Garden Reviews

Interested in a specific garden? See the Garden Index page for an alphabetised list (or the Garden Tweets page for short Twitter reviews).
We are not on our own in needing better criticism it seems – the literary world think they need to raise their game too: http://hatchetjoboftheyear.com/Hatchet-Job-2013.

Chiswick House and Gardens: a dog’s dinner or a curate’s egg?

July 18, 2011

Barbara Taylor has recently discovered, Chiswick House & Gardens. In the interests of research, she decided to give it the once over and find out just what this 18th century building and its grounds had to offer. Here, she shares her findings with us Anne Wareham, editor MrB has had the joy of commuting to [...]

The Laskett reviewed by Emma Bond

July 8, 2011

“It is a shame that Sir Roy Strong is subjected to the now-obligatory drivel about his being a ‘national treasure’, because this unthinking cliché diminishes his contribution, over more than 50 years, to our cultural life, whether as a curator or, in later times, as a gardener.” Simon Heffer in The Spectator 6th August 2011 [...]

Veddw reviewed by Bridget Rosewell

May 9, 2011

Just to wind up Matthew Appleby, who is complaining there is too much Veddw on this site… Having just been sent the review I can’t resist adding it to thinkinGardens – and I think I have earned a bit of self indulgence. Anne Wareham editor. Bridget Rosewell: The garden made by Anne Wareham and [...]

Mill Dene Garden reviewed by Darryl Moore

April 4, 2011

Darryl Moore is a valued garden critic on thinkinGardens, with an astute sense of the relationship between the owner and the garden and its implications (see also his piece on Coombe House/Plas Metaxu). I am grateful therefore to have this review of the garden Mill Dene in the Cotswolds, which was rather curtly dismissed in [...]

Boughton House – Kim Wilkie’s Orpheus reviewed by James Alexander-Sinclair

February 28, 2011

“Perfect, Impressive, Majestic and Splendid. It is the sort of thing that makes one sigh from the pleasure of it all. And I did..

But…”

The High Line: more than the sum of its parts

February 14, 2011

“But it wasn’t Piet Oudolf who got most of the early press about the High Line. New Yorkers are far more interested in architects and landscape architects than garden designers, and in this case it was the elevated rail line itself, and its very costly rehabilitation, that was the focus of public and media hype. Now that the aerial garden has been opened to the public for over a year, the plantings themselves are garnering more public acclaim.”

Lawrence Halprin’s Heritage Plaza: A Crying Shame by Susan Cohan

January 4, 2011

“Despite my swagger, I’m a softy. I well up in tears when I am moved by something–not usually landscapes or gardens. In most professional situations, I am able to contain myself. At Lawrence Halprin’s Heritiage Plaza in Fort Worth I was not…”

Hidcote – a review by Barbara Taylor

December 22, 2010

“So, what did I think?

Initially I thought all the different views and vistas were fabulous; looking down little paths to a different area…..”

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