Intimate Gardens

INTIMATE GARDENS by Burrell and Hardiman provides tips for the gardener with a small urban space or a larger ex-urban space in need of humanizing. These days, most gardeners are not faced with the enviable task of creating intimate spaces in an otherwise vast, undifferentiated but potential garden area. Nevertheless, we may dream of someday owning such a spread and being faced with this challenge. In the meantime, we can take many of the authors suggestions regarding plant selections for small spaces to heart. Most of this short Brooklyn Botanic Garden monograph is dedicated to "Furnishing an Intimate Garden" a large section which discusses trees and shrubs, as well as perennials, vines, and groundcovers. The authors include an abbreviated variant of the latest USDA zone hardiness map-showing undifferentiated or collapsed growing zones (Zone 5, 6, etc. not 5A, 5B, etc.) and state boundaries. However the illustrations (such as the map) and the gardens and plant photos are mostly beautiful. Although the back cover suggests this book covers garden design, very few designs for intimate garden spaces are discussed or even pictured (not a single layout). A more comprehensive discussion about the design of intimate garden spaces, can be found in THE OUTDOOR ROOM by David Stevens so if you own that old book, this one does not update it. The Stevens book remains relatively pricey, so you may want to visit your library to check it out. However, Stevens includes plenty of actual garden design layouts, and one or two will probably appeal to you. The Stevens book is irritatingly short on information about plant material, however, so not adequate for the task of creating intimate garden spaces. You will want to buy the Burrell and Hardiman book for the discussion of plant materials, but see also - Burrell's `Perennial Combinations' which does include some garden designs-although limited to perennials.