The Natural Shade Garden

If you have a shady garden space, this book will make you feel like the luckiest gardener in the world. Ken Druse structured the book around the organization of natural woodland plants: understory, middle layer, and overstory. (Note that this is not the right book for you if you are looking to create a formal shady garden.) The beautiful photographs, both closeup and scenic, and the detailed yet readable text make this book a success on two fronts. There is enough practical advice to take you from designing your shade garden to keeping it healthy and beautiful through the seasons and years. There is even a resource list to help with ordering your plants. Did I mention how amazing the photographs are? This is my favorite garden book so far, and I am accumulating quite a little collection.Partial shade, dappled shade, and deep shade are all addressed with beautiful pictures of plants and gardens and with descriptive, practical text.

I bought this book 1.because everything Ken Druse writes is top-notch, and 2. because my yard is -and is becoming more- shady. What a cornucopia of ideas, wisdom, helpful hints and fabulously beautiful and inspiring photos. It has become a much used reference in my library, as well as just being so delightful to look through. As a Master Gardener and garden writer in a metropolitan area I get lots of questions about what can be grown in shade and half-shade areas; this book never lets me down for ideas, and I feel comfortable recommending it to both beginner and long time gardeners. The only thing I wish it was heavier on is native plants.

This is my second copy of this beautiful book. A friend "borrowed" the first one and never returned it! But I can't blame her because this book is a delight to the eye and a treasure trove of ideas for the shady yard. I must say that I do not have a green thumb, but my once lackluster yard now supports a huge assortment of hosta in every shade of green. You have to love a plant that flourishes in shade, comes up every year with very little care and doubles its size! The photos in this book are beautiful and will make you want to try and recreate the vistas. A wonderful book for the gardener or the lover of beautiful books.

There are two reasons to buy this book:First, it's a great guide, reference and philoshophical perspective on how to garden successfully in the shade. Having gardened in the sun, I was frustrated with the dense shade on the lot around our home. I love trees, but I missed the sun! This book opened my eyes to a way of looking at shade and gardening successfully with it.Second, this is one of the most beautiful books I've ever owned. Ken Druce's photography and the book's production quality is top of the line. Even if you don't have shade, if you enjoy books on gardening, this is one to add to your collection.

This is one of the 5 best gardening books I have owned. Ken Druse is truly a great plantsman and the photography in this book is the best of any gardening books you will ever find. One of the best things about his books are the combinations of plant types displaying the creative use of form, texture and color as well as seasonal variations to develop the most attractive gardens and spaces. Utilizing cultured and natural plant selections can yield variety as well as that appearance of mother nature doing an extra special job. Don't hesitate to buy any of his books, but this is probably the best. See also Bold Romantic Gardens by Jim Van Sweden and Wolfgang Oehme.