Down To Earth

by Scott-James, Anne

• ISBN13: 9780711224254
• ISBN10: 0711224250
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-30
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Ltd

Summary

First published in 1971, Down to Earth is a gardening classic: a treasury ofardening ideas on a wide range of topics. Ideas on designing and planting,deas for the winter garden and the wild garden, ideas for planting the oddorner or filling the August gap, ideas for hedges and climbing plants, pathsnd windbreaks, ideas on books to read and gardens to visit. Anne Scott-James, devoted but amateur gardener, writes about her own garden, made, like soany, with too little time, money and professional help, full ofmperfections but a continual source of pleasure. She also writes about manyther gardens all over Britain, and the practical and imaginative ideas sheas collected from them. The text is engagingly illustrated with cartoons byer husband, Osbert Lancaster.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xi
Foreword	xiii
PART I: IN THE MIND
The Style of Garden	3	(10)
The Bones of a Garden	13	(14)
Harmony with the Landscape
A Central Vista
Variety of Levels
Separate Rooms
The Siting of Trees
Picture Gardeners versus Plantsmen
Utility Buildings and Hardware
Sun, Shade and Wind
Easy Flower-Beds
Stocking the Garden	27	(10)
PART II: ON THE GROUND
Planting for Profusion	37	(16)
Thick Planting
Shrubs and Cushion Plants: Some Varieties
Climbing Plants
Naturalization
Ground-Cover Plants
Creeping and Trailing Plants
Trimming and Feeding
A Child's Guide to Feeding and Weeding	53	(10)
Mulching to Improve the Soil
Top Dressings and Foliar Feeds
Mulching for Protection
A Policy on Weeds
Chemical Weeding
Hand Weeding
The Wild Garden	63	(10)
The Making
The Maintenance
The Choice of Plants
The Town Garden	73	(6)
Improving the Soil
Planning the Space
Town Garden Plants
Plants for a Terrace
The Garden in Winter	79	(20)
Deciduous Trees
Evergreen Trees and Shrubs
Winter Berries
Evergreen Foliage Plants
Winter-Flowering Plants
The First Bulbs and Corms
Plants Which Give Hope
Ruth Draper Time	99	(12)
The Spring Gap
The August Gap
The Vegetable Quandary	111	(8)
Some Easy Vegetables
To Grow or to Buy?
PART III: SPECIAL PLANTS
A Rose Catechism	119	(10)
Some Favourite Plants	129	(12)
Scented Flowers
White Flowers
Trouble-Free Plants
Exceptional Shrubs
Gardening on Chalk or Lime	141	(18)
The Ardent Chalk-Lovers
Plants Which Usually Tolerate Lime
The Mixed Families
Planting and Feeding
PART IV: OTHER PEOPLE'S VIEWS
Eye Witness	159	(16)
Design Ideas
Planting Ideas
Strictly Technical
A Gardener's Bookshelf	175	(8)
Basic Reference Books
Lovable Books
Books on Garden History
Expensive and Rare Books
Index	183