The New Traditional Garden : A Practical Guide to ... (ISBN 0345420411)

Amazon.com Review:
Author Michael Weishan is an expert in recreating gardens of early America; his mission is to resurrect the styles of the 18th and 19th century, when settlers in the New World were trying to distinguish their landscapes from the British style so beloved by gardeners today. This book is particularly targeted toward owners of Colonial- or Victorian-style homes, and the narration has a bit of a highbrow New England feel to it in lines like, "our founding fathers, men so dedicated to a controlled system of checks and balances that they fought and won a war to establish their principles, built gardens imbued with the same spirit." Weishan emphasizes "order and balance," and he wishes the '50s had never happened, with those boring perfect lawns and hardware-store perennials. Throughout The New Traditional Garden there are evocative passages about locating the "ghosts" within the garden: covered-over plantings, perennials that have reappeared each spring for decades. "Be on the lookout for something old in the garden," Weishan writes. "You never know when it may teach you something new." For gardeners who find that working the soil is a nostalgic process that's as much about uncovering the past as creating a future, this is an expert guide. It includes an exhaustive historic plant list, dating the introduction of various species back to the 1700s. Weishan's ultimate goal is to remind us of early American attitudes of "stewardship," wherein we see ourselves as tenants of the land, caretakers, not tyrannical owners who must make our mark at any cost. --Emily White

An informative and inspiring look at gardening and gardens.:
I picked up a copy of The New Traditional Garden and was delighfully surprised. Instead of a typical modern gardening book with the same old options of plants and landscaping styles, Michael Weishan explores gardening within an historical context which gives the reader a new perspective on what a garden could and should be. Being a child of the 50's I had never considered what the gardens of our forefathers and mothers had meant to them, nor had I understood the value of taking the environment of the garden into account, including the structures on the property, and creating a unified, holistic, and rich presentation. I especially enjoyed the examples of what not to do (and found I had done quite of few of those!) I also found that it was hard to read the book for any length of time without becoming so inspired that I wanted to get out the gardening tools and set to work immediately. Thank you Mr. Weishan for shedding a whole new light on gardening and gardens!

An excelent summary of the "how toos" of creating a garden .:
Finally we have a difinitive work on the traditional American garden. This book returns to the beauty and practicality of the early American garden and tells you how to create it. While you get the information on all the aspects that go into this creation you are not overloaded with a lot of unnecessary planting instructions. I was very impressed with the great multitude of pictures and references and the vast amount of knowledge they contained. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to the new and the old gardener and to anyone that has an interest in things that grow for both food and beauty.

A different kind of gardening book:
The New Traditional Garden is unlike most books in my garden library. It begins with a wonderful history of gardening for the first settlers and includes much garden history. The book is enjoyable and inspiring as suggested by the other reviewers. But I also found it to be a bit disorganized in its attempt to present a different side of gardening. For example, each chapter includes a subject such a Unity, or Practicality with some interesting discourse relating yesterday's gardens and lifestyle to today's. There is a Historic garden featured, certain plant culture is discussed and a How-to and perhaps a driveway makeover etc. are thrown in for good measure. I would rather have seen more flow to the book's organization, but the author is a publisher of a magazine and perhaps this format, back and forth between subjects, keeps a reader interested. Also I understand the author's viewpoints in the chapter on Stewardship. What better place to state your opinions and call others to take political action than in your own book? But this is not something that I look for in a guide to traditional gardening. As with every gardening book that I have, there are favorite sections which I refer to again and again, and other sections which are of no use to me. Overall, this book is different and takes a "new" look at the "old" things of gardening. It has earned a spot on my crowded book shelf. I especially plan to refer to the extensive Historic plant compendium when I expand my garden (again) this fall.

The New Bible for Traditional Gardeners:
Weishan has created an astounding book for anyone interested in traditional gardening styles, old house gardens, or anyone who simply wants to improve the design of their garden. Extremely well-written and researched, this book is a pleasure to read even for the gardening novice. Truly one of the best gardening books of the decade.