English Cottage Gardening for American Gardeners [Hardcover]

Margaret Hensel (Author), Tasha Tudor (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

Thanks to the extraordinary photographs and gardening wisdom in this classic book, the elegant intimacy of the English cottage garden is a practical possibility for amateur gardeners in diverse regions of the United States. The author has analyzed the aesthetic and horticultural elements in ten representative cottage gardens -- eight in England and two in the United States. Her spectacular photographs render the look and atmosphere of these gardens, while her text focuses on easily grown, readily available plants that are adaptable to a wide variety of climatic and soil conditions. In the back of the book -- completely updated for this new edition -- may be found specific horticultural information on a wide variety of cottage garden plants commonly available in the United States, glossaries of Latin and common names, and a list of sources for old rose varieties.

The gardens in this beautiful book are not those of the great estates of England, manicured by staffs of professional gardeners. They are, instead, labors of love on the part of individual homeowners, many of whom started with bleak, rubble-strewn lots and went on to create the enchanted settings pictured here.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The eclectic sprawl of perennials, roses, shrubs, and vines that is the essence of the English cottage garden is a look much sought after by many American gardeners. Hensel, a photographer and contributor to Horticulture magazine, presents ten of these romantic and intimate gardens, eight found in Britain and two in the United States. The text combines personal stories of reshaping landscapes with more specific information on individual plants and plant combinations. Each chapter is complemented by lush color photographs and a bird's-eye sketch of the property. Source lists for roses, perennials, and bulbs are followed by cultural information on 75 cottage perennials, including the essential trio of hardy geraniums, lady's mantle, and catmint. That it is not necessary to "know a potato from a peony" to establish a cottage garden can be debated. But many garden enthusiasts will be inspired by the seemingly unplanned profusion of lupines, lavender, phlox, and hollyhocks found in these pages. Recommended for larger gardening collections.
- Virginia A. Henrichs, Chicago Botanic Garden Lib., Glencoe, Ill.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

English Cottage Gardening for American Gardners is an excellent primer. Hensel explains what constitutes the look and how to achieve it, and offers heartening accounts of people starting from scratch. -- House Beautiful Magazine

Margaret Hensel is a garden designer. She suggest plant combinations and groupings, how to place certain plants to gain the most impact and the importance of foliage texture and form. She points out design principles such as proportions of mass and height in relation to the size of the borders; the importance of creating vistas.

The final section of this book is very useful. It decsribes 76 selected cottagey plants, with their cultural needs and how to place them in the garden The author states, "It is my hope that readers of this book will feel moved, even inspired, to imagine what magincal things might happen in their own front and backyards". There is no doubt about it: she has achieved her aims. -- The Cottage Gardener - The Journal of the English Cottage Garden Society

With [this] inspirational pattern book at hand, American gardeners at all levels of expertise can convincingly re-create the enchanting English cottage gardens in their own backyards. -- Horticulture --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 239 pages
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc; 1st edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393030121
• ISBN-13: 978-0393030129
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,840,621 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Reference I have found on creating a cottage garden..., October 6, 1998

By 

Kelley Wilkinson (Asheville, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: English Cottage Gardening for American Gardeners (Hardcover)

This book was constantly in my possession during the winter before I created my first cottage garden. It is filled with helpful material, plant lists and horticultural notes, and seems to be as useful to the beginner as to the professional. She showcases ten different gardens, and gives some history on how and why they came to be. The beautiful photographs alone caught my attention for a long time. The only disappointment to me was that eight out of the ten gardens were English; I was hoping to see more American gardens. However, one of the featured American gardens is Tasha Tudor's garden (my absolute favorite), definitely worth drooling over. I think one of the nicest aspects of this book is that it removes the intimidation factor and proves you can have a fabulous garden without all the planning and precision of many gardens.. Definitely a must for cottage garden enthusiasts!

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a favorite., August 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: English Cottage Gardening: For American Gardeners, Revised Edition (Hardcover)

This is one of my very favorite garden books. Pictures are beautiful, and the book is informative...giving plant names and even showing layout drawings of how the plants were placed. The gardens were not designed by professionals but were created thru trial and error, the way most people do their own. Shows how pretty a garden can be without perfection. Even shows many tiny doorway gardens that should not be intimidating for busy American gardeners. I would highly recommend this book.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never Have a Drab Garden Again, January 22, 2002

By 

V.J. Billings - See all my reviews

This review is from: English Cottage Gardening: For American Gardeners, Revised Edition (Hardcover)

There is a wild and romantic image associated with cottage gardens and this book gives us page after page of incredible photos that inspire us to create one of these intimate spaces of our very own. Opening photos of Tasha Tudor's Vermont garden draw us into the continuous flow of picturesque gardens that range from photos of simple doorway gardens to massive perennial borders.

Credit is given to the architectural elements in the garden such as an ornate gate or a brightly painted arbor. These aspects are important in establishing the depth of the garden and are often overlooked. Straight lines and hard surfaces help to add dimension to overflowing and seemingly out of control plants.
There are lots of examples of this throughout the book and they are defined not only by the gorgeous photos but by Ms. Hensel's thorough treatment.

Of course, the plants are the main focus and there are plenty shown and discussed. Roses take a whole chapter and, it is not by chance, that many of the plants are herbs. These have always been the carefree backbone of most cottage gardens. The emphasis, though, is not on becoming an expert with plants, but rather to start with a single idea and a few cherished plants and let the garden begin.

Margaret Hensel set out to create an interesting little book with photos of picturesque thatched cottages and became intoxicated with the gardens she found. The beauty she discovered as she explored country lanes and city streets led to the creation of this extraordinary book that showers us with the loving creations of many gardeners, both amateur and professional.