More gardening book reviews from the pages of The English Garden magazine. Including a fresh look at tree fruit, a collection of notable botanical illustrations and the story of two influential landscape architects.
For the latest gardening book reviews, don’t miss the November 2016 issue of The English Garden, on sale now.
An Orchard Odyssey
By Naomi Slade
Green Books, £24.99
This is an ambitious book, encompassing the history of orchards and orchard fruit throughout the world. But it doesn’t end there. Slade also dissects orchard biodiversity and looks at modern-day conservation and the growth of community orchards in urban areas. As Slade says: “In 21st-century cities, something new and exciting is happening; orchards are being brought back to town.”
The first half of the book is mainly theoretical and historical. The second is practical, including ideas on designing an orchard, advice on planting and choosing varieties, and guidance on community projects centred around growing fruit trees. Slade challenges the reader to see an orchard not as a field of apple trees in rows but as anywhere where fruit trees are grown together. This is whether they are on balconies, roadsides or adjoining back gardens.
Slade passionately states why growing fruit trees is important, with a particular emphasis on how doing so can impact one’s local community for good. Despite the broad scope of the book, Slade’s positivity and enthusiasm for orchards keeps the volume entertaining throughout. Her zeal comes across on every page and the inclusion of numerous case-studies make this a fun and engaging read throughout.
The Botanical Wall Chart
By Anna Laurent
Ilex, £25
This history of botanical wall charts captures a moment in time when the scientific understanding of plants was blossoming. At the end of the 19th century, wall charts were the media of the day for sharing and explaining new discoveries. And Laurent does a neat job of collating and explaining these fascinating botanical timepieces, grouping them into plant families alphabetically.
The euphoria of scientific breakthrough jumps from the page in many of the charts, through the intricacy and quality of so many of the illustrations of flowers, seeds, fruits and leaves. From the sticky trapping mechanisms of a carnivorous sundew to an astonishing cross-section of a cornflower, this was art for education’s sake.
This collection – trawled from many countries in mainland Europe – is both reference book and visual treat. True to the educational ethos behind the wall charts, Laurent comments on each, including botanical notes that will help the reader garner a more intimate knowledge of the workings of their plants. Laurent also explains the context behind the production of each chart and includes a useful glossary outlining some of the less familiar botanical terminology used in the book.
Landscape of Dreams
By Isabel and Julian Bannerman
Pimpernel Press, £50
“We dream waking and sleeping about architecture and landscape, derelict houses and shattered gardens,” explains Isabel Bannerman in the first chapter entitled Wonderland. Isabel and Julian Bannerman have turned dreams to ethereal reality time and again, masterminding the creation and restoration of many landmark gardens.
This is a glorious scrapbook-style story of some of their most notable works, from the creation of a stately walled garden at Houghton Hall, Norfolk, to the initial landscaping of the gardens at Highgrove. The story of each garden is a richly spun tale of both the nitty-gritty of working on a garden and of the relationships the authors have had with their clients. For instance, HRH The Prince of Wales apparently despaired of Julian’s habit of drinking Coca-Cola while working on the gardens at Highgrove. Instead he would send for tea and sandwiches to be brought out instead.
Equally detailed and fascinating are the images. Though not always of the highest quality at first glance, they are a wonderful blend of present day scenes of the finished gardens, design sketches, archive snaps of the gardens in progress. And there are some priceless polaroid shots of the build-up to their 1994 Chelsea Flower Show garden created for The Daily Telegraph.
Reviews by Greg Loades
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