Tag: gardening books

April Book Review – Foliage by Nancy Ondra

Post author By Christine
Post date April 22, 2012
8 Comments on April Book Review – Foliage by Nancy Ondra

Once again I’m joining Holley of Roses and Other Gardening Joys in doing a monthly book review on a favourite gardening book from my personal library. I was originally introduced to this particular book by Cathy & Steve of Our Garden Journal when they reviewed this book last year. After reading their glowing report I promptly ordered the book and was not disappointed when it arrived. Foliage, by Nancy Ondra ticks all the boxes when it comes to great gardening books. Written by Nancy Ondra with photography by Rob Cardillo, the cover will entice you to delve deeper into the art of combining plants based on their foliage to create wonderful “pictures” in your garden.

As a new gardener it didn’t take me too long to realise that experienced gardeners obviously knew things I did not. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t emulate the stunning garden beds I was seeing and realised I was missing something … and then slowly the penny dropped. Creating a stunning garden is not just about flowers and plants. It’s about how you combine the plants to create something that not only works well in nature but creates a garden scene that is pleasing to the eye.

In fact, what really appealed to me about this book is that I already had a lot of the plants featured in it. Putting them together in the right combinations to create a fabulous garden was what I was about to learn from the book. Flowers come and go – insects or the weather can destroy seasonal blooms seemingly overnight – but predictable foliage in great combinations will set the scene or background for a wonderful landscape that is not dependent on pretty flowers.

You don’t even have to read a single word in the book – just paging through it and seeing the effects created by combining plants based on colour, size, shape and texture will have new gardeners itching to get outside to change things around.

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The book is organized by colour and texture with each chapter explaining the characteristics of plants chosen for the singular appeal of their varying foliage. Colours range from, my favourite, brilliant Chartreuse to blues, silvers and the darker colours like the reds, maroon and blacks. Size of foliage and shapes of leaves (e.g. spiky, bold, medium and fine) with surface textures varying from rough to smooth or satiny, and outlines that are smooth, ruffled, irregular or uniformly even – all this is covered in this wonderful book.

Rob Cardillo’s amazing photography has to be mentioned here. With the range of colours and textures as captured by his camera, it doesn’t take a novice long to realise that season-long interest in the garden depends on the foliage of the plants you choose and how you combine them that creates the base of a stunning garden. Get the foliage plants right and then the plants you choose for flowering in combination will create magic!

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about gardening with foliage and how to create a year round garden that is beautiful.

About Garden Bloggers Book Review meme

Garden Bloggers Book Review is a monthly meme hosted by Roses and Other Gardening Joys (20th day of the month). Whether its vegetable gardening, flower gardening, specialized gardening, design, landscape, or even fiction (that includes a garden, such as ‘The Secret Garden’), Holley invites you to share your take on the garden books you have read. “Each of our gardens are different, and each of our tastes in garden books will probably be different – but I think if we tell what we like (or not) about each book, we can get a good sense of the books we might want to add to our collection”. Join Holley on the 20th of the month and share one of your books with us all.

Tags book review, books, gardening books

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March book review

I’m quite pre-occupied with my pond make-over project at the moment so I’ve been perusing “pond” books at the book store and have even bought a few. Most have been fairly useful, in one way or another, but none has actually motivated me to make the changes to the pond I know are necessary. Until I walked past a second-hand book shop and decided to look in and see what gardening books they have.

I stumbled on and old book by Peter Robinson entitled Pond Basics, paged through it and was sold. It’s a real little treasure for anyone who is completely new to pond maintenance or has decided to build a pond feature and has no experience. It’s really basic which is exactly what I need at this stage.

I’ve found the book very useful. Having read this book and used it as a starting point, I have now managed to plan what I want to do with the pond and have broken in down into a step by step list that I’m tackling one task at a time. So we now have actual “Project Pond” Progress! The book is divided into 9 sections and covers Planning; Excavation and Installation; Moving Water Features; Decorative Features; Wildlife; Planting; Plants; Troubleshooting and lastly, The Pond Year.

I have to admit that the reason this book helped me so much is that it had plenty of examples of water features that have similarity with mine, in terms of size, position and shape. I was able to start visualising what my Pond or Water Feature really could look like using the examples and combining ideas (coupled with suggestions I’ve been given by gardening friends – Amongst others, Alocasias and Cannas are on my shopping list!).

The section on plants and ‘how tos’ (where, when and how) has also helped me to create a plan for my ponds planting and how I am going to tackle it all. Well written in a get to-the-point, simple way I appreciated the troubleshooting section and the pond year which gives guidelines on how to manage the pond and what to expect in all the seasons. All this information made me realise that I can do all this by myself (mostly, might need help erecting the trellises), but it’s now a project I am capable of doing myself and I think may look quite nice once I’ve finished.

[one_half]Pond Basics Contents[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Introduction to Pond Basics[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Nicely illustrated with photographs[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Planning tips & requirements[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Many different types of ponds[/one_half]

[one_half_last]And examples of ponds I liked[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Different plants types[/one_half]

[one_half_last]And a trouble shooting section[/one_half_last]

My copy of the book is a hard cover version, published in 2004 by Bounty Books. I’ve checked Amazon and it’s available at Pond Basics by Peter Robinson on Amazon.co.za as a paperback.

I recommend this book to new gardeners who have little or no experience with a pond or water feature and are interested in adding one to their garden.

What gardening books have you read lately? Join Holley and friends the March Garden Book Review meme and share one of your gardening books with us!

Happy gardening!
xxx

PS: In my next post I’ll be showing a short video of the Starlings enjoying my pond!

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Tags book review, books, gardening books

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The Complete Planting Design Course – February Book Review

Post author By Christine
Post date February 23, 2012
4 Comments on The Complete Planting Design Course – February Book Review

For this month I’ve chosen to do my book review on a book by Hilary Thomas called “The Complete Planting Design Course – Plans and Styles for every garden”. I first came across the author when I did a distance learning course about garden design and Hilary Thomas was the tutor. At the time I blogged about the course here and at the end I decided to buy the book by Hilary. I’m really glad I did.

It’s a pretty comprehensive book that helped me to view plants in a different light (or with fresh eyes). The chapters / subjects were very similar to what we covered in the course, so for those who don’t have the time to do a course and submit assignments etc., this book is great as it covers pretty much everything we learnt on the course. From initial vision to finished planting, the book clearly explains the practical steps, considerations, opportunities and decisions that need to be taken. This process can be applied to ones own gardens, and it will also help you to take your skills a step further into other people’s gardens!

The key subjects covered are:

understanding plants in design
How to get the most from your site
Planting ideas for every style
Finding a theme for your location

According to the book blurb, once you’ve read this book and put into practise what you learn, you should be abl;e to design a garden. Once you understand colour, shape, texture, and form and know how to use these to best effect in a garden setting you will soon be designing your own garden and then you’ll be moving on to designing for your family friends. You will learn to create expert planting schemes using your newly learnt skills and techniques.

What I liked most about the book (and the course) is that Hilary taught me to look at the garden in a new way. Instead of planting for planting sake I learnt to plant for year-round interest. I learnt how to choose and combine plants for specific effects, for year-round color and interest, for drama and movement and to overcome site difficulties. The book is beautifully illustrated (photography by Steven Wooster) and chapters are divided and subdivided in a very simple, easy-to-follow way. I regularly pull this book off the bookshelf as the photographs are very inspiring and I seem to learn something new every time I pick up this book.

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About Gardening Bloggers Book Review Meme

Tags book review, gardening books

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“Grasses” by Nancy Ondra – A Review

Post author By Christine
Post date January 19, 2012
12 Comments on “Grasses” by Nancy Ondra – A Review

Grasses by Nancy Ondra with photographs by Saxon Holt

This month I’m joining Holley of Roses and Other Gardening Joys in doing a book review on a favourite gardening book from my personal library. From front cover to back, “Grasses – Versatile Partners for Uncommon Garden Design” by Nancy Ondra with photography by Saxon Holt, is a visual feast. Even if you don’t read a word of this book you will be inspired to start gardening with ornamental grasses – the photography and layout of the book had me hooked from page one.

But it’s not just about the visuals. Here is why I think you should add this book to your library of gardening books …

The photography is outstanding. These are not just photographs of random grasses, they are photographs of skillfully designed garden settings where grasses (often in combination with perennials and other plants) were used to create scenes that are not just aesthetically pleasing, but, for want of a better word, WOW! I’ve added a few photographs below to show what I mean about the huge “Wow” factor this book created in my mind, before gardening with grasses was something I’d seriously considered.

The blurb on the cover says “Select beautiful ornamental grasses, combine them with perennial flower and other garden plants and care for them so that they look great year-round. Photos, plans and plant lists for 20 unique garden designs, along with more than 160 colour photographs, provide inspiration for using ornamental grasses in a variety of garden settings“. This books certainly delivers.

The book is divided into four distinct sections; Getting to Know Grasses, Colour Palettes, Seasonal Usage and Selecting for Location. In her usual very well written and conversational style, Nancy takes us through the ABC’s of gardening with grasses from identifying grasses right through to designing with and caring for grasses in your garden. Section one looks at the different types of grasses, flower forms, growth cycles through to choosing the right grass for your site. She further goes on to discuss how to plant, vare for, divide and finally cut back your grasses to ensure the best year-round display.

Easily my favourite section of the book, the second section; Colour Palettes; looks at the various hues and shades of grasses from reds, coppers, bronzes to steel blue and silver. Each colour group is dealt with in-depth and a list of examples with descriptions is provided. Throughout this section the author and photographer provide us with wonderful inspiration in the form of outstanding photographs of colour and plant pairings with a small design detail indicating the plants used (see example in the fourth photograph below).

The third section of the book looks at using grasses in combination with perennials and other plants in any garden setting or gardening style and shows how to use grasses to create the look you want to achieve in your garden.

Finally, section four will assist you in making the correct selection for various sites (the recommendations for dry, wet, hot and shaded sites are very useful). For every garden element, from borders, pathways, and containers to location challenges such as shade, slopes and for privacy, this book offers descriptions to aid in specific grass selections and planning considerations. You will find easy to use reference lists showing you which grasses work well in different situations and under varying conditions such as hot, dry sites, shaded areas and moist and wet sites.

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Even non-gardeners will appreciate the coffee-table book quality of this wonderful book and will agree that the photography by Saxon Holt is inspiring. Most of the photographs of grasses are taken in combinations with other plant materials so you get the feel of the various grasses in the landscape. I’d rate this as a “must-have” in any gardening library. If you only buy one book this year, get this one!

Now pop overr to Holley’s blog and see what other books have been reviewed this month: January 2012 Gardening Book Reviews

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Tags book review, gardening books, grasses

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How much I’ve learnt in ten short months

Post author By Christine
Post date June 19, 2011
15 Comments on How much I’ve learnt in ten short months

It is no secret that less than a year ago I knew pretty much nothing about gardening and plants. OK, perhaps I’m exaggerating a little … I knew the names of a few plants, bougainvillea, roses and lilies spring to mind. I think I also knew about Marigolds, daisies and ferns. Oh and of course I knew all about Ivy, because Ivy was the most prolific plant in my overgrown jungle of a garden. Ivy and a few ferns.

Fast forward ten short months and during a visit to a nursery today I amazed myself by how much I have learnt. Stopping at plants and knowing the proper names, recognising textures and shapes, knowing what would work where … and of course stumbling on a few new-to-me plants, looking at the names and recognising having seen them before on a blog or in a book. It was a most pleasurable (and again educational) two hours spent amongst the plants.

The gardening course I have been busy with promised me in the opening notes that I would no longer go to nurseries and come back with “impulse buy” plants. The course entitled “Planting Design” promised that I would make plans before buying and that I would more often than not leave a nursery without buying anything, if what I had gone there for was not available. Well that was put to the test today … for the first time I discovered Hellebores at a nursery here in Cape Town. Eleven little Hellebores all lined up in a row and I so badly wanted to buy them. But my new ‘plant philosophy’ is that if I don’t have a plan, I can’t buy, so I left without them. A first for me! That’s not to say I won’t go back for them … as soon as I have a plan for them.

But then a detour to Exclusive Books and I succumbed to impulse buying and left with two new books. Pocket books actually, both by the Royal Hortucultural Society (RHS). The first book is RHS Plants for Places – With full colour photographs and information for over 1,000 tried and tested plants, this is the pocket-sized guide for trips to the garden centre and nursery.

The second is RHS Good Plant Guide – Whether you want to cultivate the classic English rose or grow a crop of climbing French beans, choose plants with confidence with the RHS Good Plant Guide. Recommends over 3,000 trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, bedding plants, fruits and vegetables for every garden situation and with more than 1,500 colourful photos and illustrations.

These are two lovely little books to assist in my continued gardening education 🙂

[one_half]RHS Plants for Places[/one_half]

[one_half_last]RHS Good Plant Guide[/one_half_last]

I love these little books as they are great reference books as well as being useful to pick up and page through for a few minutes every now again, just to familiarise myself with new plants or to look up known plants for more info. Small and compact they are also easy to pop into a bag in case I do want to take one on a nursery visit – easily hidden in a bag so I don’t go there looking too much like a gardening-nerd!

Off to read about plants
Happy Gardening
xxx

Tags books, garden book, gardening books, nursery