the Publisher
The third in the acclaimed How to Read... series, this is a beautifully illustrated guide to everything you see in a garden, what it means and how it came to be there.

About the Author
Richard Taylor is the author of How to Read a Church. Dr Andrew Eburne is editor of the Garden History Journal and a consultant for historic gardens including Blickling Hall in Norfolk and Marble Hill in London. Richard and Andrew met while studying English at Oxford and have been close friends for almost twenty years.

Customer Reviews

I don't think so
".....a critical eye, in the best and most positive sense of an informed and discerning appreciation, can only be of benefit to the garden experience."

I had hoped this would be the book that would begin the move towards fostering such a critical eye in the garden visiting public. But the paragraph that this comes from in `How to Read an English Garden' is an after thought. This book is an `I-spy in the Garden' for grown ups, but sadly with no prizes or badges for ticking lots of boxes. It's yet another take on garden history and if anyone has not yet got their tulipomania and Ferme Ornées under their belts, here is a handy reference book. Entertain your kids on a long plod over acres of grass with the difference between a `meadow' and a `mead'.

Perhaps the strangest thing is the title. Of the 3,500 gardens in the 2007 NGS Yellow Book I would guess that probably only about 25% are `historic'. The vast majority have been made in the last forty years, and understanding the difference between an `approach,' `a riding' and a `drive' is unlikely to illuminate your visit to 54, Beech Close.

The flyleaf of the book somewhat dishonestly acknowledges the popularity of garden visiting ('15 million people will visit a garden') and suggests this book is `the essential handbook for every garden lover'. However, it really won't tell you why you are looking despondently at yet another island bed or collection of `unusual' plants.

I also hate petty nationalism and strident complaints of neglect, but Welsh gardens of all eras seem remarkably similar to English ones and informed by similar traditions. However, the Scottish do have some interesting and neglected traditions of their own and I imagine the geographical restriction is designed to avoid confronting those rather than to exclude the Welsh. (but do risk crossing the bridge some day, anyway.)

Understanding Gardens and Landscape
A fascinating and informative guide with beautiful photographs. Ideal for those who love historic gardens and want to understand more about what they are seeing. Possibly not one for experts (see other review) but definitely very enjoyable for someone who is new to this rich and enjoyable field. Wholeheartedly recommended.