lamdha books -
Miscellaneous books on gardening

Click on the small images at right to see a larger picture

63508 Aitken, Richard, & Michael Looker (eds.) The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens Oxford University Press, Melbourne Vic., 2002. Quarto; hardcover, with gilt spine titling and a ribbon marker; 697pp., with many monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; a few tiny marks and spots to the text block edges. Dustwrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good to near fine. Australia has an enormously rich heritage of gardens and gardening and there has never before been a reference work of this scale with this diversity covering this wide-ranging subject. Ten years in the making, The Oxford Companion to Australian Gardens covers all aspects of Australian gardening from Aboriginal land management practices to modern garden design. Interest in gardening and garden design has increased over the last few years. The aim of the Companion is to further the understanding of gardens and gardening and provide a useful reference tool for anyone with an interest in gardens, landscape gardening, art, and architecture. With around 400 entries, the text covers topics such as designed landscapes, agriculture, architecture, art, botany, ecology, forestry, horticulture, landscape architecture, town planning, and viticulture. With the help of their team of over 200 expert contributors, Richard Aitken and Michael Looker have produced an authoritative and comprehensive reference work. Click here to order $80

209091 Byrne, Josh The Green Gardener - signed copy Sustainable Gardening in Your Own Backyard Viking, 2006. Small quarto paperback; 138pp., colour illustrations. Inscribed in ink to owner. Slightly cocked; spine and adjacent sunned. Very good. Click here to order $20

88810 Clarke, Ethne (Jonathan Buckley, illus.) The Garden in Autumn Planting; Colour; Inspiration David & Charles Ltd., Newton Abott Devon UK, 2004. Quarto hardcover; illustrated boards, grey endpapers; 168pp., colour illustrations. A few superficial scratches to dustwrapper. Near fine otherwise and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Click here to order $20

209258 Clyne, Densey (Helen McCosker, et al., illus.) How to Attract Butterflies to Your Garden - signed Reed Books Pty. Ltd., Balgowlah NSW, 1990. Quarto; hardcover, with upper board titles and decorative endpapers; 88pp., with many full-colour illustrations. Mild wear; light scraping of the spine extremities; signed in ink with a dedication to the verso of the flyleaf. Dustwrapper lightly rubbed and edgeworn. Very good. Click here to order $22

63930 Hobhouse, Penelope Flower Gardens Angus & Robertson, Pymble NSW, 1991. Square quarto hardcover; blue boards with gilt spine titling; 215pp., colour illustrations. Owner's name. Minor wear; scattered spotting on half-title and title page and spotting to upper text block and page edges; dustwrapper very slightly faded along spine with slight edgewear at spine panel extremities (now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film). Otherwise very good to near fine. This glorious book is both a celebration of flowers and a thoroughly practical growing guide. Showing flowers in close-up, Hobhouse then broadens their focus by considering the different roles that flowering plants can play in garden pictures all through the seasons. Finally the author selects over seven hundred of the best flowering plants in a comprehensive catalogue giving full cultivation details. Any advice from Penelope Hobhouse is great advice. A necessary addition to the gardener's library. Click here to order $28

210030 Lacey, Stephen The Startling Jungle Colour and Scent in the Romantic Garden Viking/Penguin Books (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., Ringwood Vic., 1986. Octavo hardcover; black boards with silver gilt spine titling; 253pp., colour illustrations. Minor wear; small mark on upper front board; mild spotting to text block edges. Illustrated dustwrapper a few tiny chips on corners and spine panel extremities; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Click here to order $18

42632 McMaster, Natalie, & Jane Edmanson (eds.) Ideas from Private Gardens 35 Australians Share Their Secrets Anne O'Donovan, Hawthorn Vic., 1986. Hardcover, quarto; grey/green boards with white spine and green spine titling, green endpapers; 136pp., monochrome and colour illustrations. Minor wear; faint spotting on upper text block edges; dustwrapper spine panel faded and a few tiny chips on edges. Otherwise very good to near fine. "Ideas from Private Gardens" is a celebration of the joy of gardening. Thirty-five gardeners share with the authors the inspiration, the ideas and the secrets of their special gardens. Through their first-person accounts of how they went about creating their "visions of paradise", the reader can glimpse the imagination that can transform an ordinary garden into something magical. Click here to order $25

42528 McMaugh, Judy What Garden Pest or Disease Is That? Every garden problem solved Lansdowne Press, Sydney NSW, 1987. Reprint: quarto; hardcover, with decorated endpapers; 312pp., with many monochrome and full-colour illustrations. Mild wear; slightly shaken; softening to the spine extremities; creasing to the upper board (possibly a bindery error). Dustwrapper mildly rubbed and edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. A comprehensively illustrated and detailed book answers your questions about garden pests and diseases. The precise photographic illustrations and full-colour drawings take the guesswork out of attempting to work out which blotch means what. Divided into four self-contained sections for easy reference, each pest and disease is illustrated. Click here to order $25

37790 Squire, David The Scented Garden A Complete Guide to Fragrant Plants for the Australian and New Zealand Gardener Doubleday, Sydney, 1989. Quarto, hardcover; purple boards with gilt spine titling, yellow endpapers; 220pp., colour illustrations. Minor wear; spotted text block edges. Mild wear to dustwrapper edges (now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film). Very good. Click here to order $23

55485 Stuart, David Gardening with Antique Plants Conran, London, 1997. Quarto; hardcover; 160pp., with many colour illustrations. Minor wear; some spotting to the text block top edge. Dustwrapper mildly rubbed and edgeworn; now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. Very good. Antique plant expert David Stuart selects the best varieties for the contemporary garden, including original species introduced from the wild or plants that were bred over 100 years ago. Plants are suggested for a wide range of gardens, including headings of Cottage, Wildflower, Topiary and Kitchen. Each chapter contains a visual catalogue of antique varieties, stories of how the plants were introduced or bred by early gardeners, and ideas for combining them with other antique varieties. A set of cultivation notes provides practical guidance on growing the main species featured and this is linked to lists of specialist nurseries and mail-order suppliers. Click here to order $30

210075 Thomas, Graham Stuart The Rock Garden and its Plants From Grotto to Alpine House J.M. Dent, London, 1989. Quarto hardcover; green boards with gilt spine titling; 266pp., colour and monochrome illustrations. Minor wear; slightly faded dustwrapper spine (wrapper now professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film). Otherwise very good to near fine. Graham Stuart Thomas made rock gardens an important part of his life's work. In this book, the first complete history and exposition of rock gardening, he provides the necessary geological background, traces the historical introduction of alpine plants and gives practical and aesthetic advice on how to create a rock garden and choose suitable plants. There are chapters on all the relevant topics - including grottoes, the history of early rock gardens, the scree garden, the alpine lawn, the peat garden, paths, ponds, the rock garden in autumn, dwarf conifers - and extensive information on suitable plants and shrubs. There is a revealing chapter on the restoration and maintenance of rock gardens, which dispels the fear that rock gardens involve a large amount of detailed work. Numerous illustration, many of which are of special historic interest, help to make this the most authoritative and comprehensive volume on the subject. Click here to order $30