cover image Social Gardens: Outdoor Spaces for Living and Entertaining

Social Gardens: Outdoor Spaces for Living and Entertaining

Charlotte Frieze. Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, $40 (223pp) ISBN 978-1-55670-047-7

Garden planning, unlike interior design, deals with living things: plants that sprout, grow, flower and fade. Yet for Frieze, a landscape architect, the garden is a static thing. She neglects the cultural needs of garden plants, and distinguishes her book from many better ones by employing a gimmick. What the author terms a ``social garden''i.e., a garden enjoyed by peopleis any garden worth its marigolds. And if her title promises a cornucopia of gardens specially intended for dining and entertaining, her book fails to deliver. In fact, Frieze is as concerned with solitary pastimes as with socializing. So what remains are her observations on the familiar pleasures of gardens. These are offered in chapters on ``hidden'' gardens, garden entrances, backyards, urban gardens, fountains and pools. A directory of garden designers and sources for statuary, lights, plants, etc., is also provided. The book might have best served its purpose as a collection of photographs, for many convey more vividly in images what Frieze explains in words. (Nov.)