Given that The Garden is essentially an encyclopaedia of horticultural terms, I didn’t expect to like it as much as I do.
What could have been a dry, factual read is in fact an absorbing journey into every aspect of gardens and garden style, quite literally from allée to zeitgeist.
I was given a copy in return for a fair review.
The appeal starts from the cover – decidedly tactile and with a hazy impression of a garden space – it stood out in the pile of recently received gardening books.
This careful styling continues inside where every entry is illustrated with photographs of gardens whose captions add even more detail.
Beds, we are told, are the oldest garden feature: “Quite simply, the bed engendered the garden and is responsible for its subsequent evolution into a highly sophisticated art form”.
The idea of a raised bed has its origins in Medieval gardens while the geometric bed of bedding plants dates from the 19th century.
Gardens have been lit since Roman times, the earliest ponds were first found in early Chinese gardens, and guerrilla gardening started in New York’s Lower East Side in the 1970s.
It’s a comprehensive exploration of the subject covering not only garden elements, such as potagers, fountains and auricula theatres, but also styles of gardening, including tropical, Islamic and brutalism, and even gnomes.
There’s an explanation of what these aspects of gardens are, their history, and, where appropriate, suggestions of how they might be updated and revived.
While The Garden is set out alphabetically, I found myself zig-zagging backwards and forwards as entries have cross-references to other pages. Starting at Courtyard Gardens, I headed to Axis because of the link with the formal gardens of ancient Egypt. Once there, I was diverted to bosquets before ending up at Sculpture Gardens on a sort of horticultural mystery tour.
In his introduction, Toby Musgrave says he hopes to “inform and inspire”, I would add entertain to that.
The Garden by Toby Musgrave is published by Phaidon with a RRP of £49.95. You can buy it here for £35.57. (If you buy via this link, I receive a small commission. The price you pay is not affected.)
Top image: Autumn colour at Sheffield Park in East Sussex.
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Always looking for a new read! I hope you find some more good books.
I’ve been promised a few by some of the publishers for this year. Have you looked through the rest of my reviews? Search under ‘Books’ in the categories tab at the top. I’ve reviewed some really good ones over the years. 🙂