[.ca] City Gardens: Creative Urban Gardens and Expert Design Ideas (ISBN 155278407X)

Amazon.ca:
City Gardens takes readers on a meandering garden tour of some of the lovely spaces hidden behind private gates across Canada. Editor Liz Primeau has compiled inspiring stories from the pages of Canadian Gardening magazine in a collection that combines a good read with beautiful photographs and helpful reference material. The featured landscapes fall under five headings: Small Gardens, Classic Gardens, Perennial Gardens, Family Gardens, and Serenity Gardens. In Kelowna, BC, for example, one couple creates a tropical jungle in the arid Okanagan, while in snowy Montreal, a native of Brazil learns to love the elements. The writers demonstrate a knack for zeroing in on why a garden works, as in this appealing description of a diminutive sanctuary: "Tiny but intense, the meditative garden offers beauty and refreshment: textured greens, snow-etched branches, the purl of water and the fleeting fragrances of rain-washed leaves." The text offers landscape designers' strategies for making small spaces look bigger, dark spaces look brighter, and looming condominium buildings less noticeable. There are also step-by-step instructions for family projects such as making a hypertufa container and advice on subjects ranging from growing roses to building a bog. This book offers plenty to emulate for gardeners across the country. --Carolyn Leitch