Synopses & Reviews
Using the Power of Ornament to Perfect Nature's Beauty
Whether it is fine art, folk art, or our own whimsical creation, the right ornament in the right spot can transform a garden, sharpening its focus, adding structure and permanence, and layering in references to other times and places.
Here, from LINDA JOAN SMITH, is all a gardener needs to know to put the magical finishing touches on that place we call our garden.
Decorative and Working Ornament
From antique sundials and marble statuary to birdhouses, bee skeps, and scarecrows. Reproductions and the real thing. Outdoor materials and how to care for them, including materials that weather all season.
Exterior Design
Creating a sense of time and place-French accents, romantic England, a Renaissance air. Plus the fundamentals of creating movement and direction, drawing the eye, altering perceived space.
Making the Garden Yours
Creating your own ornaments. The artistic, the quirky, the personal. Mementos and memorials. Tweaking tradition.
Synopsis
Generously illustrated throughout in full-color photographs, "Garden Ornament" covers everything a gardener needs to know to add finishing touches to the hard-earned work of digging and planting. Here are decorative ornaments -- statues, antique sundials -- and working ornaments -- flowerpots, bee skeps, scarecrows.
Synopsis
Amid the naturally decorative bounty of flowers and shrubs, the right ornament in the right place can transform a garden. Generously illustrated throughout in full-color photographs, Garden Ornament is a sourcebook of inspiration and practical ideas. Garden Ornament covers everything a gardener needs to know to add magical finishing touches to the hard-earned work of digging and planting. Here are decorative ornaments (status, obelisks, sundials), and working ornaments (flowerpots, bee skeps, scarecrows). Detailed information on materials and their care, from classic cast stone to contemporary cast resin. Design menus for cultural effect and information on lighting a garden, on seasonal ornamentation and on exploring the irreverent.
Synopsis
An armillary sphere, patina'd with age. A rustic thatch-roofed birdhouse. A softened and pale marble figure, or a colorful Victorian-era gazing globe, reflecting the garden like a funhouse mirror. Even amid the naturally decorative bounty of flowers and shrubs, it is ornament that seasons the garden with mystery, or makes us laugh, or sets us to contemplation. Generously illustrated throughout with full-color photographs, GARDEN ORNAMENT is a source of both inspiration and practical ideas. It explains how to select the right ornament, how to integrate ornament into each setting, and how to use ornament and its many subtle qualities to instill a sense of depth and resonance in the garden.
About the Author
Linda Joan Smith, a contributing editor for Home Garden and Country Garden magazines, is the author of numerous articles on American gardens and gardeners. She has gardened from Arizona to Massachusetts, and Iowa to Pacific Grove, Calfornia.
Table of Contents
Chapter One--The Power of Ornament
Defining Garden Ornament
Ornament's Power to Transform
Chapter Two--Borrowed from the Past
In the Beginning
Art Versus Nature
A Garden Revolution
Back to Basics
Bringing it Home
Grand Impersonators
Chapter Three--A Sense of Place
The Lay of the Land
Country of Origin
Traversing the Gardener's Mind
Chapter Four--Eye Catchers and Space Makers
Creating Movement and Direction
Drawing the Eye
A Sense of Space
Chapter Five--Working Ornament
Welcome Wildlife
Lightening the Load
Chapter Six--Out of Season
Choosing Seasonal Ornament
Autumn
Winter
Spring
In the Night Garden
Chapter Seven--Laying Claim: Making the Garden Yours
Keepers of Memory
Wit and Artistry
Chapter Eight--The Things We Love
Source Guide