The Education of a Gardener - Paperback

by Russell Page (Author), Robin Lane Fox (Preface by)

Russell Page, one of the legendary gardeners and landscapers of the twentieth century, designed gardens great and small for clients throughout the world. His memoirs, born of a lifetime of sketching, designing, and working on site, are a mixture of engaging personal reminiscence, keen critical intelligence, and practical know-how. They are not only essential reading for today's gardeners, but a master's compelling reflection on the deep sources and informing principles of his art.

The Education of a Gardener offers charming, sometimes pointed anecdotes about patrons, colleagues, and, of course, gardens, together with lucid advice for the gardener. Page discusses how to plan a garden that draws on the energies of the surrounding landscape, determine which plants will do best in which setting, plant for the seasons, handle color, and combine trees, shrubs, and water features to rich and enduring effect. To read The Education of a Gardener is to wander happily through a variety of gardens in the company of a wise, witty, and knowledgeable friend. It will provide pleasure and insight not only to the dedicated gardener, but to anyone with an interest in abiding questions of design and aesthetics, or who simply enjoys an unusually well-written and thoughtful book.

Front Jacket

This is a classic memoir by one of the most famous landscape gardeners of the 20th century which describes the author's training and the development of his many celebrated gardens. Russell Page was born in 1906 and studied art at the Slade School in London before a love of plants drew him to garden design. In his career he designed gardens all over the world, from Leeds Castle in Kent to the Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Garden at the Pepsi Cola Headquarters in New York, as well as in France, his home for many years. The Education of a Gardener is a fascinating portrait of a master of his craft and has proved an inspirational book for many gardeners since its first publication in 1962. Written in clear and elegant prose, it is illustrated with a substantial number of photographs, including, in this edition, hitherto unpublished pictures from Page's files.

Author Biography

Russell Page (1906-1985) became a professional garden designer in 1928 after studying painting at the Slade School of Art in London and in Paris. In 1935 he entered into a brief partnership with the landscapist and architect Geoffrey Jellicoe. He designed a great variety of gardens throughout Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America, ranging from windowboxes and small cottage gardens to those meant for large estates, public parks, and housing developments for industrial workers. Among his best-known projects are the gardens at the PepsiCo headquarters, the courtyard of the Frick Collection, and the Festival Gardens at Battersea Park. Page was one of only three Englishmen to have received a medal from the French Academy of Architecture and was an Officer of the British Empire.

Robin Lane Fox is a fellow at New College, Oxford, and the gardening correspondent for the Financial Times.