Product Description
Stone, rock and gravel are increasingly important features in modern garden design. The author examines the different types of stone and rock available, and their impact upon a range of naturalistic garden landscapes, drawing on the influence of Chinese and Japanese gardens to show how rocks may be used to complement water features, containers and a variety of plants. Practical ideas for building and planting a rock garden, laying paving or gravel pathways, using scree, dry river beds and stepping stones are described, enabling the gardener to create an individual and contemporary look to suit their own space.
From the Publisher
Published reviews in the national press:"A fantastic book ... offers an inspirational look at these natural features and explains how best to incorporate them into modern designs. The text is accompanied by breathtaking pictures and there are a number of practical projects to help you transform your plot into a paradise." - ESSENTIAL WATER GARDEN magazine.
"It manages to embrace current interests in minimalist modernist plots, oriental styles and ways of coping with global warming. The book is full of inspirational ideas and practical hints ... from adding faux ammonites to a fern-lined stream to a Japanese technique of creating abstract patterns with nothing more than moss and granite setts." COUNTRY LIFE magazine.
"An absorbing celebration of making the most of what our immediate landscape has to offer. It is an account which is inspirational - picturing the famous Ryoan-ji temple garden in Japan, where sweeps of raked gravel encircle groups of stones, and the inscribed rocks in Scottish poet Ian Hamilton Finlay's wild garden - and also informative. Bradley-Hole sets out detailed instructions on dry-stone dyking, water features, dry rivers and stylish cobbling and explodes the mystique around alpine plants.
The book is both thorough compendium and easy-to-follow guide, influenced by ancient trends of the Far East, Renaissance quirks of creating grottoes and spooky caves, pragmatic desert gardens of southern California and New Mexico - where drought-tolerant plants are used - and contemporary Western Land Art such as Andy Goldsworthy's fantastic walling. [The author] advocates sourcing local rocks as a first principle ... you don't need to have a massive garden to get great effects; you can create something stunning in the smallest domestic garden or tiny patio." SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY.
