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The Layered Garden

Design Lessons for Year-Round Beauty from Brandywine Cottage
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( 624 ratings, 76 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Layered Garden by David L. Culp reveals the art of gardenmaking as a living celebration through the design technique of layering. Drawing from his renowned two-acre Brandywine Cottage garden in Pennsylvania, Culp demonstrates how interplanting diverse species creates a continuous sequence of colour from spring's heirloom daffodils to winter’s Asian wildflowers. The book offers lessons on selecting plants according to seasonal growth, designing a layered garden, maintaining it, and includes a personal tour of various garden sections such as the woodland garden, perennial border, kitchen garden, shrubbery, and walled garden, finishing with a guide to signature plants for all seasons.
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Format: Hardback
$7000
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for gardening enthusiasts eager to elevate their skills with innovative design techniques, this book suits both amateur and experienced gardeners seeking year-round inspiration and practical guidance. Perfect for lovers of garden aesthetics and thoughtful planting strategies.

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As practical as it is inspiring, The Layered Garden provides expert information gleaned from decades of hard work and close observation. If you thought that a four-season garden was beyond your reach, this book will show you how to achieve that elusive, tantalizing goal.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

"Gardenmaking, in its finest form, is a celebration of life and of love. David and his book epitomize this." - Lauren Springer Ogden

Brandywine Cottage is David Culp's beloved two-acre Pennsylvania garden, where he mastered the design technique of layering - interplanting many different species in the same area so that as one plant passes its peak, another takes over. The result is a nonstop parade of colour that begins with a tapestry of heirloom daffodils and hellebores in spring and ends with a jewel-like blend of Asian wildflowers at the onset of winter.

The Layered Garden shows you how to recreate Culp's majestic display. It starts with a basic lesson in layering: how to choose the correct plants by understanding how they grow and change throughout the seasons, how to design a layered garden, and how to maintain it.

To illustrate how layering works, Culp takes you on a personal tour through each part of his celebrated garden: the woodland garden, the perennial border, the kitchen garden, the shrubbery, and the walled garden. The book culminates with a chapter dedicated to signature plants for all four seasons.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

"So imaginative is Culp's genius and so resourceful his passion for plants and design that his layered garden offers more sensory delights per square foot than most gardens manage to achieve over acres." – Booklist

"Spellbinding writing and Cardillo's breathtaking photos entice readers through Culp's woodland garden. An essential title in the 'how I did it' genre of garden writing." – Library Journal

"I love the book... It teaches us how to design and maintain a complex, layered garden." – Garden Rant

"Offers the perfect blend of inspiration and practical advice. Readers will come away with plenty of ideas and guidance to create their own layered, four-season gardens wherever they live." – American Gardener

"This is one for your must-read list... and it would make a wonderful gift for anyone who loves plants and gardens." – A Charlotte Garden

"Culp shares the beauty of Brandywine and some of his garden-design secrets." – McClatchy-Tribune News

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781604692365

Publisher: Workman Publishing

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 16 October 2012

Country: United States

Imprint: Timber Press

Illustration: 324 color photos, 1 illustrati

Contributors:

  • Illustrated by Rob Cardillo

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 30.0mm

Width: 194.0mm

Height: 282.0mm

Weight: 1220g

Pages: 312

About the Author

Along with his partner, Michael Alderfer, David Culp is the creator of the gardens at Brandywine Cottage in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. David has been lecturing about gardens nationwide for more than 25 years. His articles have appeared in Country Living, Fine Gardening, Green Scene, and many other publications. He is a former contributing editor to Horticulture magazine and served as chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Hardy Plant Society. An expert on herbaceous perennials, David is vice president for Sunny Border Nurseries in Connecticut. He developed the Brandywine Hybrid strain of hellebores and was cited in the Wall Street Journal for his expertise on snowdrops. The garden at Brandywine Cottage has been featured several times in Martha Stewart Living and on HGTV. Visit him at davidlculp.com.Adam Levine is an award-winning garden writer whose work has appeared in several books as well as many regional and national magazines. He lives and gardens in Media, Pennsylvania.Rob Cardillo has been photographing gardens, plants, and the people who tend them for more than 20 years. Formerly the director of photography at Organic Gardening, he now works for major publishers, horticultural suppliers, and landscape designers throughout the United States. Visit him at robcardillo.com.

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