Each volume in this exciting new series, featuring expert gardener-authors Bird, Huntington, and Squire, follows the same pattern. The first section is devoted to planning your garden with three-dimensional planting schemes and lists of suitable plants for inspiration. In the second portion, the authors address the practical aspects of creating your garden, including step-by-step explanations of basic techniques such as propagating and pruning. Specific projects, such as making a chamomile seat, spark the imagination. Central to each book is the third section, an illustrated directory of the promised "more than 250 plants." Scientific, common, and family names are given for each entry, along with a description and color photograph. Symbols convey growth conditions at a glance. Although Cassell is a British publisher, these volumes have been Americanized and include maps that accurately correspond to USDA hardiness zone . Whereas Taunton's "Fine Gardening Design Guide" series (LJ 12/00) showcases the personal gardens of notable greenthumbs, Cassell's offers generic plans for general readers to design their own gardens. A combination of solid information, beautiful illustrations, and creative ideas, this series is a winner. Recommended for all gardeners, novice to expert. Nancy Myers, Univ. of South Dakota Lib., Vermillion
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
A rather unappealing title for a book containing a mine of information on what should be regarded by every gardener as the backbone of any garden. As implied by the title, "Broad-Leaved Evergreens", conifers are excluded and the work focuses on trees, shrubs and climbers which in all but the most severe winter will remain green all year round and are which hardy in the United Kingdom. A garden with no evergreens lacks form and substance, most especially during the bare winter months and many are even generous enough to provide flowers in that period. Their uses are endless: hedging, shrubberies, backdrops and screening or as free-standing specimens. From the towering eucalyptus to the diminutive box these valuable plants come in all shapes and sizes, plain-leaved or variegated, with or without showy flowers. The pH spectrum is well-covered too so no matter what the soil type, there are broad-leaved evergreens to suit every garden situation. They are global in their diversity: bamboos from China and the footsteps of the Himalayas, cistus and rosemary from the Mediterranean, magnolias from Asia and mutisias from South America. From mainly foliar interest such as rhamnus and pittosporums to floriferous evergreens such as camellias and rhododendrons; from the erect quercus to the scrambling clematis, the choice is vast. Stephen G. Haw, a garden writer of several decades and specialist in Chinese flora in particular, gives an attractive overview of this group of plants giving knowledgeable cultivation advice together with a detailed look at the various species and varieties of each genus. Accompanied by his photographs the book is an invaluable reference for all gardeners. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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