Since the time of the Transcendentalists, Bostonians have worked hard to promote gardens, parks, green spaces, and ecological conservation. Now, BostonÂ’s diverse open spaces share a rich legacy and exciting future. Once again ingenious Bostonians are working hard to make their city and its environs green. Invoking the ecological spirituality of Emerson and Thoreau, these neo-Transcendentalists are growing cutting-edge rooftop greenery, building harbor-side sculpture gardens, and tending verdant urban wilds. More than a historic parks handbook, <I>BostonÂ’s Gardens & Green Spaces</I> shows how locals are using, creating, and enjoying their urban landscape today. This lavishly designed guide provides readers with a new way to explore the contemporary and long-revered public spaces of the Boston area. Organized into thematic categories, readers have at their fingertips all Boston has to offer: the suburban wilderness and urban wilds, the Sapphire Necklace and newly created Big Dig parks, pocket parks hidden amid the cityÂ’s streets, and living roofs dotting the skyline. Complete with chapters on community gardens, venerable botanic gardens, and grand estates, as well as gardens devoted to art, healing, and children, Meg Muckenhoupt has given every resident and visitor to Greater Boston a reason to get outdoors.
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Editorial Reviews
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Boston s history is written in its land, says Lexington-based environmental writer Meg Muckenhoupt, author of Boston s Gardens & Green Spaces, an illustrated introduction to the origins and reinvention of public space in the Greater Boston area. The Boston Common was originally used to graze sheep, marshal troops, and hang unpopular people. Many of Boston s most famous green spaces were constructed in the interest of public health. Today, ingenious Bostonians are growing cutting-edge rooftop greenery, building sculpture gardens, and tending urban wilds. These green spaces not only add to the character of the city, but they support populations of birds, insects, and other creatures who ve lived here for millennia. Most important, they provide a place where we can feel closer to the earth. --Boston.com, 05/04/2010
About the Author
Meg Muckenhoupts articles on travel in Boston and local environmental issues have appeared in The Boston Globe, Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine and the Time Out Boston Guide. Her book Sigmund Freud: Explorer of the Unconscious (Oxford University Press) won the American Academy of Sciences 1998 Best Science Books for Junior High and High School Readers, and has been translated into seven languages. She holds a certificate in Field Botany from the New England Wild Flower Society.
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More About the Author
Meg Muckenhoupt has written articles on travel in Boston and local environmental issues for The Boston Globe, the Boston Phoenix, Boston Magazine and the Time Out Boston guide. Her book Sigmund Freud: Explorer of the Unconscious (Oxford University Press) won the American Academy of Sciences 1998 Best science Books for Junior High and High school readers, and has been translated into seven languages. She holds a certificate in Field Botany from the New England Wild Flower Society.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Inky Thumb
Format:Paperback
I lived in Boston for more than 10 years, and thought I knew all the best natural spaces to explore, have fun, and relax in. Turns out, I'd only been sticking my toe into a lake that is much broader and deeper than I'd imagined! This is a resource with a compilation of natural places, woods, lakes, farms, parks, etc. that you can't find on the internet--certainly not on one (or ten) sites, and not with the care and design put into this book.
Wish I'd had it long ago, but now I have much to look forward to!
Wish I'd had it long ago, but now I have much to look forward to!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Boston's Gardens and Green Spaces is a beautiful book and is a wonderful gift for nature lovers. My grandfather, an avid birder, hiker and farmer, loves it. The book has many fine details that go beyond the standard tourist book content of "go here and see that." It offers an interesting combination of gorgeous pictures, history, science and geology forming the parks, and social history behind many of the parks and green spaces in the Boston area. It can be enjoyed by urban nature lovers and remote wild spaces devotees, dedicated hikers and meanderers and there are tips for the secret green space adventurers, who look to avoid crowds.
Those lucky enough to live in the Boston area can hear the author speak about the book. If you do not live in the area, look for one of her radio talks on the green space.
I gave it to my grandfather as a gift, with an inscription from the author, Meg Muckenhoupt. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I and my grandfather do! Happy Trails.
Those lucky enough to live in the Boston area can hear the author speak about the book. If you do not live in the area, look for one of her radio talks on the green space.
I gave it to my grandfather as a gift, with an inscription from the author, Meg Muckenhoupt. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I and my grandfather do! Happy Trails.
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