Well-Tempered Garden [Hardcover]

Christopher Lloyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2001

This is Christopher Lloyd's best-known book. His famous gardens at Great Dixter draw people from around the world. His name is kept in the forefront of people's minds with constant media exposure including his weekly articles for Country Life, written since 1963 without an issue missed.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Christopher Lloyd's love of and pride in gardening is evident in every word of this often-republished gardening classic. It's not an encyclopedic text, as much of it is specifically applicable to Lloyd's damp English climate, but as he says in his new introduction, "We should always keep an open mind." Gardeners in many climates will do well with the plants Lloyd loves, and everyone can follow his advice on the basics of growing and propagating healthy plants. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'One of the definitive gardening books of the 20th century has been updated. When Christopher Lloyd, one of the UK's most respected plansmen, wrote the book, he established himself as one of those rare breeds of garden writers who not only writes about plants, but writes what he feels and thinks about them too ... The book is far from 'sanitised' - how refreshing!' WATER GARDENER (April 03) 'This updated classic is as entertaining and relevant to gardeners today as when it was first published, more than 30 years ago. Brimming with infomation on planting, weeding, pruning and more, Lloyd explores hundreds of garden plants, sharing his successes and failures along the way.' GARDENS MONTHLY (May 03) '...packed with the sort of informatoin gardeners crave - from planting, propagation to the pleasures of wild gardening in grass, and fruit and vegetable specialities. He writes with gusto, giving his opinions, his likes and dislikes firmly without worrying whether we agree or disagree with him.' COUNTRY HOUSE & HOME (April 03) 'Christopher Lloyd's great classic, The Well-Tempered Garden, never disappoints me when I'm looking for inspiration... Lloyd has a wonderful way of describing plants - I can't look at a rhododendron without calling to mind his description of the foliage as "lugubrious", and his likening of gunera leaves in motion to the sound of "a giant shaving" makes me long for a windy day so I can visit a garden in which they are grown, lie on the grass with my eyes closed and listen.' -- Stephanie Donaldson COUNTRY LIVING (December 03) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Cassell (August 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304359017
• ISBN-13: 978-0304359011
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,655,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chock full of advice....., December 18, 2001

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Well-Tempered Garden (Horticulture Garden Classic) (Paperback)

THE WELL-TEMPERED GARDEN is a classic book, filled with all sorts of advice from one of Britain's leading garden experts--Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd is responsible for Great Dixter, one of the premier gardens in England. WELL-TEMPERED GARDEN was first published in 1973, and this version is the new and updated and somewhat expanded version.

Whether or not the inexperienced gardener can use this book is debatable. GARDEN contains tons of information, but the paperback contains no photographs. Unless you are an experienced gardener who can picture the plant varieties Lloyd discusses, I would think GARDEN would prove more confusing than not. I am an experienced gardener and I found many interesting tips.

Lloyd is a plantsman, and he has a good deal to say about many of the plants generally found in gardens in the temporate regions of America as well as England, but his discussion is confined to examples of plants grown at Great Dixter (past and present, failures and successes). I struggled through the text, trying to read it like a 'book', and then decided it made a better reference work. If you're interested so-called 'tricks of the trade' regarding garden staples such as tulips, peonies, pansies, primulas, or climbers, shrubs, and roses, you can find the item of interest in the index, locate it in the text and read about it.

Lloyd shares his accumulated wisdom about a large assortement of plants, providing the sort of information one usually finds only in specialty books on particular plants, not in a general gardening book. For example, he says, "What is an azalea?" He then goes on to discuss azaleas in terms of their botanical classification (they are rhodendrons), notes that there are many kinds of azalea, and suggests that one sort or another may work better depending on what you are attempting to do.

Many of Lloyd's comments are better suited to the gardener in England (lots of stuff on roses). However, he also discusses plants of interest to Americans. For example, his text concerning Buddleias is quite relevant for gardeners in the mid-Atlantic region. Lloyd suggests Buddleias are in the top flight of second-rate shrubs. They grow fast but are sadly sketetal in winter. However, he suggests, they are indispensible. He then goes on to discuss the different kinds of buddleias you might want to grow. I don't think he quite says why they are indispensible, but anyone who knows their colloquial name 'butterfly bush' knows why.

My sense of Lloyd is that he is like an old maiden aunt or bachelor uncle, full of information that could save you a bit of work and heartbreak if only he would 'spill the beans'. For the most part I have little idea why he's sharing what he's sharing (he starts his sentences in the middle), but every other paragraph or so he drops a gem.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ranks among the very best, February 10, 2008

By 

Benjamin (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Well-Tempered Garden (Hardcover)

Christopher Lloyd was a passionate gardener with much practical experience from running his own extensive gardens at Great Dixter, Sussex. This book with over thirty sections under six main headings covers almost every aspect of gardening in a fresh and questioning manner, often dispelling long held opinions.

In addition the book is illustrated with many of the author's own photographs (1973 edition). It also has a glossary and substantial index.

Christopher Lloyd's writing is outspoken, opinionated, witty, entertaining, authoritative, practical, informative, one could go on, but above all it is a sheer pleasure to read. Without doubt Christopher Lloyd was one of the greatest garden writers, and this book must rank among his best. This offering notwithstanding its age is an absolute gem; with so many shallow gardening books now being published writing such calibre only goes to highlight the dearth of able garden writers today.

Whether or not one enjoys a similar climate to Lloyds South of England garden, the thinking and principles behind his writing can only enlighten and benefit gardeners wherever they be.