GARDENING BOOKS AND TIME SPENT AWAY FROM THE GARDEN

While developing a garden together over the last 22 years at “The Shambles” we have found our interest continues indoors in the form of writing.  Like many others we love to share cuttings, small plants and bulbs with enthusiastic friends. Likewise the act of writing an illustrated gardening book, writing entries into a website or “blog”, or sharing pictures on “facebook” continues the acting of sharing through the written word and pictures.

Our latest and sixth gardening book “A Garden Forever, Dreams, Stories, Heritage , History” is our 6th. Like the others it is hard cover and fully colour illustrated so that as an entity it will stand the test of time.  The book will be launched at 2 00pm on 24/1/2015.

Our latest book to be lauched 24th January 2015, at "The Shambles" 85 Western Avenue Montville. 2.30 for 3 pm  RSVP shambles@southernphone.com.au 

Apart from being an attractive, colourful book which will apeal to any one who loves looking at gardens, this book has a couple of extra threads.

Firstly, it attempts to document a garden history, from pre-European settlement, through the time of selection, clearance, agriculture  to the present and our 22 years of making a plant collectors garden. These last years coincide with a period when farms and orchards in our area have been  replaced by rural residential gardening and the replanting of trees.  Australia and Queensland particularly are very young, but the writing of books, especially those concerning the domestic garden will become the research documents for future historians.

Secondly, it’s not enough to use pictures and written records to describe an overall garden and the people who made it. The substance of any garden is the catalogue of plants within it, how the collection evolved over time and what is to be seen as of the time of writing. Garden plant inventory making is an essential activity for day to day horticulture, for conservation, for sensible discussion with other gardeners and of course as an historical record. Inventory making is fairly complex, it require stringency but cannot be avoided if anything is to survive to describe a garden to future generations.

We genuinely hope that these points are well made in our book and it can be enjoyed, along with the garden at “The Shambles” for many years to come.

 A page from the garden inventory, about 1868, from Talgai Homestead, which an example of exactly the type of garden inventory making which is essential fro historical records. The Ledger at Talgai s of course carried on over time and extensive.

Kyleigh and Michael Simpson