Scotland for Gardeners
Scotland for Gardeners

Author: Kenneth Cox

Publisher: Birlinn Publishers

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 512

ISBN-13: 9781780271897

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This book is a compact colour guide of the largest survey of Scottish gardens ever mounted and the first such guidebook to all that Scotland can offer garden and plant lovers. Including descriptions of virtually all Scotland's gardens which are open to the public, it recommends when to visit and what to look out for. Gardens are described in a pithy and lively style. Also covered are specialist nurseries, garden centres, wildflower walks, shows, public parks and more. The book includes useful maps showing routes for day trips and short-break tours and is illustrated throughout with full-colour images by Ray Cox. This is the ideal book for the Scot or the tourist who wishes to explore the world of gardens and plants in Scotland.

Fruit and Vegetables for Scotland
Fruit and Vegetables for Scotland

Author: Kenneth Cox

Publisher: Birlinn Ltd

Published: 2020-05-07

Total Pages: 489

ISBN-13: 1788853539

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GARDEN MEDIA GUILD PRACTICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR Fruit and vegetables have formed a fundamental part of the Scottish diet for thousands of years. This fascinating and practical book explores the history of fruit, vegetable and herb growing in Scotland, and provides a contemporary guide to the best techniques for growing produce, whether in a garden, allotment, patio or window box. Packed with hundreds of colour photographs, drawings and descriptive diagrams, this is a detailed and comprehensive bible for the gardener. In addition to advice on climate and soil conditions, it has contacts for organisations, specialist societies, nurseries and suppliers, as well as a detailed bibliography and list of useful websites. This is an essential reference book for anyone aiming to get the best possible results from their garden produce north of the border.

Early Scottish Gardens
Early Scottish Gardens

Author: Mackay Sheila Mackay

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2019-08-05

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1474470513

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What did early Scottish gardens look like? How did these gardens relate to the house and how did passing time affect their development? Where did the plant stock come from: herbs, shrubs, annuals and perennials, from the thistle to the rose? Did the gardens match the richly embellished interiors of Scots aristocrats and merchants, particularly after the Reformation? Evocative and tantalising remains of 'missing gardens' such as earthworks, stone walls, doocots, date stones, terracing, traceries of paths, sundials, a few ancient yews, and gardens themselves - Culross, Edzell, Pitmedden, Kinross -fire the imagination as Sheila Mackay guides the reader on a personal tour of the 16th, 17th and 18th-century gardens of Scotland.Contrary to popular belief within British garden history, designed landscapes have played a vital role in the lives of aspiring Scots from the 16th century, with paintings from the time depicting elaborate gardens to match houses and interiors that reflected status, wealth and a sense of self-esteem. In her exploration of these gardens - from Arthur's Seat in 1500 to The Hermitage in 1750 - Sheila Mackay reveals the dramatic developments that occurred during this period.This is a history peopled with the characters of the time, and includes extracts from songs, poems, and paintings of gardens throughout the period. Imaginative reconstructions of gardens for the people of the time - a 16th-century garden for the calligrapher Esther Inglis and a 17th-century landscape for the portrait painter George Jamesone - and the creative re-design of the ground of the Pleasaunce at Edzell Castle in light of contemporary European developments enhance the sense of the inspired designs of the time.An evocative picture is painted of these gardens and it is hoped that this will inspire the reader to make their own distinctive maps and undertake their own explorations of the gardens of Scotland.Key Features:*Illustrated with over 90 photograph

Cottage Gardens and Gardeners in the East of Scotland, 1750-1914
Cottage Gardens and Gardeners in the East of Scotland, 1750-1914

Author: Catherine Rice

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 1783276622

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This pioneering study tells the story of the emergence of rural workers' gardens during a period of unprecedented economic and social change in the most dynamic and prosperous region of Scotland. Much criticised as weed-infested, badly cultivated and disfigured by the dung heap before the cottage door, eighteenth-century cottage gardens produced only the most basic food crops. But the paradox is that Scottish professional gardeners at this time were highly prized and sought after all over the world. And by the eve of the First World War Scottish cottage gardeners were raising flowers, fruit and a wide range of vegetables, and celebrating their successes at innumerable flower shows. This book delves into the lives of farm servants, labourers, weavers, miners and other workers living in the countryside, to discover not only what vegetables, fruit and flowers they grew, and how they did it, but also how poverty, insecurity and long and arduous working days shaped their gardens. Workers' cottage gardens were also expected to comply with the needs of landowners, farmers and employers and with their expectations of the industrious cottager. But not all the gardens were muddy cabbage and potato patches and not all the gardeners were ignorant or unenthusiastic. The book also tells the stories of the keen gardeners who revelled in their pretty plots, raised prize exhibits for village shows and, in a few cases, found gardening to be a stepping-stone to scientific exploration.