A friend recently observed that without a landscape architect the most refined architecture and the most exquisite interiors flounder. The simplicity of his statement stuck with me and sent me to my library. A first edition of Russell Page’s The Education of a Gardener is the volume I selected.
While there are many beautiful books on landscape architecture and gardening, I was attracted to this book for the beauty of its simplicity. Following in a four-thousand year old tradition emanating from High Asia, reaching its peak in the Islamic Middle East and Southern Mediterranean, before finding its last great expression in Renaissance Europe, Russell Page’s work spanned the globe.
This 1962 journal of the design of gardens explores the relationship of gardens to their site, and the choice and associations of plant material. The refinement of spatial ideas combined with those of color and texture meld into the works of art which was the ultimate goal of his gardens.
Filled with information on site orientation and plant materials, this book is also filled with the wonderful writing of a master artist relating truths confirmed through a lifetime of considering landscapes.
If you have a love of gardens and wish to look into the artistry which can complete architecture and interiors, and form a united artistic experience, I highly recommend this book to you.
