Classic Garden Structures : 18 Elegant Projects to Enhance Your Garden [Paperback]

Jan Gertley (Author), Michael Gertley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 1998

Attractive trellises, planting boxes and other gardening structures can be expensive and difficult to find. Now with basic woodworking tools and this helpful book, gardeners, homeowners, and woodworkers can build everything from a tool caddy to a greenhouse. This project book will instruct as it inspires.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Gertleys have assembled an expansive collection of do-it- yourself garden-structure projects, from simple to complex, for the would-be garden builder. Trellises, a planter box, raised beds, a simple cold frame, an inventive strawberry tower, a small greenhouse, potting benches and tables, a plant caddy, and even an elegant little seed-saver's box are among the dozens of illustrated plans available for the garden, along with instructions on the tools and materials needed for each project and suggestions on finishes and final touches that give plain structures an added elegance and visual interest. --Mark A. Hetts

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Taunton Press (September 16, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561582417
• ISBN-13: 978-1561582419
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,417 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice projects - not for beginners, July 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Classic Garden Structures : 18 Elegant Projects to Enhance Your Garden (Paperback)

Some really attractive and useful projects here. Instructions are very well illustrated and easy to follow. Definitely not for beginning woodworkers - if you don't have access to a good assortment of power saws, many of these projects will be difficult if not impossible to execute.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisitely presented, distinctive designs, April 25, 2000

By 

Wayne M. Thomas "Author of Walden Today" (Sudbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Classic Garden Structures : 18 Elegant Projects to Enhance Your Garden (Paperback)

We've just finished building our strawberry tower, an obelisk to grow 90 strawberry plants in a couple of square feet of space. We're beaming from the rave reviews of friends who find our project attractive and functional. The Gertley's do a superb job of presenting their unique projects with gorgeous pictures in attractive settings. I have a whole list of projects I intend to create--and I know that each one will be classy and distinctive. This is a book for people who like to build garden projects that they know they won't see any where else around the neighborhood.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for the Gardening Woodworker, July 9, 2001

By 

Al the Pal "Al the Pal" (The Fruited Plain, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Classic Garden Structures : 18 Elegant Projects to Enhance Your Garden (Paperback)

The projects are not so challenging as to be overwhelming; they are fairly simple and can be completed in an evening or over the weekend. The exception is the greenhouse, which has a block waist wall and wood framing for the glass top. I am building the tomato towers and will start the strawberry tower to use next year. There are several smaller projects - a sting-line row marker, caddies and dibble that can be made with scraps you may already have.

I am blessed with a shop full of power tools and shop-made jigs, which makes ripping and cutting complicated angles easier, faster and more accurate, but many of these can be built with simple hand tools and attention to detail.

The book is well laid out, profusely illustrated with color photographs of the completed projects and clear construction drawings and plans. They even recommend specific woods for each project - mainly cedar - but I had a bunch of pressure treated yellow pine left over from other projects which I am using. They also recommend finishes for each project.

If you are looking for something to do when it is too hot, cold or wet to work outside; here's your book. Your garden will be more beautiful and efficient. Your plants will thank you.