Product Description

How to plant and maintain a variety of living alternatives to imposing fences, from simple spot screens of shrubs and trees, to formal and informal hedges of various kinds, to colorful vertical gardens supported by trellises and wires.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #532749 in Books
• Published on: 1995-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Those looking for solitude?or simply privacy?in their gardens as well as beauty will find a host of choices in this comprehensive, accessible, sophisticated and fluidly written overview of the title's trio of naturally growing alternatives to fences. In the main chapters, Tanner (Gardening America) provides information on the three varieties of horticultural fences, following each with a generous listing of species suitable for specific tasks, e.g.,"windbreaks," "espaliers for foliage and form," "fast-growing vines." Thumbnail plant "bios" include such considerations as hardiness zones, available cultivars, planting procedures and care. Illustrated with lush photographs, the volume concludes with a list of resource nurseries and a bibliography. Gently reminding new yard- and garden-makers that hedges need be neither tall nor evergreen, Tanner offers much to experienced gardeners too: the section on espaliers?one of gardening's more challenging specialties?is itself worth the price of the book.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Tanner points out that living fences can do more than just screen views or act as property boundaries. Hedges, vines, and espaliers can also act as partitions to enclose or divide gardens and sitting areas. A smaller living fence can hide an outdoor work space from the rest of the garden so that tools are stored out of sight. His book explores a variety of living fences as alternatives to expensive stockade fences, giving detailed explanations on selecting, planting, and propagating plants and shrubs. There is advice on selecting, pruning, and training species, detailing their advantages and disadvantages, ranges, and growing needs. Color photographs throughout. George Cohen

Review
Create a natural alternative to unsightly fences: use hedges, vines and espaliers to create living barriers and blend more smoothly into a natural landscape. This covers the varieties useful to particular garden barrier endeavors, revealing propagation, growth techniques, and various approaches to creating the barriers. -- Midwest Book Review

Customer Reviews

Great design ideas for limited space.
We purchased a new home surrounded by small planting areas with unusual dimensions. We wanted fruit trees, fragrant plants inviting to humming birds, a living privacy screen and an enchanting garden.

Ogden Tanner presented a variety of useful information regarding espaliers including historical notes, designs, practical construction sketches, types of materials, and best of all free catalogs from growers.

We began planning our first espaliered living, "orchard"-fence. Soon we will plant one peach, one nectarine, and two apricot trees on our little bit of land.

Thank you Ogden Tanner for your ideas in Living Fences.

Top notch garden book on hedges
One of the best garden books I've ever read. Full of gorgeous photos, and detailed descriptions. Wonderful and inspiring.