Abigail Willis

Secret Gardens of Somerset: A Private Tour by Abigail Willis is a richly illustrated tour of the gardens of Somerset county.

For each garden there are photographs of the grounds as well as a brief history and the current situation. Included are the plants and horticultural techniques used as well as a little about the people, owners and gardeners. The photographs are beautiful and strikes a balance between too few pictures but all being large and so many pictures with none being large. While show more I probably would have liked a few more full page images I wasn't displeased with the balance because having more pictures offered a better feel for each garden as a whole.

A funny aside, a reader's idea of how manicured the gardens look will be very subjective. The times I have been in England and visited some gardens, they all seemed more controlled and very precise, so for me the gardens here appeared less under a human thumb and more simply formed with a human eye. Both the more formal gardens I visited and these are quite beautiful, just different in approach. Yet another reader may feel these are too formal and overly manicured, based no doubt on gardens they have visited and/or books they have read. So know that where you fall on this spectrum is going to be as much a factor of your personal history as it is a feature of these gardens.

One of the things I particularly enjoyed, which I had not anticipated beforehand, was the discussion for each garden on what is planted where and why. I am not a horticulturist and I am barely able to garden a small plot, so to keep me interested during those sections is a tribute to the writing.

I definitely recommend this to those who love gardens, especially those kinds of gardens that most of us can never have. You will feel like you understand each garden, so to speak, when you finish the book.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less

Interesting and very easy to read descriptions of various gardening techniques. Short (less than two pages each) chapters on subjects as varied as roses, the lawnmover, garden rooms, organic gardening, and so on and so on. Fifty chapters in all. I learned a little. Would be good for beginning to moderately skilled gardeners.