The Family Garden: Clever Things to Do In, Around and Under

If you want to share your joy of gardening with your children this is the book for you - you do need some construction skills for all these projects - but worth it - THE bean house is unbelievable - I know my kids will be in there all summer.

A gorgeous fantasy for the gardener who wants everything, replete with color photographs, charts and plans, the Gertleys' combinations of flowers and vegetables in formal designs satisfy the desire for beauty, productivity and the urge to impress the neighbors. Beginning with an overview of gardens of the past, the authors proceed to design, discussing elements of color, texture and space and offering specific and detailed photos and plans for gardens inspired by anything from quilts to honeycombs to a scaled down version of the kitchen garden at the Chateau de Villandry in France. In addition to detailed designs, the Gertleys offer guidelines and advice for drawing on your own inspiration, from mixing colors and adding elements of texture (organic or artificial) to plant height and arrangement. On the less creative side of things, they discuss planting timing and harvesting, growing from seed and buying seedlings and garden preparation and maintenance. The practical advice is basic; useful but almost an afterthought. Weeds, for instance, don't get mentioned until page 134. The designs, however, are well illustrated - from flourishing result back to graph paper plot and plant placement. This is a book for gardeners with time and ambition and dreamers who just love to look.

This book has straightforward directions, excellent diagrams, and wonderful ideas. There is a great playhouse with a tudor facade but whose roof and walls are pole beans, an ocean scene with porpoises swimming through lobelia (appealing to a transplant from Seattle now in the landlocked desert of UT), a giant sundial with flowers marking the hours, a simple but lovely arbor, and more. Several projects assume relatively sophisticated painting skills (tole type) and are way beyond what I could (or care) to do, but one never expects to love everything in a book. When I found myself rereading this book on each trip to the bookstore, I realized it was time to own it (I'm not an impluse buyer).You'll need access to a round saw and a table saw,or someone willing to cut for you, but the designs are simple enough for most anyone.

This book has turned my children into wild eyed gardeners! After plowing through "The Family Garden" the kids were crazed with inspiration. Armed with shovels and seed packets, they've transformed our backyard into a mini-Disneyland! A must have book for any parent.