Friends smiled when they heard I was reviewing Steven Desmond’s Gardens of the Italian Lakes. We are known as the family who head for Italy most years and as for gardens, well that was a given. So a book that combines my two loves seemed certain to be a winner.
Yet, I wasn’t so sure. I feared that at best it would be worthy but slightly dull, at worst little more than a cobbling together of guide book information dressed up in a glossy cover.
True, the cover has an immediate appeal – an envy-inducing view through a garden to Lake Como – and the fact that the book is illustrated with photographs by award-winning Marianne Majerus meant that, if nothing else, it was going to be very easy on the eye.
So, I settled down to read, telling myself that I could skim sections if the 200-plus pages proved too indigestible – and found myself totally absorbed.
The book opens with a general overview of the area and why it should be on every garden-lover’s itinerary.
Desmond concedes that on the whole Italian gardens are often “not in the best of repair, and a bit short of decorative plant interest”. These gardens, he assures us, are different with “rich collections . . . organized into handsome layouts, often well labelled and, typically, immaculately maintained”.
Some of this is due to the influence of outsiders who have made this picturesque part of Italy their home, while the richness of planting is thanks to the climate with plenty of rain and temperatures regulated by the vast expanse of water, what Desmond describes as the “feeling of an inland sea”. It has allowed rapid growth – a scarlet oak at one villa has the girth of a centenarian but was planted only in 1938 – and the ability to grow many exotic things.
Gardens of the Italian Lakes is split into two sections: Lake Maggiore and Lake Como. There’s an introduction to each and then we are taken on a journey around their notable gardens.
These are varied from the Baroque garden on Isola Bella, the most visited in Italy, with its “unique combination of swagger, scenery and brilliance” to the “carpet slippers and afternoon tea” ambiance of Isola Madre and the rock garden that is Alpinia.
Along the way, we discover the prato dei gobbi (lawn of hunchbacks) at Isola Madre, the garden with named terraces at Villa San Remigio and the double herbaceous borders of Villa Táranto, “a testament to the absurdity of British gardening abroad” declares Desmond.
Yet, this is not merely a description of what can be seen now but an exploration of the history of these gardens and the people who made them. We learn of self-made men, historic Italian families and characters such as the mysterious Baroness St Leger.
It’s detail that makes this far more than just a pretty coffee table book and yet Desmond’s light touch and chatty style mean it neatly sidesteps the pitfall of dry, historic lecture.
Some of his asides had me smiling and there’s the sort of guidance you need when travelling – how to get around (public service boats are deemed civilised and straightforward) and what to wear (“have your waterproofs somewhere near at hand”).
Desmond says that if he has done his job the book “will instil a desire to go and visit these places yourself.”
Me? I’m already packing.
• Gardens of the Italian Lakes by Steven Desmond, photography by Marianne Majerus, is published by Frances Lincoln at £35 RRP. Buy now. (If you buy via this Amazon link, I receive a small payment. The price you pay is not affected.)
• Review copy supplied by Frances Lincoln.
• Images taken from the book, copyright Marianne Majerus.
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