The The Management and Maintenance of Histor

This new reference book is for all those professionals, agents, owners, designers and managers concerned with the many aspects of managing historic gardens, parks and design landscapes. The comprehensive scope emphasizes the importance of the principles of management, and the historic, scientific, botanical, horticultural, economic, legal and technical aspects essential for success. There is no other up-to-date book on the subject; the last one was written in 1982.

Table of Contents:
Introduction by Brent Elliott, Royal Horticultural Society; 1. Historic Parks and Gardens in England: A Summary of Their Development; 2. Maintenance and Management Principles Management plans and conservation management, including restoration * Plant environment * Design implications on maintenance * Resources: Staff, Equipment, Standards and Objective; 3. Maintenance and Management Practice Trees including conifers, shrubs including roses, wall, plants, herbaceous plants, bulbs, annuals and biennials * Hedges and screens * Grass management: lawns and meadows * Erosion of habitat * Pools, lakes and water features * Rock gardens * Parterres * Walled gardens * Glasshouses * Container growing; 4. Nature Conservation in Parks and Gardens; 5. Visitor Management; 6. Economic Aspects of Historic Parks and Designed Landscapes; 7. Future Trends; 8. Case Studies; 9. The Historic Landscape and the Law; 10. Bibliography.

About the Author :
John Watkins has been Head of Gardens and Landscape at English Heritage since 1999, providing policy advice and technical guidance on the maintenance and management of designed landscapes and historic parks and gardens. Formerly Senior Lecturer at Hadlow College in Kent, he has worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Edinburgh and Kew, the National Trust for Scotland and the RHS at Wisley and Hyde Hall. He is on the management board of Plant Network and is a Trustee of the Great Dixter Charitable Trust. He has served as an examiner for the RHS examinations, judges at RHS shows and represents English Heritage on the Green Flag Board. Thomas Wright has managed historic landscapes for more than 40 years. A boyhood addiction to plants, gardens and Natural History led to a degree in Horticulture at Wye College in Kent. Since then his commissions have included Hampton Court Palace gardens, Chatsworth, Grimsthorpe Castle, Firle Place, Holker Hall, some National Trust gardens and other private estates and gardens in the UK, France, Italy and Austria. He has written and contributed to several books and has lectured widely in the UK and overseas. He lives in West Sussex where he can wake up to an inspirational view of the South Downs.

Review :
'Never before has such a wealth of advice and information been assembled alongside historical perspectives.' John Sales (Acclaimed horticulture teacher) Horticulture Week This [title] may not sound relevant to those who do not occupy stately homes,but the advice on best practice in this terrific book is just what gardeners have been waiting for...Much of the information, scaled down, is invaluable to ordinary gardeners...At GBP35 it is an expensive book, but it more than earns its price. In it I discovered plenty of things I did not know...The focus of the book is how to garden like pros, as well as how to save money and time...The advice on best practice in this terrific book is just what gardeners have been waiting for. Daily Telegraph This is the all-singing, all-dancing reference manual for professional gardeners, garden managers and students of gardening... If you only have space or finance for one reference book in your garden office or bait room, I would suggest that it should be this one. Professional Gardener It would be difficult to over-emphasise the value of this book... anyone working in the management of these highly important sites should keep at hand. Well laid out and superbly illustrated, one can read it as one whole work, keep it as a reference volume or just dip in and out of it. Garden Design Journal A good case can be made for asserting that this was the most significant book on historic gardens produced in recent years. Historic Gardens Review