Garden Home City: Creating an Urban Haven
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Love flowers, but not so fond of country living? Garden Home City is bursting with ideas created with you in mind--at once urban, modern, and brightly blooming. Original ways to bring the great outdoors into your living room are designed around the constraints of city living. We may love our lofts, but with problems like small balconies and nearby towers blotting out the sun, effective city gardening can be a tricky business.
Unusual containers are key, according to author Bonnie Trust Dahan. Vases carved from stones, tiny galvanized pots, shallow copper pans, and simple glass shapes are shown holding everything from cheery primroses to feathery orchids. Tabletops are strewn with tiny chrysanthemum heads or leafy mesclun starter plants; tiny alcoves are decorated to reflect seasonal changes. Floating blossoms are recommended. A single hyacinth or gardenia is enough to perfume an entire apartment, and the look stays crisp and modern.
While the focus of the book is mainly on inspirational photos showcasing lush colors and clever combinations, you'll also find short essays discussing palettes, scents, and beneficial houseplants. The two-page resource guide is focused on the San Francisco area, but also includes several widely available sources. Even if your available space is no bigger than a windowsill, you can give it new appeal entirely in keeping with your metropolitan life. --Jill Lightner
Review
This slender book speaks as eloquently with photographs as it does with words.
It's a treat to page through and look at the photos. But those who stop to read will also benefit.
With chapters devoted to the city house, small apartment, city flat and loft, the book shows - and explains - how to choose reminders of the outdoors for a tightly edited space. It's a given that artificial flowers or arrangements are excluded. The author makes a convincing case for appreciating a bit of real nature every day, even if it's as basic as collected river rocks and interesting dry branches.
Dahan is a perennial and herb gardener who has written two previous garden books; photographer Sullivan has had work published by House Beautiful and several books.
For any small area, the author suggests blurring the boundaries between outdoors and indoors as a way to expand space. One suggestion: Place a mirror to reflect a garden view and bring it inside.
Simple ideas are sprinkled throughout. For a floral mantelpiece, wreathe a hanging mirror with live ivy. Or add a rustic woven branch sofa table to an otherwise contemporary setting.
A tiny rooftop garden carpeted in grass, with wall-hung pots of flowers, offers a park setting stories above the real thing. Another rooftop retreat near an elevator structure screens some of the view through dried bamboo stalks sunk into a low slate bench.
If you live in a small space, you may want to make room for this book. -The Oregonian
Garden Home City: Creating an Urban Haven
Garden Home City: Creating an Urban Haven,Bonnie Trust Dahan,Shaun Sullivan,Chronicle Books,0811832473,Decoration & Ornament,Gardening,Gardening / Horticulture,Gardening/Plants,General,House Plants & Indoor,Gardening / General
Book Contents:
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