American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park to Our Backyards: What Our Gardens Tell Us About Who We Are Review

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American Eden: From Monticello to Central Park to Our Backyards: What Our Gardens Tell Us About Who We Are ReviewWade Graham's "American Eden" has a wonderful premise: What our gardens tell us about who we are. The book is more a history of American gardens seen somewhat through that lens, but mostly seen through the lens of the upper class' residential landscapes and public spaces, where big money buys grandeur.
The book is decently written and (in it's final form) will be a valuable and colorful guide to anyone interested in the history of landscaping in this country. Note that I did not use the word "gardening" as most of the individuals noted in the book (Roosevelt, Mary Pickford, Vanderbilts, Edith Wharton, Thomas Jefferson, Martha Stewart, et al) did not actually sully their hands in the drudgery of setting up the landscape, so it's not gardening in the real sense of the word. When I say gardening, it means that I am the gardener, do the work and later get the firsthand pleasure of my efforts. Instead, Graham's lineup of who's-who skip the middle part and employ landscape design firms to flesh out their grand schemes. While this particular fact does not stain the premise of the book entirely, it also does not fulfill it. Trying to use Graham's yardstick to measure what my 1 acre yard's flora tells me about myself would be fruitless.
In any regard, the book is finely researched and not only are photographs shown of various gardens, but the actual plans in many cases are also rendered in order to help those who delve into such things. This paperback version's stock (a pulpy newsprint) is not the best and therefore many of the black and white details of the visuals were absorbed by it. Hopefully the final version will have a coated stock and color photos.
OK, so what was I really hoping for?
In today's gardening pantheon, every type of garden style is represented, from cottage-style flora explosions to formal, repressed squares. Therefore, every personality type is also represented by proxy. Something about our personalities explains why some choose a formal, restrictive gardening style and why some choose a much more loose method. But what? Can I truly use the above gilded list of personalities to help figure out these things? Graham presents a vast gardening history, yet cuts us off from gardening's present and gives us a limited pathway to discover and explain what these garden design traits actually tell us about ourselves. Can Edith Wharton's history of using an earlier style to suit her formal gardens at the Mount tell me why I choose a formal design for my back yard, but a looser style for my front yard? Doubtful. My one-story ranch is a far cry from her multi-room mansion and there's not much space for the Tulleries inside my privacy fence.
A better title would have been: "America's Eden: What famous landscape designs tell us about their original owners and designers".
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