April 2012 Garden Book Reviews

It's the 20th of the month - and I'm going to tell you what I've been doing out in my garden!

I've been tweaking.  That's right.  I've been taking a good, hard look at my garden.  Not only did I cull out a few plants that had consistently poor performance, I've also been moving plants around.

And it's all because of a book.  That's right!  It's Garden Book Review time, and of course, you're invited to join in.

The book I've been reading is Color Your Garden by Jill Billington.  I found this book at a discount store, and although it was marked down considerably, I almost didn't buy it.  But what convinced me to purchase it was on the bottom of the cover: 'The Royal Horticultural Society'.  Surely they were experts!

So, I began to read.  And I began to look at my garden with a critical eye.

This book starts out explaining hue, value, and tone.  It then continues with an explanation of the mood colors evoke, and color as a design element.  The subjects of repetition, rhythm and movement, neutrals, graduation in color, graduation in tone, one-colored gardens, white gardens, red gardens, and pastels are all covered, giving specific plant suggestions for every color.  Light and shade are covered, as well as examples for small gardens as well as large ones.

I've never like the orange blanketflower here,
and adding the red carnations just made it worse.

Most of these are concepts I've read about before, but this book gives so many examples and suggestions, that I had to get up and go out in the garden.  Her suggestions made me realize that my garden needed more harmony, and bit less contrast.  Yours may need the opposite, and she tells you how to achieve it.

Changing out just a few plantings
made a big difference in making this area seem calmer.

This book propelled me to make changes to my garden.  What better recommendation could there be than action?  Do you need this book?  Maybe.  It would be of great benefit to anyone putting in a monochromatic colored garden.  It might be helpful if you are timid about color, using so-called "color rules", but would like to venture out into color more and give your garden a little pizzazz.  Or if you're like me, and use perhaps a bit too much color, it might help you see where the clashes are working and where they're being distracting.

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Now it's your turn!  You know the rules:

1) Any book about gardening, gardens, or has a garden influence in it is fine, except:

2) No links/reviews about growing substances that are illegal in the United States.  (I know I don't have to worry about my blogging buddies, but I thought I needed to clarify in case someone new tries slipping one in!)

Please be sure to read the other participant's reviews, too!

As a reminder, many of you may additionally be linking to The Sage Butterfly's annual Earth Day Reading Project.   However, if you prefer to link separately, her meme will be open through the end of the month, while this one closes in a few days.

Happy reading!