Well, it wasn't much help as a source of practical inspiration, to be honest, but I enjoyed basking in the warmth of her love for all things green, anyway, and that was a kind of inspiration to take more care of the poor neglected patch of muck. Discover the joy of reading with us, your trusted source for affordable books that do not compromise on quality.

From the secret to cultivating the smoothest lawn to the art of lifting and replanting tulip bulbs to the landscaping possibilities of evergreens, the diverse elements of successful gardening—and delightful writing—are bound together by Mr. It was difficult to master but when we understood its foibles and demanding nature, it became central to our cold, wet and muddy life. First published in Britain in 1956 and never before available in America, We Made a Garden is the classic story of a unique and enduring English country garden.There were so many specific references to plants I wasn’t familiar with (especially native English plants and any referred to by their Latin names. This is a charming little book by Margery Fish, offering anecdotal history of the choosing and planting of a home garden in England. Before us, an elderly lady had rented the house from an unpleasant London Company and they, having only recently bought the freehold, did little to improve her lot. Read more about the condition Very Good: A book that has been read and does not look new, but is in excellent condition.

Eventually, a bit sweaty, a bit breathless, not very Thor-like, I’d made a hole big enough to peek through. Margery Fish is entertaining and amusing but in this day and age, there is no place for the constant mentioning of Walter, the absolute domineering, tyrannical gobshite of a husband that not only disallowed Margery any autonomy in the garden, but actively delighted in wrecking her plans by pulling up plants, throwing soil from his projects on her work and generally berating her for every idea mentioned!I thoroughly enjoyed it (though was terribly jealous of the two acres she had to play with compared to my non-existent space). It made me incredibly sad that her husband’s strong opinions on gardening clashed so much with her own. But I didn't but it for that, I bought it because it's a beautiful, beautiful book and because I wanted inspiration for my allotment.

What struck me is the amount of labor they put into the garden themselves, both because labor was scarce in WWII England, and because they truly wanted to do the work. Fish, i often found myself running out to the garden right after reading something smart to put in practice. I whacked at the hole until we could squeeze through and venture down the steps into a large brick-floored cellar – with, sure enough, a bricked-up window.I had no idea that when it settles down in a place it not only starts raising a family but goes in for founding a dynasty as well. The independent-minded quarterly magazine that combines good looks, good writing and a personal approach. I can well imagine the tensions between two people trying to make a garden with competing visions for it. At the time of purchase, I didn’t know that almost opposite, hidden in the lightly wooded valley below, down a long wooded driveway lay the Priory.

As another reviewer noted, in the words of LP Hartley, "the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there," and perhaps it is those glimpses into the domestic life of a far off land that compelled me to keep going: a lady in her long dinner dress and satin slippers perched precariously, balanced with a watering can to water the tops of her walls where trails of greenery fall. I started reading this book with the idea of garnering inspiration as I begin planning this year's garden.We Made a Garden is the story of how Margery Fish, a leading gardener of the 1960s, and her husband Walter transformed an acre of wilderness into a stunning cottage garden, still open to the public at East Lambrook Manor, Somerset, England. She is writing this book after his death and can barely repress her delight at finally being able to plant certain things he had always forbidden her.