Customer Reviews

The Well-Tempered Garden (Horticulture Garden Classic)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.