No Garden? No Problem! Design and Planting Ideas for the Smallest of Spaces: Steps, Walls, Roof Terraces, Balconies, Basements and Courtyards [Hardcover]

Mike Pilcher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2002

Walls can be decorated with style and festooned with colourful hanging baskests while windowsills, balconies, terraces, basements and even front doorsteps and flights of stairs can become green oases in which plants thrive and people can relax outdoors. No Garden? No Problem! makes a garden where none exists, starting at the front door and taking in balconies, windowsills, walls, patios and basements. Here are plant suggestions, ideas and step-by-step projects to transform small outdoor spaces adding value to your home and allowing everyone to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of plants and gardening.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bright, contemporary planting ideas for modern lives are to be found here. With today's busy schedules and compact living spaces the norm, we are losing touch with nature. Small backyards, dingy basement areas, cramped windowsills all collude to block nature from our day-to-day lives. Mike Pilcher tries to bring us back in step with plants and our innate need to nurture. He highlights the plus sides to all the negative viewpoints of gardening in limited urban spaces. Quirky, stylish and, in many cases, instant projects transform shady corners or awkward-to-plant areas. From front doors, steps, balconies, yards and roof gardens, he explains the endless possibilities to which they avail themselves. Sensible advice conjoined with exciting ideas will inspire both reluctant gardeners and those who just want to grow and enjoy plants but are unable to do so at the present time due to limited space. Houseplants too, an essential for human well-being and spirituality, are examined with an excellent guide to plants for each room from the kitchen to the bedroom. Aftercare advice for both indoor and outdoor planting are included, including notes on propagation for keener gardeners. Not only plants but wall hangings, mirrors, water features and statuary are covered, all bringing out the most of a tiny space. Planting suggestions for all locations are concisely dealt with and Mike's chatty style of writing ensures an enjoyable yet informative read. If you are stuck for ideas in your flat or apartment, this book gives many suggestions, presented in a modern uptodate style, to introduce greenery and flowers in a way that complements today's stylistic thinking.

About the Author

Mike Pilcher has been fascinated by all things horticultural since the age of six when he was found digging up carrots for his pet guinea pig in a neighbour's allotment. A spell at Massey University in New Zealand was followed by a successful career editing the magazine Your Garden. Now freelance, he contributes to a range of magazines, newspapers and books in between which he enjoys his own microscopic garden in Bournemouth.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 143 pages
• Publisher: David & Charles Publishers (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0715311719
• ISBN-13: 978-0715311714
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,040,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now that is creativ, March 9, 2007

By 

Mihaela Skultety Myer "MSM" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Garden? No Problem! Design and Planting Ideas for the Smallest of Spaces: Steps, Walls, Roof Terraces, Balconies, Basements and Courtyards (Hardcover)

This is really creative book. I love it and I bought it even though I do not have a garden. I simply love to look at it and imagine that maybe some day, if I will ever have a garden, a balcony or even a patch of grass, this is how it will look.