GARDENING IN BRITAIN

This book must be approached with a certain degree of caution, for its title is at first misleading. Actually, it is a history- a scholarly work, exploring the development of garden design and horticulture, from the earliest known efforts to World War II, which wrote finis to gardening in the grand manner. Today, interested travelers in England, armed with guides and information from the Horticultural Society, visit the stately homes of Britain- and gardens maintained by the National Trust. As one reads, taking unfamiliar names in passage, famous names to any gardener emerge:- Danvers, Parkinson, Inigo Jones, Hanmer, Henry Wise, Lancelot (""Capability"") Brown, Vanbrugh, Repton, Bridgeman, Collinson (our own John Bartram was closely linked with him), Paxton, McNab- and in our own day, Gertrude Jekyll, George Wilson, Reginald Farrer -- what a gallery. The book demands considerable background, some familiarity with famous gardens, from Hampton Court, Hatfield House, Woburn, Blenheim, Stourhead, Kew Gardens and Wisley. But as one reads, the development the influences, the changing fashions and patterns fall into place. It makes it very worthwhile- but only the dedicated gardener with a contingent literary appreciation will provide an American market.