Garden Walls, Fences & Hedges [Hardcover]

Kathy Sheldon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2001

Step into your garden--what do you see? With the right wall, fence, or hedge, it will look even better and be more functional! Use this hardworking information to add privacy, create outdoor rooms, block noise and pollution, improve safety, increase property value, and even provide a microclimate for tender plants. Evaluate your own outdoor space, then establish garden boundaries the right way, with these detailed facts on materials, construction, and growing conditions. For each type, you'll find specific projects, from building a dry-stack stone wall to setting up posts and pickets to planting an espalier fruit tree. Spectacular photos present gorgeous design ideas for draping a fence with colorful climbing vines, nesting a rock garden into a wall, and cultivating plants that grow near, up, and even in the border. And, when you're done building, turn your practical structure into art with finials, funky mosaics, veneers, trompe l'oeil, and other brilliant enhancement ideas!

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

There's a corollary to the old adage about good fences making good neighbors. When it comes to home landscaping, Sheldon proposes that great fences (or walls or hedges) make great gardens and presents the etymological research to support her claim: garden and yard are derived from a word meaning enclosure, and paradise comes from the Persian term for walled garden. Is it any wonder, then, that these garden appointments have the power to enhance enjoyment of outdoor spaces? Whether to screen an unsightly view, establish property boundaries, or provide support for climbing vines, a well-placed and well-designed wall, fence, or hedge can impact the landscape more than any other garden feature. Profiling the many options available, from a post-and-rail fence to a formal boxwood hedge, Sheldon describes their merits and offers practical information to help readers decide the best solution for specific challenges. Promising do-it-yourself projects are accompanied by lists of necessary materials, tools, and supplies, while precise illustrations highlight step-by-step instructions. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Asheville, NC

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Lark Books (June 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579902111
• ISBN-13: 978-1579902117
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,655,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars --Great ways to enhance your garden--, June 5, 2002

By 

Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Garden Walls, Fences & Hedges (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. Kathy Sheldon has a nice easy style of writing and makes her book informative and pleasant to read.

The book covers just about every question that one might have on the subject of different kinds of garden barriers. There are six chapters: FUNCTION & DESIGN - Discusses your particular needs. WALLS - Different types of material to use, stone, brick, concrete, or timber. FENCES - Various kinds of fencing, board, lattice, basket weave, post & rail, bamboo, stick, wattle, chain link, and woven willow. HEDGES and TALL PLANTINGS - Making border divisions by using bushes, flowers and trees. PLANTS and BORDERS - Choosing the right plants to go along with your wall, fence or hedge. ENHANCING BORDERS - Ways to decorate your garden walls and fencing.

There are color pictures on almost every page, and instructions for building the various walls and fences are written and then illustrated with drawings. Even if you already have some type of fence or wall, this book provides a lot of ideas about how to enhance an already existing border. I liked reading about the living willow fence which sounded like a an interesting project to try. Also, the unusually named ha-ha wall provided a little history. It's an ancient design that was used around large estates to enhance the view, but keep the farm animals contained.