Product Description

Architectural plants are plants that make a bold statement in the garden, such as ferns, palms, bamboos and cacti. Usually exotic, they are grown for their strong shape and year-round presence. Gardening with architectural plants is one of the fastest growing areas of horticulture in Britain. The bulk of this guide comprises a comprehensive directory of the most common architectural plants available for growing. Each entry includes: background information on general characteristics, planting and care; a table of plant care with easily accessed advice on soil, site, watering, pruning, general care and pests and diseases; colour-coded icons to indicate hardiness; and expert tip boxes. The book opens with a practical guide to essential gardening techniques, which covers: assessing your plot for soil quality, drainage, sun and shade; where to buy and how to tell if the plant is healthy; advice for planting trees and plants; creative ideas for planting combinations; specialist care for architectural plants throughout the year, including winter protection, brown bitting and pruning; and increasing stock with propagation techniques. The book closes with a section on plant problems, which includes a trouble-shooting chart to identify the problem and a directory of pests and diseases.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26766 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

The Sunday Times, October 2005
A cheerfully written book for those who love statement plants, it has clear photographs and lots of advice for gardeners

Country Life, November 2005
This is the book to keep as a vade mecum for nursery visits.

About the Author
Christine Shaw studied horticulture at the Isle of Wight Horticultural College while working nights as a croupier. She has worked at Angus White's famous nursery near Horsham, and set up a new branch at Chichester in 1996, which she continues to run. In addition, Christine has established a successful career for herself as a freelance horticultural journalist, writing articles for The English Garden, Garden Inspirations, RHS The Garden and Exotic Gardening.

Customer Reviews

an impressive volume
Collins certainly think this a subject worth cashing in on, as there are 3 books in print called "Architectural Plants", all by Christine Shaw.

The Collins Gem version has a brief introduction to a selection of species.

The Collins Practical Gardener version goes into more depth.

Then we have the hardback "Architectural Plants", which is the one to go for. Here Shaw covers a very impressive range of plants, some familiar, some bizarre, some very rare indeed. As many of these plants are from warm climates there's an abundance of growing advice and tips on winter protection in cold areas.

Each plant has a full page to itself, with a witty and rather personal account of the plant's personality. It's therefore not so much of an encyclopedia, as it's the author's selection of plants included here, so for example you don't get a description of lots of different species in the same genus, more like one or two.

There are a few things which irritate the pedant in me, for example the way the author constantly refers to Ophiopogon as a grass (it isn't, it's a member of the lily family), but overall it's a lovely book, well written and researched and one of the best on the subject for the UK gardener.

Witty and informative
One can view this book as hefty brochure for the Architectural Plants nurseries, as almost all the plants are available from the nurseries and several of the photos are also from the Nuthurst and Chichester sites. What saves the book from being solely a promotional tool is the extremely witty and informative commentary from Christine Shaw. The shorter paperback version is still the best value for money purchase, but this new hardback is an attractive and useful guide to the cultivation of plants that are still new to the average British gardener. Hopefully, it will inspire one or two rose bushes to be discarded and a couple of pseudopanaxes planted in their place!

Brilliant!
We have recently had the priviledge of buying a house with a beautiful garden, which has some fantastic "Architectural Plants" in it. Once settled we proceeded to plant further specimens bought from "Architectural Plants" where Christine Shaw, the author of this great book, is the Manager.
Wanting to make sure we did what was right for the plants we thought it best to purchase this book and we are so very pleased we did.
The book is well written. Beautifully laid out. Great photographs and contains all the relative information one could possibly want. An absolute must for anyone with exotic plants or anyone who wants to read about some superb specimens of glorious plant life and just dream, as we did for many years until we found our garden paradise.