Dan Pearson

This is an account of the authors discovery and development of the garden of his and his partner's house in Peckham, put that way it might sound a trifle bland, but this books is far from it. The first thing that strikes one is the quality of the photography of both general garden shots or of the many photographs of specific plants and flowers. As soon as one starts reading one appreciates too that this is no mere catalogue or the gardens progress and its plants; the writing is first class and very personal whether Dan Pearson is explaining his choices of simply describing some garden tools, he seems to be talking directly to you, and you want to listen for he makes even the most mundane interesting.

Following the introduction which discusses that beginnings of the garden, the book is divided into fours main sections by season, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn; the book includes a plan of the garden. Under each main heading various subheadings consider either garden tasks appropriate to the season or seasonal plants either by category or genus.

This is a well designed and produced book with so much going for it, but the most valuable aspect is the wealth of knowledge Dan Pearson expounds throughout the text almost invariably accompanied by his informed personal views, an approach that brings to mind the writings of the late Christopher Lloyd, an ability few other garden writers can match.… (mais)