Penelope Hobhouse's Natural Planting [Paperback]

Penelope Hobhouse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1999

The 20th century has seen a significant move to a "natural" approach to gardening -- choosing plants appropriate to the environment, thus saving water and eliminating the need for fertilizers and pesticides. Penelope Hobhouse explores the origins of the natural gardening movement, then shows how a keen understanding of a plant's requirements -- habitats, soil, climate, and site -- is the key to planting well. Drawing on the gardens of today's leading practitioners, such as Beth Chatto and Christopher Lloyd, she looks at borders, shrubs, meadows and woodland, lawns, and rock, gravel, and water gardens. A highly readable, richly informative guide, with 175 color images by award-winning photographer Jerry Harpur. Penelope Hobhouse is an eminent garden historian, designer, and author; among her many successful books are Plants in Garden History, Penelope Hobhouse's Garden Designs, and Garden Style.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the last century, and particularly in the last few decades, interest in regional gardening with native plants and hardy exotics has greatly increased. Busy gardeners love the unfussy, low-maintenance beauty it affords them, and many wonderful examples of natural planting now exist--Chicago's Botanical Gardens, Winterthur in Delaware, and hundreds of other beautiful public and private gardens. Penelope Hobhouse examines the history and botanical details of the natural tradition in a wide array of habitats and climatic zones in this serious book, which includes photographs of gardens all over the world by the fine garden photographer Jerry Harpur. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square Publishing (September 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862052689
• ISBN-13: 978-1862052680
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,842,198 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, tasteful, inspirational, June 22, 2005

By 

David W. Pittelli (Adams MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Penelope Hobhouse's Natural Planting (Hardcover)

This book covers the use of native and other well-suited plant choices to match your local conditions and create beautiful, generally lower-maintenance, informal gardens. Beautiful photographs, tips for various cultural types (e.g., meadow gardens, shrub borders, woodland edges) and design theory, with a moderate emphasis on the temperate conditions one might find in England or New England. This book has no section arranged by species, but that's no loss for most garden readers, and Hobhouse shows a detailed knowledge of plants and gives plenty of tips on their specific use within the culturally arranged sections. (Hobhouse has a large number of books in print and out; all that I have read have been worth purchasing.)

http://www.woodedpaths.blogspot.com/

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully informative, May 19, 2001

By 

Susan Taylor (Northumberland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Penelope Hobhouse's Natural Planting (Paperback)

I've long been an admirer of Rosemary Hobhouse's garden design skills, but she displays here that she isn't only a writer who designs gardens, she is also an excellent plantswoman, and her gardens reflect an intimate knowledge and practical experience with all kinds of plants. This book is wonderfully informative on the history of using 'natural' plants in garden design, and I especially liked the way she uses various examples of real gardens of very different kinds. Whatever kind of garden you are interested in, there's bound to be something inspirational in this beautiful book.