The Medieval Garden

Rating:
Summary: Excellent general knowledge source
Review: This book covers the medieval gardens from their origins in Roman times up to the beginning of the Renaissance. It is mostly oriented towards English gardens. It covers everything from the large pleasure gardens and parks of the aristocracy to the backyard plots of the peasants and the hospital gardens of monasteries. There is enough information to give a good overview, sufficient for most people's needs I think, and it is neatly illustrated throughout. References are given for each section, and the reader is directed to more sources of information if they desire in-depth research.

Rating:
Summary: Good general work on subject; excellent bibliography.
Review: This book is the best single source that I have found on medieval gardening. The emphasis is on Britain and the low countries from the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries. Gardens at all social levels are covered, from peasant to townhouse, cloister to royalty. Illustrations are not lavish but sufficient and are all well identified. Many architectural drawings are included. The chapter on recreated or reproduced medieval gardens is interesting, particluarly as the author shares her insights from working on some of them. I found the chapter on incorporating medieval recreations into modern home gardens to be less useful unless one has not been exposed to such information before.