Country Series: English Country Gardens [Paperback]

Ethne Clarke (Author), Clay Perry (Author)

Book Description

Series: Country Series | Publication Date: October 1, 2000

Take an excursion through the English countryside in summer, from small cottage plots where old-fashioned flowers bloom in harmony with vegetables and fruit, and to the more spacious gardens of the manor house, where collections of plants are carefully arranged to create a personal vision of Eden. "...enchanting...No gardener, however grand, will turn these pages and not come away with a headful of new ideas to ponder."--Sunday Times Magazine.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ethne Clarke is known worldwide as one of the foremost writers and lecturers on garden history, design and planting. She is the author of more than 15 books, including the literary award-winning Art of the Kitchen Garden. Born and raised in the United States, she lived and gardened in England for nearly 30 years. She is a Member of the Institute of Horticulture and is the Garden Editor of Traditional Home, the USA's top-selling design and decorating magazine. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa. Clay Perry has illustrated ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDENS and OLD ENGLISH VILLAGES in the same series. His work is also familiar to readers of the Sunday Times and other leading colour supplement magazines.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix Illustrated (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841880760
• ISBN-13: 978-1841880761
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,621,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed from a landscaping point of view, November 20, 2009

By 

Midwest Values "Gardening Junkie" (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Country Series: English Country Gardens (Paperback)

Not what I expected. As a homeowner, I purchased this book to gain ideas for landscaping my yard. I have several books that I reference periodically for gardening and landscaping ideas, however, this will not be one of them. One of my favorite books to reference is 'The Welcoming Garden' by Gordon Hayward.

I'll explain why I only give two stars:

Many of the illustrations are grainy, dark, faded looking, like photographs of photographs, the clarity isn't what I'd expect. There are shadows in the photographs making it difficult to see what you are looking at, and I found many photos typical of a scenic landscape in a morning haze of fog - something suitable for a post card, not a gardening magazine (one even shows Grandma and Grandpa standing in front of the house - cute and very picturesque, but doesn't belong here).

Also, the scenic photos are shown in post card size, literally, with captions next to each - for this reason, I assume the author took post cards and used that as "photography" for their book. The larger photos which are comprised of an entire page, consist in most cases of close-ups of flowers. This seems somewhat backwards to me - if anything, the scenic view should be given a full page. While admittedly the photos are pretty, it doesn't really give me a real perspective where to begin with the English Garden. Go to Grandma's house and look at her photo albums of great grandma and grandpa standing in their garden for the same effect.

If you want a book that looks like a collection of scenic post cards with little emphasis on the how-to regarding actual landscape or garden design, then this is for you. Otherwise, spend your money more wisely.