The Woodland Garden [Hardcover]

Robert Gillmore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1996

Explains how to turn a woodland area into a lush, low-maintenance garden that brings the world of nature into your own yard. Includes detailed information on grading, adding water, planting, and choosing furniture and sculpture.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878339248
• ISBN-13: 978-0878339242
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,862,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A limited view, December 10, 2008

By 

L. Alessio "Wiccan" (Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Woodland Garden (Hardcover)

It should be stated that this book's emphasis is on creating a miniature woodland garden, and not gardening in the woods. The difference is one of scale as the book is, for the most part, a tribute to the author's own suburban, less-than-an-acre, building lot, and much of his material, in word and plant, addresses blocking out his neighbors' houses, cars, garages, and views of the street. Many of the photographs are various shots of the same scene...how helpful are several images of a rather plebian (think Home Depot purchase) Virgin Mary, or glaringly white Victorianesque cast iron bench? The latter he claims, adds color to the garden, but both contradict his premise that a wooden bench or fence, being man-made, is out of place in a woodland setting. The book is not without merit or enjoyment, as the author's passion for his creation is clearly evident, (he planted 140 rhododendron and trucked in 300 cubic yards of soil for a 14' high berm!) and the actual landscape is magnificently blessed with huge, beautiful stone outcroppings. For those of us who are, however, actually seeking to scape a wood, the concept of raking leaves off of the pathways in one's woodland, as the author does, surpasses the precious and enters the realm of the ridiculous. His choices of plant material are repetitive and unimaginative with overuse of common pachysandra and variegated euonymous. His creation of a "dam" out of plastic bags filled with sand would be a silly washout for anything but a trickle of water. Again, there is enjoyment in reading here if one remembers that the word amateur comes from the word for love, not knowledge. Far better reference is out there for the serious who seek to garden a woodland.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible!, January 15, 2009

By 

Tanskanen Toni Antero "gardener" (Finland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Woodland Garden (Hardcover)

First, I bought this book 'cause I wanted to know how to grow food producing plants in the woodland. This book tells nothing about it! But it isn't the reason why I discredit this book.

It's because "all the dead branches should taken away from the woodland" and "almost all small trees should be removed"...

This book tells you how to transform woodland to park ("woodland garden"). It's not good if you take branches away because it's away from fungi to decay them. And branches are beautiful, especially the big ones when there comes moss on them! And at autumn it's like huge snakes in the sea of fallen leaves!

Awful book! The better is The American Woodland Garden: Capturing the Spirit of the Deciduous Forest, and for food producing Edible Forest Gardens I & II!

3 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Lovely Walk in the Woods, May 2, 2000

By 

david jones (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Woodland Garden (Hardcover)

This is a book for those who want precision and detail but also want information in a very readable format. Good for both the starter and the well sesoned. Highly recommended.