Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary [Paperback]

Barbara Ashmun (Author), Allan Mandell (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2000

As simple as two chairs beneath a shady tree or a low bench beside a sheltering tangle of wildflowers, a garden retreat is a relaxing and intimate space in which to read a book, enjoy a quiet conversation, or sip a cup of tea. Author Barbara Ashmun understands that every outdoor sanctuary is a soulful expression of its creator, and her book, Garden Retreats, will help readers define their own personal style while explaining the elements that can be used to create a private retreat. Here are tips on creating sheltering walls, all es, and arbors, as well as suggestions for combining plants, trees, garden structures, and furniture to yield the most relaxing combinations of color, shape, and texture. Beautifully illustrated throughout with color photographs of an array of enchanting garden refuges, this is a wonderful dream book as well as a truly practical companion.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The idea of garden as sanctuary is as old as the Garden of Eden, as allegorical as man crossing the desert in search of an oasis. Too often we get so caught up in landscaping, in making improvements, in the sheer work of a garden, that we forget to enjoy what we have created. In today's fast-paced world, where we wear our public face for more hours than ever before, the respite offered by a garden can be life-restoring. If there is one place that begs you to be unplugged and unwired, to seek refuge from fax machine and pager, it must be the garden. Garden Retreats author Barbara Blossom Ashmun and photographer Allan Mandell have provided instruction and inspiration to make it so.

Each garden pictured is as individual as the person who made it, yet there are common elements throughout the variety of gardens. These are gardens of the senses, emotion and spirit, offering a timeless quality that invites repose. Privacy and seclusion, intimacy and comfort are achieved in diverse ways, including fencing, lush plantings, art, and seating. A profusion of perennials encloses a Victorian-style arbor covered with roses, a moon-viewing pavilion rests along the shore of a smooth pond, a swing dangles temptingly from the branches of a spreading pin oak. These are gardens that invite you to sit, linger, dangle your hand in the water, quite literally to sniff the roses. You can well imagine how it feels to climb the stairs to the hut-on-stilts, draped in gauzy fabric and nestled into a natural woodland. Just reading the book lowers the blood pressure, stirs the senses, makes the trowel hand twitch. Many thanks to Ashmun, Mandell, and Chronicle Books for acknowledging the creator of each garden in photo captions--such beauty deserves attribution, as well as emulation. --Valerie Easton

About the Author

Barbara Ashmun gardens on two-thirds of an acre where something blooms every day of the year. Author of several admired books on gardening, she lives in Portland, Oregon.

Allan Mandell photographs have appeared in several gardening books and in Sunset , Country Living Gardener , and Garden Design . He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811825000
• ISBN-13: 978-0811825009
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #199,494 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressions on Garden Retreats, February 21, 2000

By 

Margaret de Haas van Dorsser (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary (Paperback)

I found Barbara Ashmun's new book 'Garden Retreats' a truly inspiring read. By intimately relating her impressions of youth and how her own style developed, the author encourages readers to look within themselves for clues to what their own unique garden retreat might be. Barbara's book guides the reader in the process of creating a truly individual space. Written in gentle poetic prose, the book transports the reader within the retreats she so well describes. Garden Retreats abounds with practical ideas for creating retreats, from creating a private place, to setting the mood with colors and textures, structures and a lot more. The book glows with stunning photographs by Allan Mandell which makes it so inspiring to copy the ideas pictured. I highly recommend this book to novice as well as experienced gardeners.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritually Uplifting!, April 30, 2001

By 

Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary (Paperback)

My favourite refuge from the world is my garden. It is a place for quiet meditation, peaceful thoughts and tranquil rememories. Whether you enjoy the simplicity of sitting in the shade of tree, or have the exquisite joy of enjoying the calming waterfalls and lush greenery of a Zen garden, you will thoroughly enjoy this delightful book. You do not need a lot of space to create your own retreat. As you will discover through the book, all it truly takes is a little creativity, and a labour of love to create your own magical retreat, a little piece of Heaven on Earth. I loved this soothing book with its touch of philosophical splendor and beautiful photography. Whether you prefer an English country garden or a more spiritual retreat, you are bound to find some inspiring little tips on how to create your own "time in the sun" in this wonderful little book.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great ideas, great photos, sometimes tough to read, April 4, 2001

By 

R. Sutor "northern reader" (NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary (Paperback)

This book will most certainly teach you the essentials of creating a quiet garden space for thought and reflection. The range of ideas is extraordinary and the photos will inspire you. However, the text is at times rather "sappy", i.e., a bit too sentimental and too tritely philosophical. I found myself racing through the prose to get to the design elements but was very satisfied with the useful content, once found.