Arts and crafts gardens - Wendy Hitchmough

The Arts and Crafts movement laid the foundations for gardening as we know it. This book examines the architectural features and planting trends that defined the style in Britain, America, Europe and Scandinavia and considers the legacy of Arts and Crafts gardening as a profound and sensual philosophy, still relevant to gardeners today.;The idea of the garden as an outdoor living room, a seamless extension of the planning and decoration of the house, was an ARts and Crafts invention. Sheltering porches and finely crafted front doors, emblazoned with the tree of life or simply presenting the quality of their natural materials, diminished the boundary between the building and its surroundings. Verandas and pergolas entwined with roses and white wisteria drew people out of doors while arbours and summer houses were designed with an element of make-believe, creating spaces for the imagination at the same time as defining the structure of the garden and catering for the practicalities of living outside.;Gardening and design celebrities such as William Robinson, Gertrude Jekyll and William Morris expounded the philosophy behind the style. Their rejection of ostentatious display and their insistence upon simplicity, craftsmanship, tradition and a reverence for nature in all its forms established a new agenda in garden-making which still resonates today.