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Gardens With Atmosphere: Creating Gardens With A Sense Of PlaceEditions
Review
The author’s greatest claim to popularity thus far, has been his involvement with the trendy Piet Odulph in the 2000 Chelsea Flower Show “Best in Show Garden”. His is a deeply personal approach to garden design and he is keen to share with us the wide range of inspirational sources which include not only gardens, but a wider spectrum of influences including paintings by Piero della Francesco and Ben Nicholson, Elizabethan architecture and antique embroideries. All of which adds up to a wonderful visual treat, and a full page crammed with credits to many of today’s best gardening photographers, reveals the extent of his researches. The thrust of his argument is that the best gardens (and with justification he includes some of his own) have that elusive quality “a sense of place” and he maintains that a balance can be achieved between house, garden and landscape that feels absolutely right in the environment. His ambition, he writes, is to “re-interpret what I absorb to make unique gardens that are in harmony with their setting” and it would seem, on the photographic evidence of 5 examples, including his own in Lincolnshire, that he is an imaginative colourist, adventurous planner and a subtle plantsman. There is no doubt that Maynard is both bold and opinionated. Generous too. He is fulsome in his praise of his co-author, journalist Sue Seddon. My only quibble is that I feel I can detect her somewhat coy style cutting across his sturdier voice. That apart, this is a book which I strongly recommend. - review by Stewart Grimshaw |
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John Sandoe [Books] Ltd |
I am always suspicious when the words “unusual” and “interesting” appear early in a book review or recommendation. Almost invariably, lurking just around the comma, come enough qualifications to deter one completely. So it is with some trepidation that I say that this work by Arne Maynard fully justifies both adjectives, but I can quickly add that I admired it almost without reservation.
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