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Mission Impossible? Find books on garden DIY here.
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DIY in the garden? Buy a good book, settle down to read it, and maybe the inspiration will pass?
If not, you'll need to know what you're doing. Here are some books to get you on the right D I Y path.
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Garden DIY is divided into useful sections: Planning and design, Surfaces,
Boundaries, Planting, Living outdoors, Garden structures and ornaments,
Water features, Lighting, Children's areas, Tools and techniques.
It is both inspirational and practical - for instance the section on how to
make a sundial provides a little history, an picture of a sundial surrounded
by complementary planting, a list of equipment, a careful plan of action in
six steps, a series of little photos showing stages in its building, and a
very complicated-looking, but clear, description of the mathematics needed
to create the morning hour lines, etc.
Next weekend, I'm making a sundial.
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This is a practical guide full of inspirational pictures and practical
advice to ensure your garden is lit to best effect. Accurately subtitled
'design, inspiration, techniques,' this book goes through different types of
lighting, planning out the system, implementation and installation.
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The authors are a writer and a landscape architect, a good combination. The
book provides practical information on planning the design, constructing the
garden from scratch, building features and creating and looking after a
variety of planting schemes.
There is lots of practical advice on the hard landscaping and the text and
illustrations are neatly complementary, making this a healthy mix of
inspiration and information.
Whilst not particularly original, this book is an excellent handbook for the
gardener needing to know exactly what proportion to mix his concrete in to
build a foundation for his shed, how to prune his species rose or plant up a
roof garden.
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Nice little projects like Seating and Eating (building a barbeque, a garden bench), Garden Houses (constructing a summer house, a rabbit run, a nesting box), Patios, Paths and Ponds, Supports and Dividers and Containers.
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One of Dr Hessayon's classic and evergreen Expert bestsellers. Slightly old-fashioned, but dependable. Clearly laid out in his inimitable style with concise, dogmatic and accurate information.
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Subtitled 25 step-by-step projects for your outdoor room, Garden Mosaics is
written by Becky Paton who studied Art & Design at Chelsea School of Art in
London, and went on to specialize in mosaic-making.
The book starts off with a very clear technical explanation of materials and
techniques, going through the various methods of sticking and cutting. The
history of mosaics is dealt with in a brief line or two (sadly no
illustrations from, say Pompei or Ravenna to show what could be done when
you get really good), and then Paton's off onto the projects. These are
broadly divided into Pots and Planters, Garden Additions and Mosaic Living.
Garden Additions describes fountains, house numbers, bird baths, and various
little insects and animals, such as fish and ladybirds, to dot around the
garden. Mosaic Living is more practical and deals mostly with tableware -
coasters, candle holders and suchlike.
While it would undoubtedly be fun making some of these projects, especially
with older children, it is not clear what one would do with some of them
afterwards - the summertime sphere, for instance, a ball whose decoration
could unkindly be described as 'Christmas pudding' looks ripe for
toe-stubbing.
The book concludes with a selection of templates to enable even the most
artistically challenged to have a go. The list of suppliers at the back of
the book should have been left out, since it includes only one shop in the
States.
Garden Mosaics is a pleasant enough book, with several ideas on how to spend
an amiable few afternoons creating something.
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That's it for this category. Click here to suggest a book on garden DIY and we'll do our best to review it. Or better still, send us your own review.
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