Product Description

The English gardens of Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) have influenced good garden design throughout the world. While many of Jekyll's gardens and original plantings have disappeared, and only a handful of her plans are well-known, thousands survive in archives. Richard Bisgrove has selected a representative sample from this remarkable collection, and the designs-including plans for Jekyll's three American gardens as well as for many of her English gardens-have been redrawn by an accomplished watercolorist and relabeled to make them more accessible to the nonspecialist. Together they provide an astonishing record of Jekyll's versatility as a garden designer and of the painstaking attention to detail that she applied to every aspect of her art.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1701285 in Books
• Published on: 1992-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From Library Journal
Bisgrove, director of the Landscape Management degree course at England's Reading University, has selected 47 plans of the British gardening doyenne Gertrude Jekyll, most of which have been unpublished until now. Introductory chapters provide historical data on Jekyll, who was an active garden maker from the late 19th century until her death in 1932. Her designs are divided and discussed by garden types (formal, rose, wild, or shrub gardens) or by a particular gardening challenge (steps and walls, sun and shade, or color combinations). A concluding chapter lists favorite "Jekyll plants" with descriptions and cultural information. The plans themselves have been enhanced with watercolor and clear plant labeling. Color photographs of Jekyll gardens, modern gardens in the Jekyll tradition, and individual plantings futher illustrate her skill at balancing discipline with generosity and harmony with contrast. Although much has been written about Jekyll, and happily many of her own writings have been reissued, actual plans of her garden designs are not as easily found. Recommended for most landscape design collections.
- Virginia A. Henrichs, Chicago Botanic Garden Lib., Glencoe, Ill.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
"Should there be any doubt that Gertrude Jekyll was among the greatest practitioners of the art of gardening (there isn't, of course), a survey of this book will quickly confirm her almost totemic status in twentieth-century ornamental horticulture."--Wayne Winterrowd, Horticulture, The Magazine of American Gardening

"[This book] is scholarly, well-written, and based on original research. The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll is the most innovative study of the patron saint of modern gardeners since Jane Brown's pioneering Gardens of a Golden Afternoon appeared ten years ago. . . . [Bisgrove's] is the most detailed and comprehensive analysis ever made of Gertrude Jekyll's gardening."--Charles Quest-Ritson, Gardens Illustrated

"The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll serves as a living complement to her gardening ideas, indicating the scope and variety her gardening vision could assume. Richard Bisgrove has mined extensive archives for Jekyll's most effective planning schemes, and illustrates them with photographs of her existing gardens. He helpfully divides chapters by types of gardenincluding formal gardens, rose gardens, wild gardens, steps and walks, and sun and shade."--Ann Geneva, Literary Review

"Gertrude Jekyll is famous the world over as the mother of the lush English garden. . . . The stage is set for an updated revival of the Jekyll cult. Her philosophical commitment to native plants and gardens that incorporate existing heathland and woods makes her environmentally up to date."--Diana Ketcham, New York Times

"The most comprehensive study I have seen of the garden-making ideas of this astonishingly prolific lady . . . This is a book that can be read cover to cover -- but one to which people will refer time and again over the years."--Arthur Hellyer, Financial Times

"Richard Bisgrove must now be firmly established as one of our most authoritative, painstaking yet easy-to-read garden historians . . . The writing is a happy combination of scholarship and art . . . readers must be equally delighted with Andrew Lawson's magnificent photographs."--Graham Stuart Thomas, The Garden

From the Back Cover
"Should there be any doubt that Gertrude Jekyll was among the greatest practitioners of the art of gardening (there isn't, of course), a survey of this book will quickly confirm her almost totemic status in twentieth-century ornamental horticulture." (Wayne Winterrowd, Horticulture, The Magazine of American Gardening )

"[This book] is scholarly, well-written, and based on original research. The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll is the most innovative study of the patron saint of modern gardeners since Jane Brown's pioneering Gardens of a Golden Afternoon appeared ten years ago. . . . [Bisgrove's] is the most detailed and comprehensive analysis ever made of Gertrude Jekyll's gardening." (Charles Quest-Ritson, Gardens Illustrated )

"The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll serves as a living complement to her gardening ideas, indicating the scope and variety her gardening vision could assume. Richard Bisgrove has mined extensive archives for Jekyll's most effective planning schemes, and illustrates them with photographs of her existing gardens. He helpfully divides chapters by types of gardenincluding formal gardens, rose gardens, wild gardens, steps and walks, and sun and shade." (Ann Geneva, Literary Review )

"Gertrude Jekyll is famous the world over as the mother of the lush English garden. . . . The stage is set for an updated revival of the Jekyll cult. Her philosophical commitment to native plants and gardens that incorporate existing heathland and woods makes her environmentally up to date." (Diana Ketcham, New York Times)

"The most comprehensive study I have seen of the garde-making ideas of this astonishingly prolific lady . . . This is a book that can be read cover to cover -- but one to which people will refer time and again over the years." (Arthur Hellyer, Financial Times)

"Richard Bisgrove must now be firmly established as one of our most authoritative, painstaking yet easy-to-read garden historians . . . The writing is a happy combination of scholarship and art . . . readers must be equally delighted with Andrew Lawson's magnificent photographs." (Graham Stuart Thomas, The Garden)

Customer Reviews

The Gardens of Gertrude Jekyll
As a serious midwestern home gardener who owns many gardening books, I was extremely pleased with this book. There is much valuable information in the way of photographs and writings. Gertrude Jekyll was doing 100 yrs ago, what modern landscapers claim they invented--that is, low maintenance, informal looks. The combination of her informal plantings applied to formal settings makes a wonderfully interesting contrast. Add to that her artistic genius, and these gardens are truly awe-inspiring.

the gardens of gertrude jekill
I now the gertrude jekill in my trip on London, in this moment visit you page and the best price for this , buy this .
she is the best gardening in europe, this books it is one I like to much other .
this is real beauty and magnifics.
thanks for your help me in this eleccions .
sorry for my inglish